Unvaccinated Pupils Could Face 21-day Isolation Over Measles Fear

Measles activities have increased globally since 2022, but the UK’s official guidance updated in 2019 doesn’t target asymptomatic unvaccinated children.

File photo, shows a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine on a countertop at a pediatrics clinic in Greenbrae, Calif. Eric Risberg/AP

Some councils in England have written to parents, telling them unvaccinated pupils who come into contact with a measles case could be asked to self-isolate for 21 days.

The letters were aimed at urging parents to get their children up-to-date with the measles vaccine (MMR) after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there has been a rise in cases this year.

Writing to parents on July 20, Barnet Council in north London said, “Any child identified as a close contact of a measles case without satisfactory vaccination status may be asked to self-isolate for up to 21 days. Children who are vaccinated do not need to be excluded from school or childcare.”

The letter referred to a press release published by the UKHSA from July 14, which said its modelling data suggests that London “could see a measles outbreak with tens of thousands of cases” unless MMR vaccination rates improve.

According to The Telegraph, Barnet Council’s neighbouring Haringey Council sent a similar letter to parents last week.

Hertfordshire County Council wrote to parents with a similar warning before the UKHSA published its modelling data, telling parents MMR can help keep their children in school.

“Did you know that if your child is identified as a close contact to a measles case and they do not have satisfactory vaccination status they may be asked to self-isolate for up to 21 days?” The council wrote in a letter (pdf) dated June 21.

“This could mean not attending school or childcare for up to 21 days. Children who are fully vaccinated do not need to be excluded from school or childcare. Vaccination can help keep your child in school,” the letter reads.

Cases Rose After COVID-19

Measles is a highly infectious disease which onset symptoms include fever, aches and pains, head cold, red eyes, and cough and can lead to pneumonia, ear infection, diarrhoea, convulsions, and in rare occasions, encephalitis and death.

The UKHSA urged parents to check their children’s MMR vaccine records in May after 49 cases were found in less than four months this year compared to 54 cases in the whole of 2022.

As of July 31, there had been 141 laboratory-confirmed measles cases in England, the agency said.

In an analysis published in July, the agency said measles activity slowly ramped up around the world since 2022 and uptake rates for routine childhood vaccines had fallen globally during the pandemic, leaving the UK at risk of importations.

It said modelling data suggests while the risk of a measles epidemic across the UK was considered low, an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,000 cases could occur in London, given the capital’s MMR coverage which it said was “well below the threshold needed for optimal disease control.”

But the official guidelines on measels, which were updated in November 2019, don’t say unvaccinated children without symptoms should be excluded from school.

“Confirmed and likely cases should be excluded from school, nursery, or work for the entire period of infectiousness—until day 4 after rash onset where the date of rash onset is day 0. Given the high risk of secondary infection following measles, it is advisable to return only after full recovery,” the document says.

“Where practicable, all contacts should be provided with information on symptoms of measles and advised to exclude themselves from schools or other settings if they develop symptoms.”

In a statement to The Telegraph, Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said: “If a child is infected and there is a child in their class who isn’t immunised, there is a really high chance that the child will catch it and spread it to other unimmunised children. For children, measles is far more lethal than COVID ever was.”

COVID Vaccine, ‘Misinformation’ Blamed for Slipping MMR Uptake

The UK has never met the World Health Organisation’s target of 95 percent coverage with 2 doses of MMR vaccine that’s needed to achieve and maintain measles elimination, the UKHSA said.

Official figures show 93.1 percent of children aged 5 or below across the UK had one dose of MMR while 85.6 percent had two doses as of March.

The figures for London were 86.6 percent and 74.9 percent.

Molly Kingsley, founder of parents campaign group UsForThem UK during the COVID-19 pandemic, blamed the push for COVID-19 vaccines for breaking down the public’s trust in vaccines.

“The criminal idiocy of pushing novel vaccines onto kids who never needed them now coming home to roost. The entirely predictable breakdown of trust in public health will take years to repair,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Hackney Green councillor Alastair Binnie-Lubbock told The Independent that “a rise in the anti-vaccination movement and the spreading of misinformation” has to be addressed.

Campaigner: ‘Odd’ to Single Out the Unvaccinated

Anna Watson, founder of Arnica, a group that advocates for natural immunity over vaccines, argued it’s “odd” to single out unvaccinated children over fears of a measles outbreak.

According to the primary school teacher, it’s an unusual measure compared to what she has experienced during some 20 years of her career.

“Sometimes some schools” have written to parents saying, “there’s a child with cancer in school, their immune system is very low, can you make sure that you’re vaccinated with measles? But there’s no enforcement, there’s no other questions,” she said.

Ms. Watson argued that if the exclusion is aimed at limiting transmission, children who just got vaccinated should also be sent home because MMR can “shed,” adding that she had seen hospital signs that asked those who are recently vaccinated against measles not to enter.

She also cited a rare case in which a fully vaccinated person caused an outbreak in New York, contending that the vaccine can fail to protect people from the disease.

But Ms. Watson rejected the label of an anti-vaxxer, saying she supports informed consent.

According to the government’s green book of immunisation on measles (pdf), a single dose of measles-containing vaccine is at least 95 percent effective in preventing clinical measles while a second dose protects those who do not respond to the first dose. A separate official publication claimed two doses are 99 percent effective in protecting against measles and rubella and “slightly” less effective in protecting against mumps.

However, since the vaccine contains live, attenuated strains of measles, mumps, and rubella viruses, it can cause similar illnesses, although they are generally mild.

The green book says it’s “common” to experience pain, fever, or a rash after the first dose, and in rare cases, it’s “ biologically plausible that it may cause encephalitis.”