Parents have been queueing with their children at special vaccination clinics in Wales after a big jump in cases of measles.
Up to 20 new cases a day are being reported by GPs.
Health experts have issued an urgent appeal for parents to ensure their children have the vital MMR jab, repeating a warning that the contagious virus is a potential killer.
A total of 588 cases have now been confirmed. Some 109 new cases were reported over one week in the Easter period while there have been 40 new cases of the disease since Wednesday.
The latest measles epidemic is centred on Swansea, South Wales, and officials say it has underlined the need for children to have vital protection.
Health officials have estimated around 3,800 children in the Swansea area have still not had the MMR vaccine and parents are being asked to act.
Many concerned parents have visited vaccination clinics arranged for this weekend, as fears grow about the virus spreading to neighbouring areas.
Families queue outside a vaccination clinic in South Wales. One mother of a 10-month-old boy told Sky News: "We've been told that babies between six months and a year are most at risk so that's why we've come to get him done early. We're quite concerned."
Public Health Wales warned before Easter that measles was spreading "at an alarming rate".
Dr Marion Lyons, the body's director of health protection, has repeatedly warned that measles can leave unprotected children brain-damaged or dead.
She said: "Measles cannot be taken lightly because you can never tell who will go on to develop the more serious complications of pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). MMR vaccination offers the only protection against these complications.
"We are starting to see parents bringing unprotected children to get vaccinated, showing that they're taking the outbreak seriously and have confidence in the jab as the best way of protecting their children."
But she added: "Unfortunately some parents are continuing to put their children at unnecessary risk of catching this potentially serious disease. They need to get their children vaccinated without delay."
The majority of the cases in Wales so far are in Swansea's Abertawe Bro Morgannwg and neighbouring Powys and Hywel Dda Health Board areas.
PHW is warning that the likelihood of unvaccinated children coming into contact with those already infected is increasing every day.
It says that those not vaccinated are highly likely to catch the disease and it is just a matter of time before a child is left with serious and permanent complications such as eye disorders, deafness or brain damage, or dies.
PHW is urging parents of children aged between one and 18 who have not been vaccinated to use the current school holidays to arrange vaccinations with their GP or go to a drop-in MMR vaccination clinic.
There are fears that the latest outbreak could be linked to low take-up of the MMR jab in the late 1990s when there was a scare over the safety of the vaccination. The claims were later discredited and the doctor at the centre of them banned from practising in Britain.
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