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Following the news that at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool after contracting measles, parents and carers are being urged to ensure that children are fully vaccinated as health officials warn low vaccine uptake is behind a rise in cases in the region.

In the UK, the MMR vaccine is part of the National Health Service’s Routine Childhood Immunisation Programme ().

However, rates of routine childhood vaccination coverage in England have been declining over the last decade, with strong indications of vaccine inequity with outbreaks disproportionately affecting more deprived areas.

In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded since 2012.

Read more about the issues in Measles in the UK – LSHTM Unpacked

Speaking about the recent case in Liverpool, Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, Assistant Professor of Global Health & Development at the ������app of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said:

“The report of a child death from measles in Liverpool is devastating. My family are rooted in Liverpool, have been for generations when the city became a home for my migrant grandparents. Against a backdrop of structural deprivation, each child makes the city in their vision and deserves the best start in life. That begins with equitable access to vaccination.

“In 2023-24, almost 90% of children in England had received their first MMR vaccine dose by two years of age but uptake rates varied considerably by area. Just 81% of children in Liverpool received one dose by age two, compared with 91.9% of children living in Wirral - just on the other side of the River Mersey.

“Liverpool is home to neighbourhoods that are among the most deprived in England, and like other cities, families that are moving between addresses. Declining coverage in Liverpool and nationwide is happening amidst a relentless cost of living crisis, characterised by a generational decline in living standards, continued austerity and unequal pandemic recovery.

“Public health cannot hope for vaccination coverage to improve, it needs sustained resources to offer flexible services that work with parents as they are pushed to the brink by precarity and to fund the communications required to engage with diverse communities.

“Measles is extremely contagious, but can be prevented by receiving two MMR vaccine doses to schedule. The child death in Liverpool is a tragic reminder that measles is not benign and can lead to serious complications including inflammation of the brain and death. Since 2023-25 we have seen a cycle of nasty measles outbreaks, indicating that the years of declining coverage are culminating in a new normal that no child needs to live with.”

Across the World Health Organization’s European Region, which includes the UK, cases of measles are the highest they’ve been for more than 25 years. At the same time, large outbreaks of measles in the US have led to the first measles deaths there since 2015.

Speaking about the global context, Professor Beate Kampmann, Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity at LSHTM, said:

“The UK has just seen a death of a child from measles, and the poor coverage particularly for this and other safe and potentially life-saving vaccine is of concern. The USA has already seen a significant rise in measles cases and deaths due to poor immunisation rates. We know the consequences.

“Reasons for poor uptake of vaccines are multiple – and it’s not all about acceptancy – whilst in many low-and middle income countries affordability and availability play a significant role, convenient access is sometime a barrier in European settings – and a degree of complacency.

“Measles remains one of the world’s most infectious pathogens and in particular in the context of poor nutrition and/or immunosuppression, deaths will no doubt occur - also in Europe. By vaccinating our children we also prevent the spread of these infections in the communities around us.”