A catchup immunisation programme for hundreds of thousands of children who missed out on the MMR vaccine because of the autism scare is needed to stem a surge in measles infections, senior doctors said yesterday.

The number of measles cases in England and Wales rose to 971 last year, the highest total since surveillance began in 1995 and 31 more than the previous year, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reported yesterday.

Public health experts are convinced that further rises are likely unless unvaccinated primary school children are given the measles, mumps and rubella jab. Up to 1.7 million children may not have been fully immunised, and some outbreaks have affected schools and even nurseries.

The Government was coming under growing pressure last night to introduce a renewed MMR “catchup” campaign, similar to the one run in London in late 2004 and 2005. This gave all primary school children who did not have two doses a chance to receive them in schools and GPs’ surgeries.

Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem health spokesman, said: “The case is overwhelming for a catchup vaccine campaign given the erroneous scares that understandably put people off in the first place. I will be taking this up with the Health Secretary next week.”

The Department of Health said it encouraged catchup jabs, but had no plans for an active programme. Some primary care trusts have started their own programmes.

The first measles death in the UK for 15 years was reported in 2006, and at least two of last year’s cases required treatment in intensive care. Measles can also cause brain damage.

The resurgence of a disease that was until recently in decline has been attributed to a large cohort of children who were left unprotected against measles when their parents refused MMR, over unfounded fears of a link that it could trigger autism.

When Andrew Wakefield suggested the now-discredited link in 1998, it caused a collapse in vaccination rates, which fell from 91 per cent in 1997-98 to 80 per cent in 2003-04. In some parts of London only 60 per cent of children were immunised. Although uptake rose to 86 per cent last year, hundreds of thousands of children are unprotected.

The HPA estimates that between 1999 and 2004, 300,000 preschool children and 600,000 older children had no vaccinations, and 800,000 more missed the second booster jab needed for full protection.

Child health specialists said that it was essential for these children to be traced and offered catchup vaccinations, as they have become a susceptible “pool” in which measles can thrive.

Without such a programme, measles outbreaks may start to strike older age groups. The disease will also threaten infants too young to be vaccinated and toddlers who have yet to have the MMR booster, given at the age of 3: both groups rely on herd immunity for protection.

Mary Ramsay, a consultant immunologist at the HPA’s Centre for Infections, said: “We expect to see more large outbreaks of measles. The difficulty we face is predicting exactly when and where these outbreaks will occur.

“The only way to reduce the impact of such outbreaks is to ensure that the uptake of the MMR vaccine increases, and that older children who have missed out come forward.”

A total of 90 of last year’s cases – almost one in ten – were among infants aged under 12 months, and another 312 occurred in children aged between 1 and 4.

The measles comeback has been worst in the capital and the South East, with 424 cases – almost half the total – coming from London.

The HPA said there had been “prolonged outbreaks” in travelling and religious communities, where vaccine uptake has traditionally been low, who rely on herd immunity for protection. The victim who died from measles in 2006 was a 13-year-old boy from a traveller group.

Dr Ramsey added: “Our main focus is to remind people that they need two doses of the MMR vaccine to be fully protected. Anyone who has not had two doses could be at risk of this serious infection.”

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