The number of hospital admissions for measles has increased by 66% in the last year, new figures released by NHS Digital have shown.
The Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity Report, released today by NHS Digital, has shown that there were 328 admissions for measles in England in the 2018/19 financial year.
This represents a measles admission increase of 66%, up from 198 in 2017/18.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson highlighted the urgent action required to halt the spread of measles in August, after the World Health Organization announced that the UK was no longer considered measles free.
The action points announced by the Prime Minister included writing to GPs to urge them to promote catch-up vaccines to unvaccinated 5-25 year olds and strengthening the role of local immunisation coordinators in order to promote the vaccine to hard-to-reach groups.
The figures come as a UNICEF report found that 527,000 children in the UK missed the first dose of the MMR vaccine between 2010 and 2017.
Public Health England also urged patients to get vaccinated against mumps earlier this month, after figures showed that the number of cases of mumps had gone up from 795 in the first quarte rof 2019 to 2,208 in the second quarter. Experts said that the increase was largely due to outbreaks in unvaccinated university students.
