More than 60 children infected in north London measles outbreak | Children’s health
More than 60 children have been reported infected in the measles outbreak in north London.
According to the Sunday Times, seven schools and one nursery school in Enfield have reported cases; Some children were treated in hospital.
There are concerns that the outbreak is linked to low levels of MMR vaccine in the capital. For every person infected, measles can spread to up to 18 unvaccinated people.
Writing to all parents in the area, Enfield public health director Dudu Sher-Arami said the outbreak posed a serious threat to the wider capital and had the potential to cause a “much larger and larger London-wide outbreak” as residents traveled across the city.
He told the Sunday Times that London had “one of the lowest, if not the lowest, vaccine uptake rates” in the country.
“It is possible for it to grow. We know that measles has very bad complications. It can cause deafness. It can cause brain damage and one in five children may need hospital treatment,” Sher-Arami said.
Makeshift vaccination clinics are being held in schools and across Enfield, where more than a fifth of children have not been vaccinated against measles, mumps or rubella by the age of five.
A government campaign promoting childhood vaccination with ads on social media, YouTube and radio is expected to be launched next week to counter vaccine skepticism. Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later, according to the NHS. Some people may also develop small spots in their mouths.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the UK is no longer considered to have eliminated measles due to a resumption of transmission in 2024.
This follows a pause in vaccination coverage and a rise in cases, with 3,681 cases recorded in the UK in 2024.
From 2021 to 2023, the UK was thought to have “eradicated” the disease.
WHO recommends that at least 95% of children receive vaccine doses for each disease to achieve herd immunity.
According to UK Health Security Agency figures, 91.9% of five-year-olds had received a dose of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine in 2024-25; this was unchanged from 2023-24 and the lowest level since 2010-11.
The data also showed that 83.7% of five-year-olds had received both doses of MMR; this is the lowest level since 2009-10.
