Help spread the word

Measles spreads very easily among those who are unvaccinated.

Measles can be a very unpleasant illness. In some children it can be very serious and lead to hospitalisation – and in rare cases tragically can cause death. People in certain risk groups including babies and young children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immunity, are at increased risk of complications from measles.

Symptoms include a runny nose, cough, high fever, sore red watery eyes and a blotchy red-brown rash.

Having two doses of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine at the right time (first dose from 12 months andsecond dose from three years four months) is the best way to protect your child and help prevent it spreading, especially to those most vulnerable. Two doses of the MMR vaccine give you excellent lifelong protection. If you or your child have missed out, contact your GP surgery to catch up as soon as possible.

Uptake of the routine childhood vaccinations, including the MMR vaccine is the lowest it has been in a decade and is well below the 95% uptake needed to protect the population and prevent outbreaks. This is giving this serious disease a chance to get a foothold in our communities. Achieving high vaccination coverage across the population is important as it also indirectly helps protect very young infants (under one) and other vulnerable groups.

UKHSA has declared a national incident to coordinate the investigation and response to the rise in measles cases and this is informing communication strategies across partner organisations, ensuring facts are communicated clearly alongside a  call to action.

Key messages (updated 29 Feb)

Please use the message below as the basis for any discussions or communications you have with communities and groups:

• We have seen a recent increase of measles in the North West (latest data is here) and we do expect cases will increase due to some communities having low MMR vaccination rates.
• Measles is very infectious which means it can spread quickly among communities, such as schools and nurseries, if people are not up to date with their MMR vaccine.
• One in five children will need a hospital visit if they become unwell with measles and around one in15 measles cases can have complications such as meningitis, sepsis and blindness.
• The Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine vaccination is the best protection against becoming seriously unwell.
• The MMR vaccine is free on the NHS, with the first dose being offered when a child is one year and the second at 3 years and 4 months old. It is available from your local GP surgery – there may also be some pop up clinics in your area.
• The MMR vaccine is safe and has been used since the early 1980s.
• The evidence is clear; there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism
• Two doses gives very effective and long lasting protection against measles, mumps and rubella.
• There are two types of MMR vaccine, and one does not contain pork gelatine. You can request a vaccine without pork gelatine from your GP practice when you book your appointment.
• If you are unsure if your child / children are up to date with their vaccines check their red book (Child's health record).
• If your child / children have missed any of their MMR vaccines, contact their GP surgery to book an appointment.
• Measles does not just affect young children – anyone who has missed their MMR vaccination can catch measles and become ill.

Call to action (updated 29 Feb)

You can include calls to action in any written or spoken communications about the MMR vaccine.

Please make sure you and your family have had two doses of the MMR vaccine

Measles is a preventable disease – vaccination is very effective and will protect your loved ones.

Vaccination with TWO doses of MMR is the only way to give people maximum and lifelong protection. MMR is part of the NHS routine childhood vaccine schedule, and protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Mumps can also cause serious illness, and rubella can damage unborn babies.

• 1st dose should be given just after the child’s first birthday
• 2nd dose at 3 years 4 months and certainly before children start school full time
• However, it is never too late – you can have the MMR vaccine at any age. MMR can be given to older children, teenagers and adults if they missed their injections when they were younger. 
• The MMR vaccine is safe, effective, and free of charge
• For people who do not touch any pork products, there is a version of the MMR vaccine, Priorix, which has no pork ingredients. You can request Priorix from your GP.

If anyone in your family is not up to date with their MMR, contact your GP surgery to arrange vaccination as soon as possible.

• You can make an appointment with your GP to get up to date with MMR vaccines
• This is especially important when measles is spreading in the region and other parts of the country – as it is now
• If you are not sure if your child needs an MMR vaccine, you can:
  • check your child’s Red Book
  • look at the NHS app
  • contact the GP to check
• People should also make sure they are up to date with their MMR vaccines before going to large gatherings and festivals and abroad on holiday, and before older children start college or university.

What to do if you think you or your child has measles

• Contact your GP by phone for advice.
• Please do not just turn up to your GP, walk-in centre, or any other healthcare setting without calling ahead, as measles is very infectious – the doctor will make special arrangements to see your child so that, if they have measles, they won’t pass it to others.
• People remain infectious until at least 4 days after the onset of the rash – so they should stay off nursery/ school/ university/ work/ group activities until then.

For more information

• More information on measles is available on the NHS website here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles/
• More information on the MMR vaccine is available on the NHS website here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/mmr-vaccine/

NHS advice

There is information on measles on the NHS website. This includes advice to parents and carers to check if their child has measles, including photos of the measles rash. The rash looks brown or red on white skin. It may be harder to see on brown and black skin.

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness, so anyone with symptoms is advised to stay at home and phone their GP or NHS 111 for advice, rather than visiting the surgery or A&E, to prevent the illness spreading further. 

There is information available from the NHS on the MMR vaccine.

NHS national MMR catch-up campaign for children aged 6 to 11 years

On 22 January 2024, the NHS launched a catch up campaign for missed MMR vaccines.

The campaign will see all parents of children aged from six to 11 years contacted encouraging them to make an appointment with their child’s GP practice for their missed MMR vaccine.

It will target areas with low uptake of the vaccine with the health service contacting just over one million people aged 11 to 25 years-old in London and the West Midlands to invite them to catch up on their missed MMR vaccinations.

For more information about the campaign, please visit the nhs.uk website.

MMR vaccine general information

Vaccines are our best line of defence against diseases like measles and help stop outbreaks occurring in the community.

Children are offered the first dose of the MMR vaccine when they turn one and the second dose when they are about three years four months old, before they start school. 

In recent years, uptake of the routine childhood vaccinations, including the MMR vaccine has fallen. Uptake for the first dose of the MMR vaccine – which protects against measles, mumps and rubella – in children aged two years in England is 89% and uptake of both MMR doses in children aged five years is 85%. This is well below the 95% target set by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is necessary to achieve and maintain elimination.

We are calling on all parents and guardians to make sure their children are up to date with their two MMR doses. It’s never too late to catch up, and you can get the MMR vaccine for free on the NHS whatever your age.

The MMR vaccine ingredients – is a halal vaccine available? – YES

Evidence suggests there is confidence in NHS vaccination programmes and parents largely trust the advice that they get from practice nurses, general practitioners, pharmacists and from the NHS. For example, UKHSA’s annual survey of attitudes to vaccines among parents shows high confidence in the childhood and adolescent NHS vaccine programmes, which shows confidence has actually improved over the period when coverage was declining. In addition, the same survey showed almost 90% of parents understand the benefits of vaccination for their children and trust the NHS England immunisation programmes.

However, we understand the issue of pork ingredients (known as ‘porcine gelatine’) in some vaccines has raised concerns among some groups.

For background, UKHSA and NHS England has a leaflet which explains how and why porcine gelatine is used in vaccines, and the alternatives available. There is also information available on the NHS website on why vaccination is important.

Measles and Autism

The MMR vaccine is not linked to autism. There's no evidence of any link between the MMR vaccine and autism. There are many studies that have investigated this. The Oxford University Vaccine Knowledge Project website has a list of MMR studies and their findings