‘Call to action’ on measles issued by UK top health official

Measles is likely to spread rapidly across parts of the UK unless more people take up the vaccine, a senior health official has warned.

Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, says vaccination rates are “well below” what is recommended by the World Health Organization.

Pop up clinics are being introduced to get more children vaccinated as cases continue to rise.

Measles is a highly contagious disease.

It is spread by coughs and sneezes. More than 200 cases have been confirmed in the West Midlands in recent months, mostly in Birmingham.

The UKHSA said Dame Jenny has expressed concern that, without urgent action, we are likely to see the measles virus “seeding and spreading rapidly” in other areas with low vaccine uptake.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme a call to action nationwide was needed.

“The focus this morning is on the West Midlands, but I think the real issue is we need a call to action right across the country,” she said.

The UK Health Security Agency has now declared the measles outbreak a national incident, allowing it to put more resources into tackling the problem.

In some areas of London, nearly half of children have not been vaccinated against it.

The vaccine, the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) jab, is delivered in two doses, the first given at 12 months, and the second at about three years and four months, before children start school.

Dame Jenny said the UK had previously established an elimination status for measles, but vaccination rates have now dropped.

“On average about only 85% of children are arriving at school having had the two MMR doses,” she said.