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The Pacific Martial Arts Conference hosted 10 short classes, which spanned disciplines from around the world.
Nathan Wilk / KLCC
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Oregons martial arts community is still rebuilding after the pandemic. One sign of a comeback: For the first time in four years, students and teachers gathered for a conference last week in Eugene.
The students practiced their spinning back kicks, took turns throwing their partners to the ground, and sparred in slow-motion with wooden sticks.
Some people showed up in uniform white gis and brightly colored belts. Others arrived in T-shirts and sweatpants.
This is the Pacific Martial Arts Conference, or PacMAC. It was held Jan. 20 at Best Martial Arts Institute in Eugene.
Instructors from Oregon and Washington state came together to share about their styles, which ranged from Wing Chun kung fu to medieval Italian knife combat.
Alan Best founded the event in 2007. He said its a chance for martial artists to break out of their insular communities and find common ground.
When we first started the conference, the thing that blew people away was how similar we are, said Best. People think that their art is the only one that does that particular kind of practice. And then they realize, oh, everybody else does this, too.
Best said this months gathering drew over 60 people, despite an ice storm that hit the region just days before. Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor Padme Grace said she traveled four hours from Long Beach, Washington, to attend.
Im looking for little nuggets of something good that I can pass along to my school, said Grace. So I take a lot of notes.
In bare feet, participants stand ready for one of the days short lessons. Elida Stewart of Eugenes Family Karate Center leads them through a kata, or a choreographed sequence of attacks.
Stewart has had a martial arts studio, or dojo, in Lane County for over three decades. She said at this event, shes found camaraderie and friendship.
Some of these people Ive known for 20-plus years, and I havent seen them since 2020, said Stewart. So to get together is immensely valuable.
Elida Stewart leads her class.
Nathan Wilk / KLCC
The conference comes in the wake of the pandemic, which instructors say left a lasting impact on martial arts, both locally and nationally. Best said many schools couldnt pay their rent during lockdowns and had to shut down permanently.
Thats just so tragic, said Stewart. Will we ever truly recover?
Stewart said dojos arent just for self defense, but building confidence and resistance to adversity.
Kids at some point dont want to listen to their parents, but they never dont want to listen to their sensei, she said. And so its a really awesome way to inspire and help the youth go and have character, and have honor, and integrity, and all the things we want them to have.
Grace said a dojos community is larger than the building itself.
If theres something thats going on in somebodys life, a lot of times theyre divorced or have grandparents that are taking care of their kids, we lend a helping hand wherever we can, said Grace. And we are a village.
For the schools that remain, instructors say theyve seen signs of recovery, and some even report a boom in attendance in recent years.
With this conference, Best said he hopes to encourage the trade of ideas and teaching practices. He said in previous years, instructors have been able to form partnerships and host each other as guest speakers.
Fortunately, martial arts is such a solid part of our American culture now that I think were pretty safe with martial arts being around forever, he said. Its just a matter of how it evolves and honestly, things like PacMAC are right there helping us evolve maybe a little faster than it normally would.
For those curious about Eugenes martial arts community, Stewart said theres no time like the present.
Ive always wanted to do that. I hear that a lot, she said. And I think that the only way you can get it off the bucket list into reality is by taking the first step, which is to show up the first day.
Organizers plan to host the Pacific Martial Arts Conference again later this year.
Currently, there is a rise in COVID-19 cases nationwide. Therefore, I decided to write an update to my post that I did 1.5 years ago. Let's find out what is new in the COVID-19 and brain research area and how to deal with long-term COVID-19.
Neuroimaging and neuropathological studies results.
There is agreement that COVID-19 is a systemic illness often involving the central nervous system. Reportedly, neurological symptoms affect more than 30 percent of COVID-19 patients. Frequently, there is neurological involvement in all stages of this illness, such as acute, subacute, chronic, and post-acute sequelae.
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Even asymptomatic patients can develop neurological symptoms and conditions such as headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), Guillain-Barre syndrome (in which a person's immune system attacks peripheral nerves), encephalopathy (brain disease or malfunction), and myelopathy (neurologic deficits related to the spinal cord).
