Measles surge continues as UK cases spike – check your area on interactive map
Health experts fear the measles outbreak won't resolve any time soon unless more people get their MMR jab - as one hotspot city has identified 70 cases so far this year.
Cases in the UK are almost nine times higher than the number of people infected this time last year - with 258 people infected during the first three weeks of 2024 compared to just 30 cases at the start of 2023. The UKHSA says the majority of those confirmed are in children aged under 10.
Last week, health authorities were notified of 113 suspected cases of measles in England and Wales, up from 71 the week before and 74 during the first week of January. Those are on top of 1,603 in 2023, more than double the 735 cases in 2022 and quadruple the 360 suspected in 2021.
The overwhelming majority of suspected cases identified by GPs in January have been in the West Midlands - with 70 cases in Birmingham alone, eight in Solihull, five each in Coventry and Walsall, and four in Dudley.
It comes as the UKHSA declared a ‘national health incident’ amid surging cases, with latest figures suggesting that more than 3.4 million children have not had their MMR jab. Health experts have also warned of the risk of spread to other towns and cities unless urgent action is taken to increase Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination uptake in areas at greatest risk.
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This week, a mum from Walsall in the West Midlands, one of the current hotspots, warned of the 'severe complications' of measles after her three-month-old son developed pneumonia and was given extra medication to avoid going blind when he tested positive for the virus.
Davina Barrett, 28, rushed baby Ezra to A&E when she noticed a red spotty rash develop all over his body on January 9th. She said the tot was initially experiencing cold and flu symptoms, which she mistook for a common winter cold.
His one-year-old brother Noah was unaffected as he had already received the MMR vaccine. Davina said: "Noah already recieved his MMR jab, but Ezra was too young. You have to be 12 months old to get the jab."
Urging parents across the country to vaccinate their children as soon as possible, Davina said: “I just want parents to be aware of the complications if their children were to get measles. I know a lot of people who don't vaccinate think that their child will get measles and then they'll just recover and be fine.
Tiny three-month-old baby Ezra developed pneumonia and was given extra medication to avoid going blind (Davina Barrett)“But the complications are so serious. Ezra had to have a lumbar puncture, the needle that goes in the spine, to ensure he didn't have meningitis. Luckily he didn't, but he could have developed meningitis.
“The doctors also said measles can affect the eyes so he was given vitamin A to make sure that he didn't lose his eyesight. There's lots of different complications. He had diarrhoea the whole time, which was really concerning for such a little baby.
She continued: “The complications are too extreme to not take the vaccine. The reasons that some people give to avoid the vaccine, for example, they think that their child is going to get autism. They really need to research and see that those things aren't true.”
Ezra's week-long ordeal in hospital saw him receive oxygen to help him breathe due to respiratory distress brought on by the infection.
During a visit to see work to contain the spread in Birmingham last week, Professor Dame Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of UKHSA, said: “Colleagues across the West Midlands have worked tirelessly to try to control the outbreak, but 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.
“Children who get measles can be very poorly and some will suffer life changing complications. The best way for parents to protect their children from measles is the MMR vaccine. Two doses of the MMR vaccine give lifelong protection and it’s never too late to catch up.
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“Immediate action is needed to boost MMR uptake across communities where vaccine uptake is low. We know from the pandemic that the communities themselves, and those providing services within them, will have the knowledge to best support local families to understand the risks of measles, to learn more about the vaccines that can protect them and to enable innovative vaccine delivery approaches. We need a long-term concerted effort to protect individuals and to prevent large measles outbreaks."
Ezra was put on oxygen to help him breathe after he caught measles (Davina Barrett)
Ezra's family were relieved that he managed to make a full recovery (Davina Barrett)Measles is known to be one of the most contagious viral diseases, belonging to the same family of viruses as mumps. For children, it is an unpleasant and potentially severe disease that starts with cold and flu-like symptoms, before developing into a rash. The NHS says receiving the MMR vaccine is the best way to prevent it.
Anyone can catch measles if they haven't been vaccinated or had it before. It can be more severe in immunosuppressed individuals, young infants, and pregnant people. In total, the illness typically lasts from seven to 10 days.
Uptake of the MMR vaccine - which is safe and protects against measles, as well as mumps and rubella - is currently below the 95.0% target in England.
Nationally, 92.5% of children had received at least one dose of the MMR vaccine by the age of five in 2022-23, down from 93.4% the previous year and the lowest percentage uptake in the last decade.
But rates vary wildly across Britain. Only the North East had vaccination rates above the national target (95.5%) last year.
The latest local authority area figures show that in Birmingham, the area with the most suspected cases of measles, only 89.4% of children had received at least one dose of the MMR vaccine by the age of five in 2021-22, well below the national average.
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