Measles is a highly contagious, serious airborne disease caused by a virus that can lead to severe complications and death. The optimal way to limit the spread of the virus is through the vaccination of young children. Unfortunately, a rise in anti-vaccination misinformation is leading to increased spread. This is notwithstanding that the measles vaccine is a safe and very effective at preventing the disease and is often delivered in combination with other vaccines.
The primary vaccine is the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunisation. This combination vaccine aims to eliminate measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) and congenital rubella syndrome. Yet, uptake of the routine childhood vaccinations is the lowest it has been in a decade and is well below the 95% uptake needed to protect the population and prevent measles outbreaks (the threshold for herd immunity).
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus (Morbillivirus hominis). It spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It can cause severe disease, complications, and even death.
Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases, spread by contact with infected nasal or throat secretions (coughing or sneezing) or breathing the air that was breathed by someone with measles. Once it is present within a comunity,it can spread rapidly.
While many recover, measles can lead to severe complications, including pneumonia and brain inflammation.
One example of this effect is the current big measles outbreak in north-east London, which is affecting unvaccinated children under the age of 10. The centre of this is the London Borough of Enfield.
Infections have been confirmed across at least seven schools in Enfield and Haringey and it is spreading. During this recent outbreak, one in five children have been hospitalised due to measles and all of them had not been fully immunised. The outbreak could force unvaccinated children to self-isolate for three weeks, presuming that medical advice is followed.
Measles is highly infectious and can be severe, particularly in immunosuppressed individuals, young infants, and pregnant females.
Enfield’s NHS Ordnance Unity Centre For Health states on its website, that there has been a “fast-spreading measles outbreak in several schools” across the borough. The key driver is a slow take up in vaccinations, according to the BBC. In Enfield, UKHSA figures published last August showed that just 64.3% of five year olds had received both doses of the MMR vaccine in 2024/25 – one of the lowest rates in the country.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, tells The Guardian: “Our latest data shows we are now seeing a big measles outbreak in north-east London, mostly affecting unvaccinated children under 10 in schools and nurseries, with some being hospitalised.”
Annual MMR vaccine coverage estimates for children under the age of 5 years have been decreasing steadily since 2013/14 and with outbreaks linked to a resurgence of measles in Europe in 2017 and 2018, the WHO noted that measles transmission had been re-established in the UK.
Such is the extent of the issue that the World Health Organisation says the UK is no longer considered to have eliminated measles after reporting almost 4,000 infections since 2024.
The optimal solution is for parents to ensure their children are vaccinated using the MMR vaccine in order to protect their children and to limit the spread of the virus through communities like Enfield.