The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of COVID-19 patients revealed a reduction in grey matter thickness mainly in the orbitofrontal cortex (that processes sensory information, decision-making, and emotions.) and the parahippocampal gyrus (that plays an important role in memory encoding and retrieval.) and are associated with the greater reduction in global brain size and greater cognitive decline. The virus can directly infect endothelial cells of the brain (cells that make up the lining of blood vessels), which may promote clot formation and stroke.
In some patients, COVID-19 causes an ischemic stroke (caused by a lack of blood reaching part of the brain). The review of strokes in 455 patients (Finsterer J. et al., 2022) indicates that stroke occurs in all age groups and predominantly in males. The ischemic stroke is multifactorial but usually embolic (a blockade of a blood supply to the part of the brain by a blood clot).
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The researchers also indicated cardiovascular risk factors are frequently present in patients who suffered from a stroke and that COVID-19 stroke may co-occur with the onset of pulmonary symptoms or up to 40 days later. Interestingly, when the virus enters the brain, it mainly affects astrocytes (glial cells in the central nervous system that supply the building blocks of neurotransmitters) and may cause neuronal death or dysfunction (Crunfli, F. et al., 2022). The researchers suggest that these processes could contribute to the structural and functional changes in the brains of COVID-19 patients.
Cognitive and mental health studies results.
Quite a few studies now indicate cognitive changes after COVID-19 illness. The cognitive problems mainly include memory, attention, executive functions, processing speed, and visuospatial deficits, but may also include other brain functions.
The research indicates that cognitive impairments can be seen even in asymptomatic patients. Also, non-hospitalized patients have a significantly higher likelihood of developing mental health problems. These problems may include mood dysregulation, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and even psychosis.
Some research suggests that some patients can develop cognitive and psychotic symptoms even two years after the infection. This, unfortunately, also includes dementia.
About one-third of COVID-19 survivors suffer from a variety of symptoms long after they were first infected. "Brain fog" is the most frequently reported and is one of the symptoms that persist for weeks and months after the disease and significantly affects survivors' everyday functioning.
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Brain fog is not medical terminology. It is rather a description of patient's use for various symptoms they are experiencing. It is mainly described as slow and sluggish thinking and fuzziness, but it can also include searching for words, memory, concentration, problem-solving difficulties, and fatigue. The good news is that usually, there is some improvement in neurological deficits a few months after the infection.
However, there is a correlation between symptom severity and the degree of neurological deficits. An interesting review was published in 2023 (Zhao, S. et al., 2023). The researchers reviewed cognitive changes during the acute and chronic stages of COVID-19.
The results suggest that problems with executive functioning were frequently reported during the acute stage. However, during the chronic phase (three months to two years), mild and moderately infected patients reported attention, executive functioning, and memory deficits. However, the good news is that the recovery can occur within the first year after the infection.
The research indicates that severe COVID-19 is associated with long-term cognitive impairments, but even mild COVID-19 can cause changes in the brain that can lead to cognitive deficits. Therefore, it is best to do whatever it takes not to get sick. However, if you have had COVID-19 and are experiencing some cognitive deficits, it may be beneficial to contact your community neuropsychology office and complete a neuropsychological evaluation.
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This will show if you have some cognitive deficits (memory, attention/concentration, information processing, etc.), how much (mild, moderate, severe impairments), and how to improve or maintain your cognitive functioning.
References
Hingorani, K.S., et al. COVID-19 and the brain. Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine. Volume 32, Issue 6, 2022.
Finsterer, J. et al. Ischemic stroke in 455 COVID-19 patients. Science Direct, Volume 77, January-December 2022
Crunfli, F. et al. Morphological, cellular, and molecular basis of brain infection in COVID-19 patients. PNAS, August 11, 2022 .
Zhao, S. et al. Effects of COVID-19 on cognition and brain health. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Vol 27, Issue 11, 2023.
Li-Shan Sia, A. et al. Brain fog and COVID-19. The American Journal of the Mdical Sciences. Volume 365, Issue 5, May 2023.
