The UK Health Security Agency has today issued a warning following the latest number of laboratory confirmed measles cases in England
Since the last update a week ago, a further 56 laboratory confirmed measles cases have been confirmed in England, compared to 118 cases confirmed in the previous two weeks. This brings the total number of cases confirmed since 1 October 2023 to 521.
Although the initial outbreak in the West Midlands has driven the increase in cases, we are now starting to see clusters of cases in other regions.
12% (20 of 166) of cases have been in London, 10% (17 of 166) in the North West, 10% in Yorkshire and the Humber (16 of 166) and 9% (15 of 166) in the East Midlands.
The majority of these cases are in children under the age of 10 and 25% in young people and adults over the age of 15.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, UKHSA Consultant Epidemiologist, said:
As expected, due to worryingly low MMR vaccine uptake in some areas across the country, we are now starting to see clusters of cases in other regions.
While parents are coming forward to take up the offer of the MMR vaccine for their children, there are still 100s of thousands of children who remain unprotected and therefore remain at risk of serious complications or life-long disability.
But measles is completely preventable with vaccination. I strongly urge parents to take up the offer of the MMR vaccine now to make sure their child is protected.
Measles spreads very easily among those who are unvaccinated, especially in nurseries and schools. People in certain groups, including babies, pregnant women, and people with weakened immunity, are at increased risk of complications from measles.
