By Stephen Topping
A 'caring' schoolgirl who 'always had a smile on her face' died after suffering complications from measles - 10 years after she was infected.
Rebecca Archer, from Salford, lost her 10 year old daughter Renae last September. Renae caught measles as a baby when she was too young to be vaccinated. But a decade later, she developed a rare brain disease which was caused by her measles infection.
Her motor functions began to deteriorate, before her family tragically had to turn off Renae's life support. Six months on, Rebecca is urging parents to make sure their child is vaccinated, to avoid spreading measles in the same way someone passed the infection onto Renae - with fatal consequences.
Rebecca said: "It's like a nightmare, it's still hard to believe that's why Renae's not here anymore. Because of having the measles 10 years previous." At five months old, Renae suffered a fever and began struggling to breathe, prompting Rebecca to call for an ambulance.
Renae was rushed to hospital and kept in overnight, as doctors diagnosed her with measles, reports the Manchester Evening News. "She was poorly for a few days," said Rebecca. "After that, everything went back to normal - she was fit and healthy."
After a decade of good health, Rebecca received a shocking call from Renae's school. They told her that Renae had suffered a seizure. Renae started having seizures 'every week', according to Rebecca. After the third incident, an MRI scan revealed 'swelling' on her brain.
"Her motor functions started to deteriorate - she just slowly couldn't speak or eat," Rebecca added. "When she went into [intensive care], they didn't know what was actually causing it."
Doctors finally discovered that Renae's sudden decline was due to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) - a very rare but severe complication from measles. The NHS says SSPE symptoms appear years after the measles infection and usually result in the patient entering a coma or dying.
"That's when they told me it was going to be fatal," Rebecca said. "And then we had to make a decision to turn the machines off." Now, all that's left for Renae's family are memories of their joyful little girl. "She was just really lovely and caring, and liked to make everyone laugh," Rebecca recalled. "She always had a smile on her face. She'd always seen the positive in everything as well."
Renae was still seven months away from getting her measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is usually given to children around their first birthday. However, the NHS has noticed a recent drop in the uptake of the MMR vaccine, and in Greater Manchester, the number of people catching measles is on the rise.
The NHS warns that measles is very easy to catch and can spread to about 15 other people if someone has it and they haven't had their jabs. They say it's really important for kids to get their MMR vaccine so they don't get sick. Rebecca said: "[Renae hadn't] had the MMR because she was under 12 months old. If there wasn't an outbreak and more kids had their vaccinations, then she wouldn't have got the measles in the first place. And it wouldn't have ultimately ended her life."
Measles can make people very sick and cause problems like not being able to see or hear well, or even swelling of the brain. Babies, mums-to-be, and people who are already not feeling well can get bad complications from measles.
There's no special medicine for measles, but getting two MMR jabs can protect you for a long time. Dr Manisha Kumar, a doctor in Greater Manchester, said: "Rebecca's story is one example of many, that illustrate why we need to urgently reverse the decline in the uptake of childhood vaccinations, in order to protect not only ourselves and our families, but our wider communities.
"We hope that through brave people like Rebecca coming forward with their personal stories, combined with the multi-media campaign, it will serve as a reminder that these diseases have not gone away and it will encourage parents and guardians to check their children's vaccination status and book appointments if any immunisations have been missed. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are needed to get life-long protection against measles, mumps and rubella.
"Simply by ensuring you have both doses you not only protect you and your family against the illness, but also those who you come into contact with who may be vulnerable."
In the UK, more than 20 million cases of measles have been prevented since vaccination against the disease began during the 1980s, according to data from UK Health Security Agency. The data suggests that 81 lives a year in the UK have been saved as a result of the vaccine.
