§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the current vaccination campaign against measles; and what assessment she has made of the risk that some children may not be immune to the disease.
§ Mr. SackvilleIt is too early to assess the effectiveness of our immunisation campaign against measles, but by the end of the third week of the campaign we estimate that more than 4.5 million children had been immunised. Initial reports from districts estimate that about 90 per cent. of the target population are being immunised in the initial phase of the campaign.
Public Health Laboratory Service data based on extensive national surveillance has revealed that measles susceptibility in the school age population is sufficient to sustain a measles epidemic of the size forecast.