Just two measles cases recorded in Scotland amid outbreak

More than 200 children were diagnosed with measles in England and Wales in the last four weeks of 2023, while just two cases have been documented in Scotland, due to the nation’s higher vaccination rates.

A nurse handling a syringe at a medical centre.

An “alarming” spread of measles in the UK and Europe is due to falling vaccination rates, health experts have claimed.

Around 42,200 cases were reported by European countries in 2023, almost 45 times the 941 cases in 2022.

Two in five cases were in children aged one to four, while one in five were among people aged 20 and over.

More than 200 children were diagnosed with measles in England and Wales in the last four weeks of 2023, while just two cases documented in Scotland.

This has been put down to Scotland’s higher vaccination rates. NHS England data suggests that more than 3.4 million children under 16 across the country are unvaccinated.

Conversely, 95.9 per cent of Scottish children have had one dose by their fifth birthday, while 89.7 per cent have had two doses.

Professor Mike Tildesley, Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling at The University of Warwick, said 90 per cent is the target vaccination rate for measles, due to how infectious it is.

“The measure for how infectious a disease is, known as R0, for measles is higher than ten – whereas Covid (dependent upon the variant) was much lower, around less than five,” Prof Tildesley said.

“This means we need over 90 per cent of the population to be immune or you're going to start seeing cases growing. We have childhood vaccinations for measles which for many years have helped us to get rid of the disease.

“Unfortunately, if those vaccination levels drop then we will start to see cases going up. That's what we are seeing at the moment - according to NHS data around 85 per cent of children received their second MMR jab at five for 2022/23, which is much lower than it needs to be and this is quite variable across different parts of the country, with lower rates in some places, which is a worry.”

In the past, the UK has come close to eliminating measles as an endemic threat.

In 2017, WHO confirmed that the UK achieved measles ‘elimination status’, but hen lost that status due to “re-established endemic transmission of measles” due to a resurgence of measles across Europe.

In 2021 the UK regained measles elimination status based on a significant decline in measles circulation globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has since lost its status.

The head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned the UK is now on a “trajectory for everything getting much worse”.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries said “concerted action” is needed to tackle the virus, and suggested the majority of people are not against their child receiving the MMR jab, but they need more information to feel confident about their decision.

Dr Sam Ghebrehewet, Head of Vaccination and Immunisation at Public Health Scotland said: “As measles cases continue to increase across other parts of the UK and Europe, we’re working with health boards to ensure that as many people as possible are fully vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. Two doses are needed to give full protection.”