Key Summary
- There have been more than 500 confirmed measles cases in England in 2025, with a majority of them aged below 10 years
- Experts said the spike in measles cases was due to a decline in the uptake of vaccines
- Measles is highly contagious and spreads rapidly among those who are unvaccinated
- The World Health Organization wants 95 percent of children fully vaccinated by their fifth birthday, but many parts of England have missed the target
The rising cases of measles have sparked widespread alarm and nurseries are imposing Covid-style isolation protocols as it is a highly contagious disease, which spreads by coughs and sneezes.
There have been more than 500 confirmed cases in England in 2025, with a majority of them aged below 10 years.
The recent death of a child at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool after contracting measles has caused panic among parents.
Experts said the spike in measles cases was due to a decline in the uptake of vaccines, partly because of misinformation online, missed appointments in the pandemic and limited access to GP appointments.
Helen Bedford, a professor of children’s health at University College London (UCL), told The Guardian that inequality driven by poverty was the key underlying issue.
She said there was vaccine hesitancy to some extent, but the bigger problem was lack of access to get the two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab.
Some of the other reasons cited were parents being unable to take time off work to get their child to a vaccination appointment or being unable to afford the transportation expenses to get there.
Though the MMR vaccine has been around for over 50 years, some people continue to have misgivings about it.
The World Health Organization (WHO) wants 95 percent of children fully vaccinated by their fifth birthday.
In the north-west of England the figure is 85 percent, while it is lower in Liverpoor (73 percent) and Manchester (75 per cent), according to NHS data.
Doctors claim it is difficult to spot measles, because they start with cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose and coughing and sneezing, and rashes appear after 4-5 days.
Measles is highly contagious and spreads rapidly among those who are unvaccinated.