Despite telemedicine visits stabilizing around May 2021 and decreasing after the COVID-19 pandemic peak, mental health video visits continued to increase in the past year, a new study found.1
This [Veteran Affairs] study provides an updated timeline of the fluctuations in use of in-person care and telemedicine since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, wrote investigators. A new equilibrium has emerged in which telephone-based care has largely returned to prepandemic levels, whereas video based care accounts for 11% to 12% of outpatient care (2300% increase from a prepandemic level of 0.5%).
During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people turned to telemedicine for healthcare visitseven individuals on Medicare.2 Before the pandemic, Medicare beneficiaries could not use the telehealth service unless access to in-person care was limited by location. This changed with the pandemicduring that time, the department of health and human services waived some of its telehealth restrictions for Medicare, making it easier for some individuals to get to their appointments.2
The study, led by Jacqueline M. Ferguson, PhD, from the Center for Innovation to Implementation at Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in Menlo Park, California, sought to assess the format trends of clinical outpatient visits between January 1, 2019 and August 2023.1 The team assessed outpatient visits that took place in person, by telephone, and by video before, during, and after the pandemic. Before the pandemic was March 11, 2020, during the pandemic was March 11, 2020May 10, 2023, and after the pandemic was marked by the end of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration on May 11, 2023.
Participants came from the US Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system, and the investigators identified 277,348,286 clinical outpatient visits through the Veteran Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse. The database contained data from 9 million veterans enrolled in Veteran Affairs services and approximately 5.4 million used Veteran Affairs outpatient healthcare services in 2019.
The data included in the study was comprised of 91% males, 72% White participants, and 65% who lived in urban settings. Health care visits were categorized by care service (primary care, mental health, subspecialty care), and modality (in-person, mental health, and video).
The team observed Veteran Affairs had 1.14 million primary care, subspecialty, or mental health visits every week and 4.9 million visits every month. The number of visits began to decrease at the start of the pandemic and did not stabilize until March 2021.
Notably, this stabilization occurred when vaccines were widely available2 years before the end of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration, wrote investigators.
In-person primary care and mental health services were replaced by telemedicine. As in-person visits decreased, telephone and video-based visits increased, with in-person visits reduced from 81% in February 2020 to 23% in May 2020.
However, telephone and video-based care began decreasing from a peak of 79.6% of care in April 2020 to 36.7% in April 2023. The percentage was mainly due to the decrease in telephone visitsnot video visitsas the number of video visits remained close to the peak at levels 11%13%.
Investigators pointed out people continued to utilize video visits for mental health but use for primary care and specialty visits began to decline as the pandemic neared its end. By August 2023, 34.5% of mental health visits, 3.7% of subspecialty visits, and 3.5% of primary care visits occurred on videoand 20.3%, 34.8%, and 16.7%, respectively, accounted for telephone visits.
The investigators stated 55% of mental health care continues to be provided via telemedicine, which is likely because mental health services have adapted to virtual platforms. Moreover, they pointed out while primary care and subspecialty telemedicine are often limited by the need for in-person evaluation, including physical examinations, 10% of primary and subspecialty care has switched over to telemedicine.
Although these nationwide trends can inform research and policy, they obscure disparities in access to and use of telemedicine that disproportionately affect older adults, individuals in rural regions, and patients from historically marginalized groups, investigators wrote. Future research should consider evaluating quality, safety, and health outcomes of telemedicine in this new equilibrium.
This article originally appeared in HCPLive.
The response has been almost like clockwork, at nearly every medical visit in the past few weeks. Its time for the flu shot, Ill say to my patients, plus the updated Covid vaccine. And thats when the groans start.
In the past, the flu shot elicited the most resistance. The patients at my New York City practice would take their other vaccinations without a second thought but balk at the flu shot because their sister is allergic to eggs or because theyre sure that the flu shot always gives them the flu or because they just dont do flu shots. Now, though, a majority of my patients respond along the lines of, Fine to do the flu shot sheepishly pause, then say but not the Covid.
