SWANSEA: Fears about the purported side effects once sent British parents running from vaccinations against measles. But now an outbreak of the potentially deadly disease in one city has brought them back in droves.
As others went about their weekend activities in Swansea on the south Wales coast, a steady stream of parents brought their children to Singleton Hospital to receive emergency vaccines, hoping to protect them from a local epidemic that shows no signs of easing.
Since November, almost 1,000 people around the city have contracted measles, with children aged 10 to 18 affected the worst.
One 25-year-old man who had the disease has died, although tests to ascertain the cause of death proved inconclusive. The weekend clinics at this “epidemic hotspot” have already attracted more than 6,000 people amid a vigorous public health campaign to get children vaccinated.
AFP
