PARENTS of under fives are being urged to check that their children are up-to-date with their pre-school booster vaccinations as they head off to school or nursery this autumn.

A Public Health England (PHE) campaign, backed by Hampshire County Council (HCC), underlines the safety and importance of vaccines and advises that children need both doses of MMR to be fully protected against measles, mumps and rubella, plus the four-in-one booster vaccination which protects against diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio.

Councillor Judith Grajewski, executive member for public health at HCC, said: “Vaccines protect against serious diseases including measles, and worryingly we have seen cases of measles in the South East over the past year – as well as outbreaks in Europe, meaning that travel to and from Europe could spread the disease.

“We know that 95 per cent of the population need to be vaccinated to reduce the chances of people coming into contact with the virus and yet uptake for the second MMR dose does not meet this target.

“Anyone who has not been vaccinated can catch it but it is more common in young children. It’s never too late to get up-to-date with MMR – teenagers and adults can also get vaccinated.”

According to figures from PHE, 89.8 per cent of children in Hampshire received the second dose of MMR by the time of their fifth birthday; for the four-in-one booster 88.7 per cent of five-year-olds in Hampshire had been vaccinated.

The first dose of MMR is usually given to babies as part of their routine vaccination schedule. Anyone not sure whether their child has had the booster can check in their red book or call their GP surgery.