Parents are risking their children's lives by failing to vaccinate them against serious childhood illnesses.

Health experts in Oxfordshire fear an alarming drop in the number of children being immunised could lead to an epidemic in measles, mumps and rubella.

All three conditions are easily prevented by the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. But figures reveal that about 500 children in the county were not vaccinated in 1998 - an increase of 280 compared with 1996.

Without the vaccine, children run the risk of catching measles, which can be fatal, mumps, which used to be the biggest cause of viral meningitis, and rubella, which can damage unborn babies if the mother catches it while pregnant. Dr Kathy Cann, a consultant in communicable disease control with Oxfordshire Health Auth- ority, said: "Children should be given an initial MMR vaccination at 13 months, followed by a pre-school booster at four and a half years.

"If parents refuse to do this, they should understand that they are putting their children at risk."

The MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988 and has brought about a dramatic reduction in the number of children dying from measles-related illnesses.

Story date: Tuesday 09 February

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