A CHILD may die from measles in East Lancashire if there is an epidemic because too few are being vaccinated, parents have been warned.

Dr Stephen Morton, director of public health for East Lancashire Health Authority, made his prediction after vaccination rates for children in the area dropped dangerously low to just 84 per cent.

The figures are in line with the national average, which is also around 85 per cent, but has dropped in the last two years from around 93 per cent.

In East Lancashire there has been a sharp drop in the last six months from just above 90 per cent coverage to 84 per cent, which authorities blame on national media coverage.

It coincides with the controversy over Prime Minister Tony Blair's refusal to reveal whether his baby, Leo, had received the jab although health officials today refused to blame the row for the fall.

The government recommends that 95 per cent of children need to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks of measles.

Increasing numbers of parents are now refusing to have their children vaccinated with the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine, introduced in 1988.

This is in the light of fears that there are links between the vaccination and autism.

Dr Morton said: "We had made, in the early 90s, considerable progress in increasing levels of vaccination with MMR.

"This has now fallen off because of a degree of national controversy. It does mean there are significant risks in East Lancashire.

"We have a significant risk of a measles outbreak which would bring substantial morbidity and perhaps even a death in a young child.

"At the current levels we risk having local outbreaks and then those who have not been immunised, or who have had one or two injections but are not actually covered, will be at severe risk."

Measles tends to occur in epidemics, which are usually around two years apart.

There have been no cases of measles in East Lancashire for the last two years, making it very likely that an epidemic is imminent.

Some parents are opting to have their children vaccinated separately for the diseases, rather than having the three together, but experts warn this is not as effective.

Dr Morton said it was essential to have the majority of children vaccinated to provide "herd" immunity.

"At the levels we have at the moment, we do not have herd immunity."

Despite the controversy, there was no medical evidence to link MMR with autism, he said.

The health authority and doctors would continue to advise parents to allow their children to be vaccinated. There was also information on the authority's website.

Frank Clifford, chairman of the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Community Health Council, said: "Based on the information that is available to us we wholeheartedly agree with the thrust of the Department of Health that the whole vaccine is, and has proved to be, most effective in controlling the disease."

But he criticised the health authority for not doing anything actively to promote the vaccine, such as leafleting homes.