By George Jones
A mom who nearly lost her unvaccinated baby to measles is urged “parents to get their children vaccinated.”
The UK was stripped of its measles-free status this week by the World Health Organization following a surge in cases, including the death of a child, in England in 2024.
Sophie Dale, 28, was “nervous and doubtful” about vaccinating her son Levi because of posts on TikTok and Facebook wrongly linking the measles vaccination to debunked autism risks.
After pushing her fears aside, Sophie booked him in for his first MMR jab – but the then 11-month-old caught measles just days before his injection appointment.
He had several seizures and spent six days in hospital fighting for his life after it caused a severe case of sepsis.
Levi survived – and five years on is a “perfectly healthy and thriving six-year-old little boy”, as well as being a great big brother to sister Winnie, one.
Sophie now advocates for the vaccine, having seen the devastating impacts of measles on her son and has now made a few TikTok’s herself to help educate others.
Her fears didn’t delay the date Levi was due to have the vaccine, and he just coincidentally caught the disease before his scheduled jab appointment.
The UK was first declared measles-free in 2017, but lost the status two years later, before regaining it after the spread of the virus was almost halted completely in 2021.
Outbreaks in late 2023 meant measles started spreading more quickly again, leading to the surge in cases in 2024.
Vaccination uptake at the end of 2024 was 92% for the first dose and just below 85% for the second dose.
Sophie, a stay-at-home mom, from Chesham, Bucks, said: “Even if you’re doubtful to go and speak to professionals.
“Go to doctors and nurses and say ‘I’m scared because I’ve seen this and could you give me more information’.
“I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if I kept umming and ah-ing because of false information.
“I admit that I was a bit nervous when I was deciding to vaccinate Levi.
“He couldn’t properly understand why his mom was allowing them to prod and poke him – even though they were saving his life I just wanted them to stop hurting him.
“Even after what happened to Levi, with my second child, I was still nervous to get her vaccinations done because of the scaremongering.
“I sent her with her dad because it was still nerve-wracking.
“But I knew I had to do it.
“I get the fear around vaccinations, but this is what happened to my son.”
Research in 1998 wrongly suggested the MMR jab could cause autism.
The work was dismissed and the researcher was struck off by the General Medical Council in 2010.
Leading up to his jab, Levi had a high temperature and some residual rash from the measles, but had mainly recovered from the illness.
The day before his first birthday party Sophie got a phone call to say he had taken a turn while she was shopping for his birthday cake ingredients, in November 2018.
She said: “I rushed home and his temperature was crazy.
“When we arrived at the hospital a team of what looked like 20 people took him away.
“It was so scary – I remember thinking ‘this is what you see on 24 Hours in A&E’.
“I couldn’t watch but I could hear his screams.”
After six days in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury he was allowed to go home, but had a year of check-ups to test if sepsis had damaged his hearing or vision.
Sophie said: “I didn’t realize how serious it was at the time.
“But I was told the measles had basically destroyed his immune system, and he developed sepsis while fighting it.
“By the grace of God, he is now a-ok but sometimes I look back at the hospital pictures and I can’t believe it.”
Alongside Sophie, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) are now pleading parents to get their children vaccinated following recent NHS data.
Released on September 17, the number of children being administered the 14 childhood vaccines – including the MMR vaccine – has fallen.
All childhood vaccines have failed to meet the numbers needed to ensure the disease does not spread.
It comes as measles cases have soared this year to 2,465 cases – mostly in children with one death being recorded.
Sophie said: “It’s shocking that social media still has that impact of spreading misinformation – especially TikTok.
“I think people, like myself, are easily influenced and it’s so easy to be scare mongered.
“I still find it nerve-wracking as I’m about to have another baby due this October.
“But looking at the people around me, all the children, nieces, nephews, neighbors who probably all have the vaccine.
“Has something ever happened to them? Probably not.
“So looking at my immediate circle and friends and family helped calm my mind a lot.”
