Health officials warn epidemics similar to the one in Swansea, which has seen nearly 900 cases, could occur anywhere.

There are fears that a generation of children have low levels of protection after the MMR scare a decade ago.

The catch-up campaign, run through GPs, schools and community groups, will focus on children aged 10 to 16.

The campaign is expected to cost £20m and the Department of Health already has 1.2 million vaccines ready to go.

It will aim to vaccinate children yet to be protected with the MMR – measles, mumps and rubella – jab by September.

Measles is a highly contagious disease characterised by a high fever and a rash. In one in 15 cases it can lead to severe complications, such as pneumonia and inflammation of the brain, and can be fatal.

In 2012, there were nearly 2,000 cases of measles in England – the highest figure for nearly two decades.

This year could be another record with cases already higher than at the same point last year.

Discredited research

Children aged between 10 and 16 are the most likely to have missed jabs when research linked MMR with autism and caused vaccination rates to plummet. The research has since been discredited.

The most urgent need for vaccination is in the third-of-a-million completely unprotected children in that age group. They should be given their first MMR jab before the next school year and a booster jab later.

A similar number of children who had only their first MMR vaccine will be targeted with their booster.

The aim is to give a further third-of-a-million children in other age groups, who are not totally protected, their vaccines as well.

Prof David Salisbury, the director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said parents needed to act to prevent outbreaks on their doorstep.

“Swansea is the wake-up call for parents and it tells us just how infectious measles is – it just spreads like wildfire.

“If you think your child has not had one or even two doses of MMR, for goodness’ sake contact your GP and get it sorted out.

“The message from Swansea is very clear and it is trivialised at the risk of your children’s health.”

Similar plans are already under way in Wales.

Both Scotland and Northern Ireland maintained relatively high MMR uptake but NHS boards in Scotland are to write to parents of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children aged 10 to 17 with an invitation to attend for vaccination over the next few weeks.

Danger zones

Figures from Public Health England show there have been 587 confirmed cases of measles in the first three months of 2013.

Measles outbreak: In graphics ‘Make measles jab mandatory’ call

A fifth of cases needed hospital treatment and 15 people developed complications such as pneumonia, meningitis and gastroenteritis.

The cases were mostly in the north-east and north-west of England, even though the north of the country generally maintained high levels of vaccination at the height of the MMR scare.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England, said: “We have potential for school outbreaks in many areas of the country.

“The areas most likely to be affected would be London and the south and east of the country, where we know that the historical coverage was not as high.”

Prof Salisbury said he worried about London because of the high density of people, who were rapidly moving.

He warned that children who received single jabs, instead of the combined MMR, may also need additional protection as there had been “major problems” with the quality and storage of some of the vaccines handed out.

He added that nobody should be considering single jabs now.

Dr Paul Cosford, the director for health protection at Public Health England, said: “Although nationally the numbers needing catch-up vaccination is quite large, there are relatively few in each local area.

“We are confident that local teams have the resources to identify and vaccinate those children most at risk.”

The number of cases in the Swansea measles epidemic has now reached 765, amid warnings it will continue to rise for weeks.

Health officials said there had been an increase of 72 since last Thursday.

Some 77 people have been hospitalised since the start of the outbreak in November last year.

Health Minister Mark Drakeford said the only way to halt the outbreak was to ensure those who need the MMR vaccination got it.

However, Conservative opponents have accused the Welsh government of responding slowly to the epidemic.

In a letter to the assembly’s children and young people committee, Mr Drakeford reveals that Public Health Wales convened its first outbreak control management meeting on 18 February.

There were 168 notified cases in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board area by the time the meeting was convened.

The Conservatives said the health minister should make a statement to the assembly chamber.

Mr Drakeford and First Minister Carwyn Jones will face questions about the outbreak in the Senedd later on Tuesday.

The health minister said the Welsh government was aware the outbreak “is yet to reach its peak”.

The minister, who has written to update AMs, MPs and health boards, added: “Indeed, we can fully expect cases to continue to occur for a number of weeks yet.

“The only way to halt the outbreak is to ensure as many people as possible have the MMR vaccine to protect themselves, their children, family members and others in the community who may not be protected for a variety of reasons.”

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board will begin vaccination sessions in schools on Wednesday.

Catch-up clinics

Other health boards will also offer school catch-up clinics targeting schools with low vaccine uptake.

Last weekend, around 1,750 people received the MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccination at special clinics held in four hospitals.

Mr Drakeford said: “It is encouraging that parents are continuing to bring their children forward but the numbers need to be higher to bring the outbreak under control.”

But the minister said it was estimated around 5,000 children remain at risk from measles in the Swansea area.

Mr Drakeford added: “I anticipate therefore that the numbers of cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks until the levels of MMR vaccination coverage reach levels where the continuing circulation of measles in the community can be interrupted.”

Details showing the extent of the Swansea measles epidemic and other cases across Wales have been published online by Public Health Wales (PHW).

The page includes up to date figures and details of how the epidemic has grown weekly since 1 November, 2012.

It also lists the total number of measles notifications for every health board across Wales.

Tory health spokesman Darren Millar said: “It is extremely disappointing that no oral statement has been scheduled and it’s about time ministers broke their silence.

