The alarming return of measles to the United Kingdom

The British government is sounding the alarm: a measles epidemic has broken out in recent months in central England (the Midlands), and without a rapid vaccination campaign, it could spread to other British cities, with serious consequences.

For unvaccinated children (or adults), this highly contagious disease that almost disappeared from the country in recent years, which causes fever and skin rashes, can develop into serious forms or even cause death. Populations at highest risk are children, those too young to receive their first injection, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.

The statistics are alarming: between 1^er Between January and November 30, 2023, there were 209 laboratory-confirmed cases of measles in England. In November alone, 43 new cases were reported, mainly in the West Midlands region and Yorkshire (northeast England). Contaminations accelerated in autumn; As of 18 January 2024, 216 new cases have been confirmed and 103 probable cases identified in the West Midlands, with 80% occurring in Birmingham, most involving children under 10 years of age.

Low vaccination coverage

Health authorities are increasingly concerned because more than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 in England are inadequately protected against the disease, described by national media as “Victorian”. The reason is insufficient vaccination coverage: between 2022 and 2023, about 85% of children received two doses of the MMR vaccine. Measles, Mumps, Rubella

equivalent to the French MMR – measles, mumps, rubella), on their fifth birthday, the lowest level since 2010-2011, when national health authorities recommended 95% national coverage.

In some cities in central and northern England, such as Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham, this coverage rate drops to 75% for children aged 5 years, according to data from the National Health Service (NHS), British public. health system. In Birmingham, a child infected with the measles virus had to be hospitalized. “Health professionals across the region are working around the clock to try to contain the outbreak, but with vaccination rates so low in some communities, there is now a real risk of the virus spreading to other cities.”

Jenny Harris, director of the British Health Security Agency, visiting Birmingham on 19 January, became concerned.

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