UK disease agency declares national incident as measles cases soar

The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national incident over a surge in measles cases across the country.

Its chief executive Jenny Harries said today that “immediate action” is needed to boost the uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in areas where the numbers of people getting the vaccine is low.

“We need a long-term concerted effort to protect individuals and to prevent large measles outbreaks,” she said.

Measles is a highly contagious disease. In mild cases, symptoms include a rash, high fever and ear infections. But it can also be "a very unpleasant illness," the UKHSA said, leading to hospitalization and death in rare cases. Babies, young children, pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system are most at risk.

Harries was in the West Midlands today, which is seeing the highest number of cases outside of London.

There have been 216 confirmed and 103 probable cases in the area since October 1, with the majority of those cases in the city of Birmingham and among children aged under 10. 

With vaccine uptake in some communities so low, there is now a “very real risk” of seeing the virus spread in other towns and cities, Harries said.

Latest figures from the UKHSA show that the uptake of the MMR vaccine is at its lowest level in more than a decade, with 84.5 percent of children having had two doses by the time they were five years old in 2022-23.

And the number of measles cases has jumped, too. In 2023, there were 1,603 suspected cases of measles in England and Wales, an increase from 735 in 2022 and 360 the year before.