The UK Health Security Agency warned that London is standing at risk of a major measles outbreak which could result in tens of thousands of getting hospitalised.
The UKHSA’s fresh analysis suggests that since there has been an improvement in MMR vaccination rates, an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,0000 cases can be experienced by the capital. Experts warned that an outbreak of this scale can cause dozens of deaths and thousands getting hospitalised.
UKHSA consultant epidemiologist Dr Vanessa Saliba said, “Measles can be a serious infection that can lead to complications, especially in young children and those with weakened immune systems. Due to longstanding suboptimal vaccine uptake there is now a very real risk of seeing big outbreaks in London.”
In the official data, which was published on Friday, it was revealed that there is a steady rise in measles cases this year which indicates a resurgence of the illness. This year, between June 30 and January 1, there were 128 cases of measles reported, in comparison to 54 cases that came up in the whole of 2022, with 66 per cent of them being detected in London, although cases have been reported from all regions.
People likely to suffer complications due to measles
Measles can cause severe illness, with an estimated 20-40 per cent of children getting hospitalised, as per the UKHSA. According to the estimates of the US Centre for Disease Control, one to two in 1,000 children infected will lose their life from measles and a larger number of people will suffer serious complications, which will include deafness and intellectual disabilities.
“UKHSA is right to be worried about this,” stated Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, adding that an outbreak of the estimated scale would lead to “dozens of deaths”.
WATCH | UK agency issues health warning for London
“Measles is one of the most infectious viruses to infect humans. About two in 1,000 infected people will die, the main risk being in children under five years old, but adults can get very sick as well,” he said.
“With measles being so infectious once the vaccine uptake rate falls you can’t rely on herd immunity from other parents vaccinating their children to protect you child if you do not get them immunised and in London particularly we are approaching that point,” stated Hunter.
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