PARENTS of pupils at a Newport secondary school are being advised to have their children vaccinated against mumps following an outbreak of the disease.

Four pupils at Lliswerry High School have been confirmed as having the disease, with 17 "strongly suspected" of having it, according to Gwent Health Authority.

Letters were sent home yesterday with each of the school's 1,200 pupils, informing parents of the situation and advising them to contact their GP.

Before 1988 mumps was a common cause of viral meningitis in children, and affected one in 400 youngsters. But since the introduction of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, incidence has fallen considerably.

Although many children at Lliswerry will have had the MMR vaccine already, some may only have had one dose, and it is well recognised that two doses are needed to ensure good protection against measles, mumps and rubella.

Letters have also been sent to Newport GPs and practice nurses, alerting them to the outbreak and requesting that they help in immunising young people unless there is documented evidence that they have already had two doses of MMR vaccine.

Dr Lika Nehaul, consultant in communicable disease control at Gwent Health Authority, explained that these are the first confirmed cases of mumps in Gwent for some time.

He said he was grateful for a positive response from Lliswerry-area GPs to the recommendation that youngsters are immunised through their own GP practice.

"This approach, which has been shown to work well in other parts of the country that have recently experienced mumps outbreaks, means requests for immunisation for other family members who don't attend the school can be accommodated, as well as unrelated children from other schools," he said.

"Mumps can be an unpleasant illness which can result in complications, particularly in older children and adults.

"However, our purpose is not to alarm parents, but to make them aware that two doses of vaccine offer good protection."

Gwent Health Authority has been working closely with Lliswerry High School, Newport council's education department, and Gwent Healthcare Trust, to keep them informed of developments.