When I ask my patients if they have any concerns or questions about the Covid vaccine, hardly any do. Practically no one asks me about safety data or how effective it is at preventing viral transmission, hospitalization and death. Almost no one asks me about current case counts or masking or Paxlovid. Theres just a vague hedge or an abashed, I dont know, I just dont. As I try to suss out whats on my patients minds, I can feel their slight sense of surprise that there is no specific issue causing their discomfort about getting the updated Covid vaccine. Its as though they have a communal case of the heebie-jeebies.
Health professionals everywhere are hearing this kind of hesitance among patients as Covid cases and hospitalizations have continued to rise during the winter. As of early January, the average number of Americans dying weekly from Covid was over 1,700. And yet the Jan. 19 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report indicated that only 21.8 percent of adults 18 and older have received the latest Covid vaccine less than half of the percentage of those who have gotten the flu vaccine.
Improving this situation isnt easy, and it will require health care providers wading into awkward conversations that are less about facts and more about emotions. But if we dont, we will be tolerating a level of preventable death that wed find unacceptable in any other realm of health care.
It is possible to acknowledge pandemic fatigue without throwing in the towel. Our communitys long-term health and lives depend on it.
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There have been 23 confirmed cases of measles since December 2023.
January 27, 2024, 5:02 PM ET
3 min read
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning clinicians to remain on alert for measles cases due to a growing number of infections.
Between Dec. 1, 2023, and Jan. 23, 2024, there have been 23 confirmed cases of measles including seven cases from international travelers and two outbreaks with five or more infections each, according to an email sent this week.
Cases have been reported in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the Washington, D.C. area so far.
Most of these cases were among children and adolescents who had not been vaccinated against measles, despite being eligible.
According to the CDC, most measles cases in the U.S. occur when unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Americans travel internationally, contract the disease and then spread it to those who are unvaccinated upon their return.
The federal health agency said the increase in cases in the U.S. reflects a global rise in infections and that there is a "growing global threat."
"Due to the recent cases, healthcare providers should be on alert for patients who have: (1) febrile rash illness and symptoms consistent with measles (e.g., cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis), and (2) have recently traveled abroad, especially to countries with ongoing measlesoutbreaks," the CDC wrote in its message.
If health care workers suspect a patient has measles, the CDC says the patient should be isolated immediately for at least four days from when symptoms appear and local or state health departments should be notified. The patient should then be tested, post-exposure prophylaxis should be provided to close contacts and all contacts who are not up to date on their measles vaccinations should be vaccinated.
Measles is a very contagious disease with the CDC saying every individual infected by the viruscan spread it to up to 10 close contacts if they are unprotected including not wearing a mask or not being vaccinated.
Complications from measlescan be relatively benign, including rashes, or they can be much more severe, such as viral sepsis, pneumonia, or brain swelling.
The CDCsaysanybody who either had measles at some point in their life or who has received two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is protected against measles.
One dose of the measles vaccine is 93% effective at preventing infection if exposed to the virus. Two doses are 97% effective.
In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the U.S., thanks to a highly effective vaccination campaign, but outbreaks have popped over the last few years in unvaccinated pockets of the country.
Between November 2022 and February 2023,85 children were sickenedwith measles in Ohio, 80 of whom were unvaccinated.
In California, an unidentified person with measles who visited Disneyland caused an outbreak,infecting 125 peoplebetween December 2014 and February 2015.
The story so far: On January 22, Cameroon in Africa became the first country in the world to launch the RTS, S malaria vaccine for children into its routine national immunisation services. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the rollout follows a malaria vaccine pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, as efforts gather pace to scale up vaccination against the disease in high risk areas. Twenty countries aim to roll out the programme this year, according to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and other outfits which aim to provide equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the worlds poorest countries.
Malaria is one of the biggest killers of children under five across the world and according to WHO data, more than 30 countries have areas with moderate to high malaria transmission. Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bite of the infected female Anopheles mosquito. It is preventable and curable.
In 2022, nearly half of the worlds population was at risk of malaria. According to the WHOs World Malaria Report 2023, while Africa bears the highest malaria burden, accounting for 94% of cases and 95% of global malaria deaths in 2022, India in 2022, accounted for a staggering 66% of malaria cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region. India and Indonesia accounted for about 94% of all malaria deaths in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Despite a 55% reduction in cases since 2015, India remains a significant contributor to the global malaria burden. The Health Ministry said that over the past 15 years, India has made progress in reducing its malaria burden. It has a vision for a malaria-free country by 2027 and elimination by 2030.
