A MUM is urging parents to get the MMR jab after her daughter died of a devastating complication of measles she caught as a baby.
Renae Archer, from Salford, was too young for the jab when she caught the infection at five months old.
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She had seemingly recovered well and grew up perfectly “fit and healthy,” her mum Rebecca said.
But a decade later, 10-year-old Renae started suffering seizures at school and was diagnosed with the very rare brain disease called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE).
It had been triggered by her previous measles infection, which had laid dormant for all that time, and died in September 2023.
A scan found swelling in her brain, and she slowly deteriorated to the point where she was unable to speak, eat or keep her eyes open.
“It took three days for Renae to stop breathing, and I think that was the worst,” Rebecca told ITV.
“It was just horrendous watching her.”
The mum was warned by doctors that the condition was “going to be fatal”, and the family had to decide to switch off Renae’s life support.
If there wasn’t an outbreak and more kids had their vaccinations, then she wouldn’t have got the measles in the first place
Rebecca Archer
In the UK, one in every 25,000 unvaccinated children who catch measles will develop SSPE, which almost always results in death.
Most people with this disease die between one and three years after diagnosis when the brain stops being able to control vital organs.
There had been outbreaks of the bug across the UK at the time Renae caught the virus, with about 1000 suspected cases in Greater Manchester.
According to research from the UK Health Security Agency, just under 400 cases were confirmed in laboratory tests.
At the same time, MMR vaccine uptake was at its lowest level in 12 years.
In September, only 85 per cent of children starting primary school had been given both doses of the vaccine.
There is no cure for SSPE, but like measles, it can be prevented with the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jab.
Renae was too young for the vaccine as she was under 12 months.
Children are given their first dose when they are one year old and their second between the ages of four and five.
“If there wasn’t an outbreak and more kids had their vaccinations, then she wouldn’t have got the measles in the first place,” the mum said.
“And it wouldn’t have ultimately ended her life.”
The main symptoms of measles
MEASLES is highly contagious and can cause serious problems in some people.
The infection usually starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later. Some people may also get small spots in their mouth.
The first signs include:
- A high temperature
- A runny or blocked nose
- Sneezing
- A cough
- Red, sore, watery eyes
Small white spots may then appear inside the cheeks and on the back of the lips a few days later.
A rash tends to come next. This usually starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading to the rest of the body.
The spots are sometimes raised and join together to form blotchy patches. They are not normally itchy.
The rash looks brown or red or white skin. It may be harder to see on darker skin.
Complications are rare, but measles can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, blindness, seizures, and sometimes death.
Source: NHS
Rebecca has shared her story as part of a joint NHS and UK Health Security Agency campaign to urge parents in the north-west of England to vaccinate their children against measles.
The warning comes amid a spike in confirmed cases across England in 2024, with 40 cases detected in the region between October 2023 and March this year.
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Manisha Kumar, chief medical officer for NHS Greater Manchester, said he hoped the stories shared by “brave people like Rebecca” would highlight the urgent need to reverse the decline in MMR vaccine uptake.
“Two doses of the MMR vaccine are needed to get life-long protection against measles, mumps and rubella.”
Expert answers MMR questions
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