'A very real risk': UK sounds alarm on potentially deadly measles outbreak

The UK's public health agency has warned of a "very real risk" of an outbreak of measles in England that is already spreading to other towns and cities, including in London, unless urgent action is taken to boost vaccination uptake.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national incident, signaling a growing public health risk.

It said there had been 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands in central England since October 1 last year, with the majority being in children aged under 10. Of those, 80 percent were found in the city of Birmingham.

"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," UKHSA Chief Executive Jenny Harries said.

A report from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in November said there had been a "staggering" annual rise in measles cases and deaths globally in 2022.

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world but is preventable by two doses of vaccine. The Covid pandemic massively disrupted routine immunization efforts worldwide, and the bounce back has been slow.

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One mother whose child died at the age of six after catching measles and developing brain inflammation spoke to London newspaper The Evening Standard about her ordeal in a bid to encourage other parents to "vaccinate more."

Gemma Larkman-Jones, from south London told the paper that she was "numb" after her son Samuel died from the disease in 2019, saying she believed that if he had he been vaccinated with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab. his death could have been avoided.

"Samuel didn't need to die and that's the guilt I carry every day with me," she said. "He was on a delayed program because he had constant chest infections which later turned out to be asthma. (Doctors) wanted him to be as healthy as he could before he had the MMR."

According to the latest data, measles cases in London have almost trebled in a year, with a total of 104 confirmed cases reported there between January and November last year.

UKHSA's Harries said on Friday immediate action was needed to boost uptake of the MMR vaccine in areas where it was low in the UK. "We need a long-term concerted effort to protect individuals and to prevent large measles outbreaks," she added.

In the UK, MMR is part of the routine childhood immunization program offered by the state-funded National Health Service. Last year, the UKHSA said in some areas and groups in London, coverage of the first MMR dose at 2 years of age was as low as 69.5 percent.

In July last year the UKHSA warned of a steady rise in measles cases and the risk of a resurgence of the virus, particularly in London where it said an outbreak of 40,000 to 160,000 cases could occur due to low vaccine coverage rates.

Vaccination rates across the country have been dropping, but there are particular concerns about some areas, including parts of London. Asked which communities were less likely to take up vaccinations, Harries said that "for the West Midlands, for those in Muslim communities, they will be not keen to take up one of the MMR vaccines that we offer, which has a pork-based derivative."

Harries acknowledged that some members of the UK's Muslim community were wary of the vaccines because of this. But she said she wanted to let people know that an alternative was available and was "very effective."

People have "forgotten what measles is like," Harries told the BBC, pointing out that it could even be fatal in rare cases. The UK had previously achieved "measles elimination status," she said. Now, however, the average number of children starting school having had both doses of the MMR vaccine stands at only 85 percent.

According to the WHO, about 83 percent of the world's children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday - the lowest since 2008. In 2021, there were an estimated 128,000 measles deaths worldwide, mostly among under-vaccinated or unvaccinated children under the age of five.

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