Cases of measles in England have surpassed last year’s total, with officials warning that declining vaccination rates are fuelling a resurgence of the disease, particularly in London and the West Midlands, risking wider outbreaks.
Measles cases in England have now climbed above last year’s total, with official figures showing 1,003 laboratory-confirmed infections so far in 2026, as health officials warn that falling vaccine uptake has left more children exposed to a disease once considered eliminated in the UK. The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency also records three measles-related deaths this year, including two young children in June and an adult with an underlying health condition in July.
The outbreak has been concentrated in London and the West Midlands, with smaller clusters also identified in parts of the North West, Yorkshire, Hertfordshire, Kent and Essex. According to the UKHSA, Enfield has been the hardest-hit area in London, while Birmingham has recorded one of the highest case counts outside the capital. The agency says the virus has circulated in at least 25 council areas in England and Wales where the number of lab-confirmed cases reached 10 or more, although the true spread may be wider because local breakdowns are not published until outbreaks pass that threshold.
Case numbers peaked in May, when 215 infections were confirmed, before easing to 154 in June, 50 in July and 29 in August. Health officials say the pattern reflects a large outbreak that began in Enfield around February and then spread across other parts of London and the West Midlands. The UKHSA has said the majority of infections this year have been in unvaccinated children aged 10 and under.
The resurgence has revived concern about a decade-long slide in routine childhood vaccination. UKHSA figures show that 92.1% of five-year-olds in England have had at least one dose of the MMRV jab, which also protects against chickenpox, and 83.8% have had both doses. That is only a small rise from the previous year, but it remains well below the 95% coverage the World Health Organisation says is needed for herd immunity. In some places, the gap is far larger: in Enfield, only 61.9% of children had received both MMR doses by age five.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said the decade-long decline in MMR uptake had driven the return of measles since late 2023 and warned that the virus would continue to find pockets of children who had not been vaccinated. She said two doses of MMR or MMRV offer the best protection and urged parents whose children missed vaccinations to arrange catch-up jabs through their GP. The NHS has also moved to make protection easier to access by offering the second MMRV dose earlier, at an 18-month appointment, in an effort to improve take-up and help prevent further outbreaks. The warning comes as public-health officials in the United States face their own measles surge, adding to concerns that declining immunisation rates can quickly turn local outbreaks into wider public health crises.
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