JENNI MURRAY: If only there had been measles shots when I was little, my friend would still be alive

Maybe it's just my generation, the older part of the population, who had their babies vaccinated against measles as soon as possible because, like us, they grew up in the shadow of the life-threatening childhood disease.

It's a parental habit that seems to have diminished. There is now a frightening rise in cases, which has quadrupled in a year, and there are warnings that children could die unless they get their jab. It is the largest outbreak of measles since the 1990s.

The problem is particularly acute in the West Midlands, where health chiefs have declared a 'national incident'. More than 300 confirmed or probable cases have been identified since October, and measles is shockingly easy to catch if you're not vaccinated.

Fifty children have been treated for measles at Birmingham Children's Hospital in the past month, when this would normally not have been the case. Unvaccinated children have been sent home from school for up to 21 days due to the risk of coming into contact with a child with the disease.

Catch-up jab clinics are being held at schools across the region in the hope of preventing a surge. Parents, staff and students are protected.

We oldies are all too familiar with measles, and what is so often seen as a minor childhood illness is anything but. I was born in 1950 and until 1968 there was no protection against it.

When I was three, I became very ill with measles. I had a high fever, was covered in rashes and my breathing was difficult. The GP came every day for three weeks.

Following her instructions, Dad brought my bed into the sitting room. My mother had to keep a constant eye on me because they were warned that I could quickly fade away and die. The curtains were closed so the room was dark. Any light, Mom was told, could permanently damage my eyesight. It also had to be quiet to protect my hearing.

The early days of my illness – when everyone seemed to be panicking – are my earliest childhood memories. I don't remember being bad. I only know what my mother told me about her fear. In the 1950s it was not unusual for a child to die from the disease.

Families mourned their lost children and kept their favorite toy on the mantelpiece or a faded photo of them in their Sunday best.

My parents were terrified. I was their only child. I can only imagine what they went through caring for a toddler they adored but knew they could lose.

They knew how high the stakes were, as their only child lay still with no treatment offered.

A neighbor's daughter, Jane, a little girl about my age, got sick at the same time as me. We had been playmates. As I began to recover, I remember hearing my mother whispering to my grandmother what Jane's mother had told her.

Like me, Jane had been warm and still, covered in a similar rash.

After a few weeks she seemed to get better and started talking. When her father read her a story, she became confused. She said she was sleepy. Hours later she was dead. My parents could only pray that I wouldn't follow suit.

I was alive, but weak for some time after the worst was over. I got my energy and enthusiasm back, but was left with asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis – still irritating today.

If a shot had been available as a baby, my mother would have rushed to the clinic like a shot. As medical science progressed, I got shots for everything: smallpox, whooping cough, even measles when I was 18. So why aren't parents vaccinating their children now?

As recently as 2019, this country was virtually measles-free, having recovered from the 1990s when Dr Andrew Wakefield made a discredited claim that the combined MMR – measles, mumps and rubella jab – could cause autism.

At the time, parents were concerned about taking their children for vaccinations, but the scientific research that failed Wakefield was so strong that confidence in the vaccine returned – and 95 percent coverage was achieved, enough to cover the entire United Kingdom to protect.

But now the percentage of fully jabbed five-year-olds nationally has fallen to 84.5 percent – not enough to create herd immunity. We can only assume that the pandemic and conspiracy stories about Covid vaccines have created the kind of nervousness that existed after Wakefield's claims.

I believe the MMR vaccine is safe and has protected millions of children from a disease that I know full well is very dangerous.

If parents are concerned about getting mumps, measles and rubella together in one shot, perhaps doctors should have compelling medical evidence at their fingertips to explain that it's not harmful – or they should just go along with it to give them each separately. More expensive for the NHS, but well worth it to save a child's life.

It's just a trip with a baby to the doctor, and again when they're a little older. No more worries about getting sick, dying or infecting others. A responsible activity. Simple.

Not that I'm planning one anytime soon, at least I hope not, but I do like the new trend of no-frills funerals. Just me, straight to the crematorium, no expensive coffin to be burned, no service, maybe just a small gathering at home without me. It will save my boys a fortune and I won't be around to care about it.

No one puts baby in the corner!

Well, actress Suki Waterhouse is one brave girl, showing off her pregnancy in a custom red Valentino dress at Monday's Emmy Awards. How different from the baggy bags I had to wear to hide my belly. Finally, being pregnant is nothing to be ashamed of.

Minus 5 is forecast for today. Should I go out? Certainly not!

First time in 40 years I've cried

Crying is good for you, says a self-proclaimed 'Tear Teacher' who travels Japan to encourage adults to cry more.

It is said to reduce stress. I was a crier. Tears would come when I was laughed at, when I didn't get the job I wanted, when I was disappointed in love or when I watched a lame movie.

Then I was told, 'You should never be seen crying at work. People will think you're a softie and not suited for the job. Men never do it, and neither should you.”

Somehow I taught myself not to cry, and because I didn't do it in public, I never did it in private. Until last week. Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office made me sob with pity and anger. For the first time in 40 years.

Never work with children, Jodie

I've become a huge fan of Jodie Comer, pictured, whose acting career has blossomed in theatre, film and on TV without any formal drama school training.

But since her new film The End We Start From requires her to work with as many as fifteen babies, she's clearly missed the famous old show business adage: “Never work with children or animals!”