The current rollout is part of a UNICEF initiative where the contract for the first-ever supply of a malaria vaccine was given to British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company GSK with a value of up to $170 million, according to an official release by the organisation. This, it said, would lead to 18 million doses of the vaccine RTS,S/AS01 being available over the next three years. UNICEF adds that the RTS,S malaria vaccine is the result of 35 years of research and development and is the first-ever vaccine against a parasitic disease. The vaccine acts against Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally. Meanwhile, the anticipated rollout of a second jab R21 developed by Oxford University, is expected to significantly increase the number of doses available for use. This is to be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, which aims to make 100 million doses per year, so long as it passes the regulatory approvals following its recommendation for use by the WHO last year.
The vaccine, as per WHO, should be provided in a schedule of four doses in children from around five months of age. It further adds that a 5th dose, given one year after dose 4, may be considered in areas where there is a significant malaria risk remaining in children a year after receiving dose 4.
While India will have to wait for the vaccination to be introduced here with no date set as of now, the vaccine is currently for areas with highly seasonal malaria or areas with perennial malaria transmission with seasonal peaks; countries may consider providing the vaccine using an age-based administration, seasonal administration, or a hybrid of these approaches. WHO adds that countries should prioritise vaccination in areas of moderate and high transmission. Decisions on expanding to low transmission settings should be considered at a country level, based on the overall malaria control strategy, affordability, and programme considerations. Given this spread and the need for a vaccine, Dr. Kate OBrien, WHO Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, had noted that with the initial limited supply of the current vaccine it is crucial that children living in areas where the risk of disease and need is highest are prioritised first. Efficacy of RTS,S/AS01 vaccine is modest, yet still provides significant public health benefits. The current vaccine works well with the malaria control interventions recommended by WHO including insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying of insecticides, rapid diagnosis and treatment etc.
Experts say climate change emerges as a major driver, affecting malaria transmission and overall burden. Changing climate conditions enhance the sensitivity of the malaria pathogen and vector, facilitating its spread. WHO emphasises the substantial risk climate change poses to malaria progress, necessitating sustainable and resilient responses.
The science spells it out as the climate changes, vulnerable corners of South East Asia face a growing threat of malaria. Rising temperatures let mosquitoes spread to new turf, while warmer, more humid conditions help the parasite prosper inside the bug. Regions like eastern India, the hill tracts of Bangladesh, parts of Myanmar, and Indonesian Papua already grapple with malaria. With increased travel around the globe, infections could easily spill over into new areas, said Dr. Kaushik Sarkar, director, Institute for Health Modelling and Climate Solutions. He added that to get ahead of this, India needs to double down on ways to battle the bite, from better tracking of illnesses to making prevention and treatment more available where its needed most.
German researchers have developed a novel immunization technique that simplifies and accelerates the development of vaccines. This method, involving the fusion of antigen proteins to a membrane-bound protein, has shown promising results in targeting diseases like COVID-19 and offers potential in the fight against HIV-1.
A team of researchers in Germany has created an innovative system for presenting epitopes in mammalian cells, aimed at immunization research. This method is anticipated to significantly aid scientists in their immunization endeavors. Their research was recently published in the journal Biology Methods and Protocols.
Promoting blood cells to produce antibodies against a specific viral protein is an important step in developing vaccines for human use. This can be challenging for researchers because whether the subjects develop antibodies depends on how scientists design and administer antigens, which are parts of the virus theyre administering to test the effectiveness of the vaccine.
One very important aspect of virus research is how to express and purify the antigen for vaccination. Animals immunized with prepared antigens produce specific antibodies against the antigen. But scientists have to isolate the antigen to ensure that they develop the vaccine to target the specific disease they wish to combat. Once researchers purify the antigen, they can develop vaccines that lead subjects to produce the desired antibodies. But this isolation is especially time-consuming when attempting to develop lab-produced antigens as a virus often mutates rapidly. It can take several weeks for scientists to develop the right antigens.
