UK officials warn low measles vaccination rates could lead to tens of thousands of cases in London

LONDON — The UK Health Security Agency said on Friday that measles Vaccination rates in parts of London have dropped so low that the capital could see tens of thousands of cases of the rash-causing disease unless vaccination coverage is quickly boosted.

In a statement, the agency said that among some groups of children in London, less than 70% had received their first dose of the standard measles, mumps and rubella vaccine; two doses are needed to provide protection. Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world and health experts estimate that around 95% of the population needs to be immunized to stop further outbreaks.

The Health Security Agency said that although the risk of an outbreak across the UK is low, current vaccination levels in London suggest that “a measles outbreak of 40,000 to 160,000 cases could occur in the capital”. As of June 30, there had been 128 cases of measles in Britain this year, up from 54 cases last year. More than 60% of cases in 2023 occurred in London.

Britain’s National Health Service said it was launching a targeted national campaign to boost measles vaccination in communities with the lowest coverage rates.

British officials said people aged 19 to 25 were at particularly high risk of catching measles, noting that many of them may have missed vaccinations following false claims made by the British doctor Andrew Wakefield in 1998 that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism. The research was later discredited and Wakefield was banned by medical authorities for misconduct, but he seeded an anti-vaccination movement that damaged vaccination rates in the UK and beyond for years.

Globally, measles vaccination rates dropped dramatically following the coronavirus pandemic; the World Health Organization warned last November that about 40 million children worldwide had missed a dose of the measles vaccine in 2021. In Europe, the WHO noted that cases had jumped in some countries, including Russia, Austria, Serbia and the United Kingdom this year.

Measles is an airborne disease and usually causes coughing, red eyes and a rash on the face. Serious complications are mostly seen in children under five and adults over 30 and include blindness, encephalitis and pneumonia.

In 2021, the disease killed more than 128,000 people, mostly children under five, according to the WHO.