Dearne Valley parents urged to immunise their children against measles

So far there have been 17 confirmed and 41 suspected cases in the outbreak, ranging from nine months to adults in the 20s.

Parents are urged to ensure that their children are fully vaccinated, regardless of their age.

If in doubt about your child’s vaccination status, you should contact their GP practice for advice.

Kathy Wakefield, immunisation lead at NHS Rotherham, said: “MMR is safe, effective and reliable, however two doses are required to give full immunity against the serious diseases of measles, mumps and rubella.”

The first dose of MMR vaccine is normally given around the age 13 months and the second between the ages of three and four years, before the child goes to school.

However, children of any age, including teenagers and young adults should still consider vaccination if they missed any of the routine doses, Ms Wakefield said.

Measles is a highly infectious viral infection, spread through droplets generated by coughing or sneezing, with symptoms that include fever, colds, conjunctivitis, dry croupy cough, white spots on the gums, diarrhoea and a red rash.

Ms Wakefield added: “Some years ago, there were many stories in the media linking MMR with autism.

“These caused some parents to delay their child's MMR immunisation or not to have it at all resulting in outbreaks of measles.

“However, independent experts from around the world have found no credible scientific evidence for such a link and in fact now have a large amount of evidence showing that there is no link.”

For more information contact your GP practice or visit: www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles or www.hpa.org.uk and select 'measles' from the topics menu.

If you think you have symptoms of measles you should:

qStay away from school, nursery or work until four days have elapsed after the development of a rash.

qTelephone your GP for advice before attending GP surgeries, NHS walk-in centres or hospital A&E units. If it is necessary for a child or adult with measles to attend an NHS facility, the GP can telephone the facility in advance to make arrangements that will minimise the risk of spreading the measles infection to other vulnerable patients.

qAvoid contact with pregnant women as they are more vulnerable to infection and measles is highly infectious.