Millions in UK being urged to get vaccinations amid surge in measles cases

LONDON (AP) — United Kingdom health officials on Monday urged millions of parents to book their children for missed measles, mumps, and rubella shots during a sharp increase in the number of measles cases and the lowest vaccination rates in a decade.

The National Health Service is launching a publicity campaign after figures showed there were about 250 confirmed measles cases in parts of England last year.

Most cases were in children under 10 years old.

The combined measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine is offered in the UK in two doses to all children, first at 12 months and then again at three years.

Vaccination rates have dropped to about 85% nationally, and far lower in parts of London, according to UK Health Security Agency chief executive Jenny Harries.

That is “too low to maintain safe population coverage — we want that at about 95%" as advised by the World Health Organization, she said.

Public health officials say more than 3.4 million children under 16 years old are unprotected and at risk of catching the preventable diseases.

Measles was declared eliminated in the UK in 2017, meaning the disease was no longer native to the country.

But transmissions began again when epidemics broke out in the rest of Europe.

Officials said outbreaks can take place anywhere where vaccine coverage is below the 95% needed to achieve herd immunity.

WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in November that measles deaths globally spiked by more than 40% last year, and cases rose after vaccination levels dramatically dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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