BRITS are being urged to "stay away" from Cheltenham races this week if they are experiencing cold-like symptoms, amid fears of more measles outbreaks.
Hundreds of thousands of punters from across the country are expected to gather in very close quarters at Prestbury Park in Gloucester - making 'explosions' of the highly-infectious disease more likely.
Cases of the once-eliminated virus are on the rise, with at least 733 recorded in England since October.
There are thought to have been 432 infections in the West Midlands alone - mainly driven by cases in Birmingham - where infections are at their highest levels since the 1990s.
In comparison, there were just 53 cases confirmed in England in all of 2022.
Beth Bennett-Britton, a health consultant at Gloucestershire County Council, is calling on those who aren't feeling well to stay away from the racecourse to prevent the spread of the virus.
"What we would say is if people are unwell we recommend that they don't attend, they stay away so that they don't spread their bugs around," she said.
It echoes the warnings ahead of the 2020 festival which went ahead just days before the UK went into its first lockdown.
It was later found to be a Covid super-spreader event.
Beth also urged people in the local area to get their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab.
"It stops the virus being able to spread," she said, adding that when people don't get the vaccine "we have these pockets the virus [where] can spread much more easily."
Around 90 per cent of Gloucestershire's population has the MMR vaccine.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend 95 per cent to achieve herd immunity.
Nearly a million 19 to 25-year-olds need a measles jab, the NHS warned this week.
The plea follows a call for more than a million primary school kids and 200,000 teens aged 16 to 19 in high-risk areas to get up to date with the jabs.
The NHS estimates that more than three million under-16s, plus more adults, are not fully protected and are in need of top up jabs.
Vaccines for those who haven't had both doses are free for all ages from GP surgeries and catch-up programmes are offering them at schools, universities, libraries and sports centres in some areas.
Symptoms of measles start like a cold but can then include a fever, white spots in the mouth and a blotchy rash.
Very serious cases can cause brain damage, blindness, deafness or even death.
Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, from the UK Health Security Agency, previously said: “Anyone who is not vaccinated against measles can catch it.
“Being unvaccinated also means you risk spreading the disease to others, including those at greatest risk like infants, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems.”
TO help deal with parental concerns, Professor Helen Bedford, a specialist in child public health at University College London, tells you all you need to know about the MMR vaccine.
When is the vaccine given?
The MMR vaccine is part of the NHS Routine Childhood Immunisation Programme.
It’s typically given via a single shot into the muscle of the thigh or the upper arm.
The first dose is offered to children at the age of one (babies younger than this may have some protection from antibodies passed on from their mother, which start to wear off at about 12 months.)
The second dose is then offered to children aged three years and four months before they start school.
To check to see if you or your child have had the recommended two doses of MMR, you can look at their/your Personal Child Health Record, also known as the red book.
If you can’t find the red book, call your GP and ask them for your vaccine records.
You are never too old to catch up with your MMR vaccine.
If you see from your vaccination records that you did not receive two doses as a child, you can book a vaccination appointment.
Is the vaccine safe?
The MMR vaccine is safe and effective at preventing measles, mumps and rubella.
In the UK, we started using the jab in 1988, so we have decades of experience using it.
The jab is made from much-weakened live versions of the three viruses.
This triggers the immune system to produce antibodies that are protective in the face of future exposure.
It takes up to three weeks after having the vaccine to be fully protected.
Like any vaccine, the MMR jab can cause side-effects, which are usually mild and go away very quickly.
This includes rash, high temperature, loss of appetite and a general feeling of being unwell for about two or three days.
There is also a very small chance children can have a severe allergic reaction.
But compared to the complications of measles, there is no contest that vaccination is by far the safest and most effective route to take.
Why was it linked with autism?
In 1998, Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues published a now-discredited paper in medical journal The Lancet.
The paper suggested that the MMR vaccine might be associated with autism and a form of bowel disease.
It led to a sharp decline in vaccination rates.
Even at the time, the research was considered poor.
The Lancet retracted the story in 2010 after Wakefield’s article was found “dishonest” by the General Medical Council.
He was later struck off and subsequently, in 2011, the British Medical Journal declared the story fraudulent.
Does it contain ingredients from pigs?
There are two types of MMR jabs: One with gelatin (animal/pig collagen), and one without it.
For some religious groups, the inclusion of pig products is not acceptable.
Those people should ask for the vaccine without gelatin.