Here scientists developed a new method to induce target-specific immune responses. By fusing antigen proteins into a tetraspanin-derived anchor membrane-bound protein, the researchers created fusion proteins that are displayed predominantly on the surface of human cells. The exposition of proteins on the surface by a carrier protein induces the production of antibodies directed against the appropriate, relevant, antigens. Of additional advantage is that these antigens have the same conformation and modifications as the corresponding proteins in the virus because they are made by cells similar to that in the human body, which the virus infects naturally.
This new display technology could be a potentially much more reliable immunization technique. In the study here the researchers were able to induce antibodies against different proteins with a focus on the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The developed anchor protein allows scientists to target a specific disease for immunization purposes without the need to purify the antigen. The researchers are convinced that this technique can speed up the immunization process enormously.
This work that is based on the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 and is only the beginning of a very interesting immunization technique, said Daniel Ivanusic, one of the papers authors. The most challenging, significant, and exciting application for us employing the tANCHOR technology is to induce neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1. I think this will be great!
Reference: tANCHOR fast and cost-effective cell-based immunization approach with focus on the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 by Hubert Bernauer, Anja Schlr, Josef Maier, Norbert Bannert, Katja Hanack and Daniel Ivanusic, 12 December 2023, Biology Methods and Protocols. DOI: 10.1093/biomethods/bpad030
The study was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany.
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A mother whose eleven-month-old son was rushed to hospital with measles has called for the MMR vaccine to be made available to children before the age of one.
Kelly Smart, whose son Oscar was taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital after showing symptoms of the highly contagious disease, said that it was 'frustrating' that it 'wasn't an option' for him to have been given a first dose of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccination.
In Britain, children are given the vaccination in two doses. The first is offered at one-year-old, with a booster given at three-years-old and four months.
Eleven-month-old Oscar had been due to have his dose the following month.
'It felt like every time he was blinking there were more dots appearing down his body,' Ms Smart told Sky News, referring to the tell-tale red rash that appears on those that have contracted the illness.
Once paramedics arrived, Oscar was 'instantly' taken to hospital and was treated in an isolation ward. He was running a high fever.
'He just looked awful, his eyes were swollen, his top lip was swollen, he was pale,' Ms Smart recalled. Oscar is now recovering.
The UK is currently battling a measles outbreak that has concerned health professionals.
The UK Health Security Agency has declared a national incident and warned last week of 'further outbreaks' without 'urgent action taken to increase MMR uptake in areas at greatest risk.'
There have been 216 confirmed cases of measles and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands between October 1 and January 18. Over 80% have been in Birmingham.
There are thought to be some 3.4m people under the age of 16 at risk from contracting measles, due to a declining uptake in MMR vaccination.
'We're at a point where there's a very large susceptible population of children,' Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, the chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation told The Guardian. He added that a vaccination rate of over 95% is required 'to keep measles at bay'.
The percentage of children aged five having had a full course of the MMR vaccination has declined to 84.5%, according to health data, the lowest level in over a decade.
In 2017, the World Health Organisation had declared the UK measles-free. This status was rescinded within two years. The UN body warned recently of a thirty-fold increase in cases across Europe.
Debate about the particularly quick rise in measles cases and declining vaccine uptake in the UK has focussed attention on logistical difficulties for parents, suspicion of vaccines generally, and NHS overstretch.
There are also concerns that children born during the pandemic may have missed their initial or second dose of MMR, requiring them to catch-up.
Children born during the pandemic are now older than the standard age-range that are seen by doctors for regular vaccinations.
In 2021, according to the UK Health Security Agency, there were only 360 cases of measles reported across the country. There were 1,603 in 2023. The majority of these cases were in children under the age of 10.
The NHS has been rolling out 'pop-up' vaccination centres in areas most affected by measles.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins appealed to parents to take their children for vaccination.
'It is completely safe,' she said. 'There are two types of vaccination which can help people who may be worried about pork products,' she added.
'We can absolutely help you get vaccinated to help the whole community.'
