When a body like the UKHSA releases data or reports, the assumption is that they are meant to be useful: to doctors, public health practitioners, and - perhaps - to the public.
Thanks for doing the deep dive in to the numbers. As you rightly point out the 'devil is often found in the footnotes'.
You may want to consider contacting UKHSA with your findings. In my experience, they have generally responded positively and have even updated subsequent reports based on my feedback. Your input could assist them in enhancing their communication.
In some ways I am surprised given covid and prior downgrading of public health we still have a functioning Public Health community and a sufficiently reactive lab testing system. (NHS testing has been under severe pressure we are told.) Can I imagine kit being pulled out of the cupboard and admin protocols fished from files?
And measles is really dangerous to the youngest - serious stuff.
Letter to the editor: Further identification of a measles variant displaying mutations impacting molecular diagnostics, Northern Italy, 2024https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.29.7.2400079
I don't believe UKHSA care about data quality as they allready know vaccination rates are too low, so the overall data will not change what they do.
“reports coming in per day” I think can't be trusted as GPs, hospital and other services like Out of Hours will report whenever there is a reason chance of measles. (It questionable of a 2nd GP is legally allowed not to report even if they been told by the 1st GP it has been reported.)
But can look at the areas that have report to get some idea of the number of clusters. London will not behaviour as a single cluster.
"14 of them in patients under 5 years of age" is this children not old enough for 2nd vaccine dose who have had 1st dose. If so, moving the 2nd dose to 18 months from 4.5 year as planned should be done QUICKLY as a nationwide emergency responce.
Thanks for doing the deep dive in to the numbers. As you rightly point out the 'devil is often found in the footnotes'.
You may want to consider contacting UKHSA with your findings. In my experience, they have generally responded positively and have even updated subsequent reports based on my feedback. Your input could assist them in enhancing their communication.
In some ways I am surprised given covid and prior downgrading of public health we still have a functioning Public Health community and a sufficiently reactive lab testing system. (NHS testing has been under severe pressure we are told.) Can I imagine kit being pulled out of the cupboard and admin protocols fished from files?
And measles is really dangerous to the youngest - serious stuff.
See this article:
Letter to the editor: Further identification of a measles variant displaying mutations impacting molecular diagnostics, Northern Italy, 2024https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.29.7.2400079
I don't believe UKHSA care about data quality as they allready know vaccination rates are too low, so the overall data will not change what they do.
“reports coming in per day” I think can't be trusted as GPs, hospital and other services like Out of Hours will report whenever there is a reason chance of measles. (It questionable of a 2nd GP is legally allowed not to report even if they been told by the 1st GP it has been reported.)
But can look at the areas that have report to get some idea of the number of clusters. London will not behaviour as a single cluster.
"14 of them in patients under 5 years of age" is this children not old enough for 2nd vaccine dose who have had 1st dose. If so, moving the 2nd dose to 18 months from 4.5 year as planned should be done QUICKLY as a nationwide emergency responce.