UKHSA warns of rising cases in North London measles outbreak

A measles outbreak in North London has now seen a total of 60 cases confirmed, according to latest data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The figures show 50 cases in Enfield and 10 in Haringey up to 16 February, with 88 cases recorded across London as a whole.

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Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: ‘The outbreak is still mostly affecting unvaccinated children under 10 in schools and nurseries.

‘With the time lag involved with confirming cases through laboratory testing, we expect the actual number of cases to be higher.’

Dr Saliba said some children had required hospital treatment and warned of the potential severity of the infection.

She said: ‘Measles is a nasty illness for any child, but for some it can lead to serious long-term complications and tragically death, but is so easily preventable with two doses of the MMRV vaccine.’

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Local NHS leaders said GP practices were continuing efforts to increase vaccine uptake.

Dr Josephine Sauvage, local GP and chief medical officer at North Central London Integrated Care Board, said: ‘We want to thank local GPs, nurses, healthcare professionals and trust colleagues across the NHS who are working extremely hard to respond to the measles outbreak.

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‘GP practices are continuing to contact unvaccinated patients, offering additional appointments, including out-of-hours clinics, to make it as easy as possible for families to get protected.’

Last week the government unveiled its new ‘Stay Strong, Get Vaccinated’ campaign – urging parents to ensure their children are up to date with routine childhood immunisations. This came after almost 100 new measles cases had been confirmed in England since the start of the year.