WITH cases of measles and whooping cough on the rise, health experts are urging people across Wales and the UK to make sure they are fully vaccinated.
A spokesperson for Public Health Wales has confirmed: "There were nine cases in Wales in 2023. None so far this year (2024)."
Dr Christopher Johnson, head of the vaccine preventable disease programme at Public Health Wales, said: “Although this measles outbreak has been brought to a close, it remains vital that parents ensure that their children are fully vaccinated with two doses to prevent any further outbreaks.
“Measles is a highly infectious disease that can cause serious and life-changing complications, and vaccination is the safest and most effective way of protecting your children from it.”
But for some people with particular religious beliefs or dietary requirements this may be more difficult than it sounds.
Mystery ingredient
Porcine (or pork) gelatine is found in various vaccines and acts as a stabiliser while the vaccine is stored. It can be found in certain vitamin capsules as well, if they have a gel-like coating.
Public Health Wales issued a statement in December 2023, going into detail about vaccines and porcine gelatine, and said: “Vaccine manufacturers normally test a wide range of stabilisers and choose one that is stable, good quality and can meet demand.”
This means aside from looking for a stabiliser that can do its job, manufacturers have to think economically too.
Who would avoid taking anything containing porcine?
This ingredient can be a tough pill to swallow for those that avoid pork products for diet, religious or health reasons.
Vegetarians or vegans, and those that observe Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Christian faiths may try to avoid ingredients derived from pork products.
Followers of these lifestyles may need to look out for ingredients in nasal spray vaccines, vitamin capsules and vaccine injections for diseases, such as measles or the flu.
Public Health Wales urges members of the public to still protect themselves and their children by getting the MMR vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella as they are highly contagious.
Fluenz Tetra (nose spray vaccine protects children against flu), MMR Vax Pro (protects against measles, mumps and rubella) and Zostavax (protects against shingles) all contain pork gelatine.
A straightforward solution
If you are vegetarian, or your faith prohibits pork products, medical professionals should be able to offer Priorix MMR vaccine and Shingrix shingles vaccine. These are the alternatives suggested by Public Health Wales as they do not contain porcine.
Vegans can consult the Specialist Pharmacy Service on considerations for vegan patients.
According to Public Health Wales, there have been no cases of measles in Gwent in 2023 but "2023 saw an increase in case numbers compared to 2020-2022, but lower than annual totals for 2016 to 2019."
Therefore the vaccine can still be considered an effective way of maintaining these figures.
Health officials advise that adults and children should get the MMR vaccine to keep safe.
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