“We need to know what conversations ministers are having with health boards, when they first became aware of the epidemic, and what long-term plans are being put in place to deal with uptake of the MMR jab in those parts of Wales where it remains low.”

The latest figure is an increase of 32 on Friday, with around 15 to 20 new cases being confirmed every day.

Public Health Wales said there had been an excellent response to drop-in vaccination clinics last weekend.

But it warned 6,000 children have still not received the jab.

Parents across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend are being urged to get their children vaccinated.

The figure in the Swansea area is now just two short of the outbreak in the north west of England in the year to February 2013. Most of these cases were on Merseyside, in Greater Manchester and west Lancashire.

About 1,700 people were vaccinated at special hospital drop-in clinics at the weekend, which health officials called an “excellent” response.

But they say at least 6,000 children are still unvaccinated in the county of Swansea.

‘Not judging’

Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for Public Health Wales said: “We cannot be confident that the outbreak will not continue to grow with so many children still at risk from this very contagious and potentially fatal disease.”

Some 60 people have been hospitalised since the start of the outbreak.

Sara Hayes, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board’s director of public health, said: “Many children who missed the MMR jabs when they were little will be sitting exams once they go back to school.

“We are not in any way judgmental about why their children may have missed the MMR in the past. The important thing is that they get the jab now,” she added.

Before the introduction of the MMR in 1988, about half a million children caught measles and about 100 died from it each year in the UK.

Concerns over the jab’s safety were raised in the late 1990s when a surgeon published a since discredited paper in The Lancet suggesting MMR was linked to an increased risk of autism.

That paper, and subsequent media coverage, led to immunisation rates plummeting.

Although the epidemic is based in Swansea, cases continue to be reported across Wales.

Most are in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health region, which also includes Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend.

There are also cases in Powys and in the Hywel Dda Health Board area, which covers Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.

Officials have said it is “just a matter of time” before a child is left with serious and permanent complications, such as eye disorders, deafness or brain damage, or even dies.

Typical symptoms of measles include fever, cough, conjunctivitis and a rash. Complications are quite common even in healthy people, and about 20% of reported measles cases experience one or more complication.

These can include ear infections, vomiting and diarrhoea, pneumonia, meningitis and serious eye disorders.

Meanwhile, a Swansea newspaper has defended itself against claims that its 1990s anti-MMR campaign was to blame.

Jonathan Roberts, editor of the South Wales Evening Post, said the campaign was hard-hitting but reflected parents’ concerns at the time about the safety of the vaccine.

It is the first time the newspaper has responded to claims that its campaign could have been responsible for a lower uptake of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine in the Swansea area.

“It is clear that there were genuine concerns in the mid-90s about MMR and the Post gave them full and responsible coverage,” he said in the article on the Evening Post website.

He added that “with the benefit of hindsight” it is easy to be critical.

“To judge it honestly and fairly, one has to consider the fear which existed at the time, the fact that medical experts were publicly expressing concerns about the vaccine and the duty of this paper to reflect public opinion.”

Mr Roberts will host a live webchat at 14:30 BST on Tuesday on the paper’s website.

Operations are due to resume early next week after a meeting between NHS bosses and other partners on Thursday night.

Data suggested death rates there were double that of other centres, but experts have questioned their accuracy.

However, the Department of Health (DoH) said the NHS was right to investigate safety at the unit.

A spokesperson said: “We support NHS England and the trust in their decision to suspend surgery last week on the basis that there were serious concerns that needed to be investigated.

“If the trust and the regulators are content that these concerns can now be explained or addressed then we would support a joint decision to resume surgery.”

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said work would be done over the weekend to give “sufficient assurance” the unit is safe to reopen, early next week.

Doctors and other medical experts said the data on death rates had not been verified and was not fit to base a decision to close the unit on.

But, Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of NHS England, said the figures were among a “constellation of reasons” the decision was made. He has been backed by health secretary Jeremy Hunt.

A senior Westminster source has told the BBC that “as far as the secretary of state is concerned, Sir Bruce Keogh was right to ask questions about the safety of heart surgery at the unit”.

Parents had criticised the timing of the suspension of surgery at the unit, which came 24 hours after a High Court judge ruled that a decision-making process to close it as part of an England-wide reorganisation of services was “legally flawed”.

‘Losing faith’

Stuart Andrew, the Conservative MP for Pudsey, called for “some really serious investigating” into the decision to suspend surgery.

Mr Andrew claimed a review of the mortality figures showed “Leeds is within the average and is a safe unit to use”.

He said recent events raised questions about the NHS decision to close the Leeds unit for good and concentrate children’s heart surgery in fewer centres.

“We are losing faith in that review process,” said Mr Andrew.

“Some of these people are the same people on that decision-making body.”

Lois Brown, whose five-year-old daughter had life-saving heart treatment at the hospital, described the decision to restart surgery as “fantastic”.

Ms Brown has been involved in the campaign and court action to save the unit from closure.

She said she wanted answers as to why the unit was shut.

“I’m really relieved that children are going to get surgery at Leeds again,” she said.

“For the past week and a bit we have been putting children’s lives at risk for no reason, apparently.”