Measles hotspots in England mapped as outbreak spreads - see risk to your child

08 November 2023 , 20:09

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Measles produces a distinctive rash across the body (stock image) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The measles hotspots across England have been mapped amid recent outbreaks of the Victorian disease.

Leicester became the latest city to confirm a spike in case rates of the disease as a school pupil and university student went down with the disease - following on from a concerning rise in Leicester. Measles is easily vaccinated against when young, however there’s growing alarm due to low take up of the MMR jab. The proportion of children at five who had had their first and second jab was the lowest it’s been in a decade, earlier this year.

With take up so low, the disease keeps rearing its head, and it can cause serious health problems, including being fatal. Measles can lead to the development of complications like pneumonia, meningitis and even long-term disability on rare occasions.

Following the two recent cases in Leicester, the county’s director of public health has urged parents to make sure their children have the MMR jab. Rob Howard said: "We have recently had two confirmed cases of measles in the city; one case is a university student, and the other is a school student.

"Neither have had the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine known as MMR. Measles is a very infectious virus and spreads very easily. People who catch measles usually recover completely within a couple of weeks, however it can be a very serious illness that can lead to permanent disability, and occasionally can cause death.

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"The best way to protect yourself and your family is to have the MMR vaccination. Anyone who hasn’t already had two doses should contact their GP surgery for an appointment to get vaccinated.”

Check how measles rates are where you are below

According to the most recent government data on MMR, there have been 149 lab confirmed cases of measles in England this year - with London being the worst hit, representing over half of those cases, at 89.

Of those, a worrying 58 were children aged under 14. This included 16 babies and 17 children aged one to four. The next most infected area is the south east where 14 cases have been confirmed so far this year - more than half of these were children aged under 10. After that, Yorkshire recorded 11 cases, the East of England recorded nine, and the south west eight.

Below is advice on what to look out for, based on information on the the NHS website.

Earlier this week UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a measles risk assessment which concluded that although the risk of a UK-wide measles epidemic is considered low, a measles outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,000 cases could occur in London, due to sub-optimal uptake of the MMR vaccine in the capital.

Kieren Williams