Measles outbreak reported in London as Britain sees continued rise in cases

Parents in England are being urged to vaccinate their children as the measles virus continues to spread.

London has seen a rise in cases, while an earlier outbreak in the country’s West Midlands appears to have subsided.

More than 70 laboratory-confirmed cases of measles have been recorded in London in the past month, for a total of almost 200 in England. This is reported by the British Health Security Agency.

An earlier outbreak in the West Midlands, where the city of Birmingham is located, appeared to peak during the winter, official figures show. But the region is still reporting cases, with 37 confirmed cases in the past month.

Since October 2023, more than 1,450 cases have been confirmed across the country. This is already double the total reported in all of 2022.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that causes symptoms such as fever, runny nose, coughing and a noticeable rash. It can lead to serious complications such as blindness and deafness and is sometimes fatal.

Pregnant women who contract the disease can have potentially devastating complications, such as premature birth and even stillbirth.

Low vaccination coverage

Vaccines provide good protection against measles. But coverage in Britain has fallen in recent years.

The situation has been complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which interrupted the normal vaccination schedules of some children.

The World Health Organization recommends that countries give 95% of their population two vaccine doses before the age of five. But Coverage in Britain has fallen to about 90% for the first shot and 85% for the second.

Yet just five years ago, the country was awarded measles ‘elimination’ status by the WHO.

West London-based GP Andrew Steeden told the BBC The low vaccination coverage may partly reflect the success of past vaccines.

“People have thought that many of these diseases have disappeared and, certainly in London, we have seen the return of many infectious diseases as a result of the decline in overall immunization rates,” he said. “So we all have to be careful and vigilant and take as much protection as possible.”

It’s also possible that unfounded fears of autism are still fueling hesitancy about the measles vaccine.

In 1998, British former doctor Andrew Wakefield published a medical article that incorrectly linked a combination of measles, mumps and rubella injections to the developmental disorder. The fraudulent article has been widely debunked in the intervening years and was eventually retracted by the publisher, the Lancet.

Wakefield, who lost his right to practice over the scandal, remains active in the anti-vaccine community.

But David Ellimen, a pediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital, recently suggested it was ‘lazy and dangerous’ to blame today’s measles outbreaks on ‘so-called anti-vaxers’.

He told the Science Media Center in January that it was critical that parents knew how and why to get their children vaccinated.

“The first priority should be to ensure parents know when their child needs to be vaccinated and make it easy to do so,” he said. “The second should be to recognize that parents understandably have questions about vaccinations, possibly more so since Covid.”

Parents are urging the public to get vaccinated

MMR injections are given in Britain as part of standard childhood vaccinations, but can be given at any age.

In March, more than 1 million young people were invited to receive free catch-up doses to help limit the spread of the disease.

At the time, at least 733 cases had been recorded in England since October 2023. That figure is now doubled to 1,458.

The mother of a child recently hospitalized with measles has urged anyone who has not been vaccinated to get vaccinated.

Georgia House’s six-month-old daughter Margot was too young to be vaccinated before contracting the disease, which left her struggling to breathe and eat.

“She wasn’t sleeping, she’s never been a good sleeper, but this was a whole new level, not sleeping at all. Just so uncomfortable and in pain,” House told the BBC. “If you have not been vaccinated, please get vaccinated because those who want to be vaccinated and cannot do so are at greatest risk at this time.”