Questions raised over 'out of proportion' rate of mumps in Gateshead
Gateshead health officials have been questioned over the “out of proportion” mumps rate in the area.
A council report on infectious illnesses found that Gateshead has just over three times the number of notifications, per 100,000, of mumps than the national rate. Mumps is a viral infection which can lead to painful swellings on the side of the face and under the ears.
Mumps can be prevented by the MMR vaccine, which also helps prevent measles and rubella.
The rates per 100,000 in 2021 both regionally and nationally, according to the data are:
England and Wales: 5.4
North East: 13.6
Gateshead: 16.3
The numbers prompted councillor Paul Elliot to query why the mumps rates seemed “out of proportion” in Gateshead, especially with comparatively lower levels of other illnesses like whooping cough or rubella. Health chiefs, referring back to the report, stated that the rate per 100,000 is often not standardised, meaning demographics and socioeconomic factors, are not accounted for potentially skewing the data.
However, health chiefs did tell Gateshead Council’s health and wellbeing board that they were reassured that the current rate does remain at the 2021 level and further work is needed to explore health inequalities.
Gateshead Council’s director of public health, Alice Wiseman said: “We are aware it is a national issue around reductions of people coming forward for their MMR, especially during the pandemic where there were challenges. There has been a big push over the last year and probably a bit longer to push it across the country.”
Ms Wiseman went on to say that measles is a relatively uncommon disease, although highly infectious, in comparison to mumps, which could also explain the seemingly higher rates.
GP and committee member, Dr Mark Dornan added: “There is also quite a large catch-up programme going on around MMR in the adult population, not just children and young people. I am involved in a project using AI to try and prioritise who gets that.
“A lot of the time we have adults who don’t know if they have been vaccinated because it has been in paper records from the past, so we are trying to address that.”
The report concludes: "Gateshead remains very strong in its screening and vaccination coverage across both adult and children services."