First Measles Death Suspected In South Wales

A 25-year-old man from Swansea has died from suspected measles, according to public health officials.

The body of the man, who has not been named, was discovered by a relative on Thursday morning at his home in the Port Tennant area of the city. A post-mortem is due to be carried out to confirm the cause of death.

Dr Marion Lyons, Director of Health Protection, said in a statement: "Public Health Wales is aware of a death being investigated by the Swansea Coroner.

"A diagnosis of measles has not yet been confirmed.  Testing the deceased for measles is forming part of the investigations being overseen by the Coroner.

Parents queue outside a vaccination clinic a few weeks ago

"My sympathies are with the family at such a tragic time.  Whatever the cause of death in this case, we should not be surprised if, as the outbreak grows, we start to see deaths in Wales.

"Measles is a potentially fatal disease and around one in every 1,000 people who contracts measles in developed countries will die.

"We continue to work to end the current outbreak of measles, which is centred on the Swansea area, and which has now passed 800 cases."

Mass vaccination has begun in schools in Swansea on a scale never seen before in South Wales.

Some 5,000 children have been identified as at risk in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot and five schools in the area are offering immunisations over the next three days to try to halve that figure.

Public Health Wales has recorded a 10% rise in cases of the virus since last week, bringing the total number affected since the start of the outbreak in November to 765.

Of those, 77 have had to receive some form of hospital treatment.

Last week Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged parents to come forward. Speaking in the Commons, he reassured parents about a global scare, which was sparked by the claims of a doctor 15 years ago.

"What Andrew Wakefield said had absolutely no scientific basis and has caused huge damage and huge worry to many thousands of parents," he said.

"It is very important to reiterate that the scientific way to prevent measles, which can be a horrible, even fatal disease, is to make sure that you have had two doses of MMR."

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