Health officials are calling for unvaccinated children to be barred from schools as a measles outbreak sparks fears of wider spread.
The warning came from Emma Best, chairman of the London Assembly Health Committee, following a panel session examining the growing number of infections in the capital.
She said excluding pupils who have not had the MMR jab may soon be necessary if vaccination rates continue to fall.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘We might not be at the stage of making vaccination mandatory, but we are faced with a very worrying reality if we carry on on this trajectory.
‘Obviously no one wants to see children out of school, but there is a point where it becomes too dangerous for an unvaccinated child to be in that environment.
‘If there is a significant risk where someone could die – which is a very real risk with measles – then we have to consider stronger measures. The converse of not doing that is far too risky.’
Her warning comes as measles cases continue to rise. So far there have been 127 confirmed infections, with 71 recorded in Enfield alone.
But officials from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned the real number could be significantly higher, with around 300 suspected cases already reported.
The chairman warned that when NHS beds start getting taken up from measles, more will need to be done which could involve making it madnatory for schools to ban unvaccianted children
Vaccination coverage remains well below the level needed to stop the virus spreading. Just 69 per cent of children under five have received both doses of the MMR vaccine – far below the 95 per cent threshold required for herd immunity.
Dr Yimmy Chow, regional deputy director for the UKHSA, said: ‘It really is difficult to contain something as contagious as measles and we’re not there yet.
‘People are already infectious for days before the rash appears – so the exposure has already happened in the society. By the time we respond, we’re having to play catch-up if children are completely unvaccinated.
‘And what we are seeing from the most recent outbreak is that there are these specific pockets where vaccination rates are incredibly low, even compared to the London average.’
Measles is a highly infectious viral disease which can spread easily among those who are not fully vaccinated.
Symptoms typically begin with cold-like illness, but after a few days a distinctive rash develops.
There is no treatment and the illness can lead to serious complications including pneumonia, brain inflammation and permanent disability – with around one in five people infected requiring hospital treatment.
Public health experts have suggested that inequality may partly explain low vaccine uptake in some areas.
Dudu Sher-Arami, director of public health for Enfield, said: ‘We need to think about the circumstances in which families living in the most deprived areas are facing – low incomes, frequent shift work, and maybe temporary accommodation.
‘We know that for people in this situation, preventative healthcare may not be the highest thing on their to-do list so we need to take into consideration these factors in terms of widening access to vaccinations to protect the wider public.’
However officials say Enfield is not unique, with outbreaks occurring in other areas where vaccination rates are also low.
‘Any place where vaccination rates are low, there is a risk. It just so happens that this time it is in Enfield,’ Ms Best said.
‘I think what came through from the panel is that we’re living on a hope and a prayer that this isn’t a major breakthrough and if it’s not contained – which it hasn’t been – this could end in a fatality.’
Other boroughs with extremely low vaccination rates include Hammersmith and Fulham, Hackney, Westminster and Haringey.
Experts are also concerned about low uptake in the affluent borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where only 51 per cent of under-fives appear to be vaccinated.
While this could partly reflect the number of private and international schools in the area that do not share vaccination data, there are concerns that some parents believe their children are not at risk.
Susan Elden, a consultant in public health for NHS England who sat on the panel, said: ‘People forget that measles is very real. And whilst there is nothing like an outbreak to remind people how real it is, people are thinking differently about vaccines and whether they are really necessary for their children.’
Previously Dr Nisa Aslam, a London-based GP who was not involved in the panel, told the Daily Mail: ‘I don’t think it’s necessarily because of logistical challenges – there are parents who are actively refusing vaccines, whether that’s due to a mistrust in the government or complacency.’
Experts say more transparency around vaccination data may be needed to understand where the risks are highest.
Ms Best added: ‘It could be that in these more affluent areas, people don’t think measles will ever affect them – which we know isn’t true.
‘Or it could simply be that we don’t have the data to build the best picture of the most at risk areas – because this data hasn’t been shared with us.
‘I think there’s something insidious about state mandate the public don’t trust, but having that data to protect our children is where we have to draw the line.
‘Somewhere that data needs to be held and needs to be communicated.’
She suggested schools could introduce systems that flag to parents when their children have not been vaccinated – which she described as one of the most important steps to protect children.
Health officials also warned that efforts to contain the outbreak are placing pressure on routine vaccination programmes.
Susan Elden said: ‘Losing our measles elimination status wasn’t entirely surprising, but what has become very apparent is that we have to work differently.
‘It’s no longer about simply going to your GP and asking for a vaccine because we know there are children who are completely unvaccinated which means there is potential for the outbreak to grow.
‘Everything was set up for routine vaccination, but now we’re having to pull school vaccination teams who vaccinate against things like HPV to play catch-up, which means there is a lot more work on the ground.’
She added: ‘It’s a balance and our efforts have to be proportional. We can’t keep on having a lot of catch up campaigns and not getting that fundamental childhood programme in.’
