Parents hoping to head away this summer are being urgently warned to vaccinate their children as cases of measles have skyrocketed in the last few months, with 17 holiday hotspots across Europe affected. According to the latest data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention (ECDP) 1,671 cases of the potentially deadly disease were reported in April alone with Romania, Poland and Belgium among some of the worst affected areas, with 957, 84 and 76 cases identified respectively.
France, Austria, The Netherlands, Ireland, Spain and Portugal have all seen cases of the illness increase. In addition a smaller number of cases have also been identified in Sweden, Lithuania, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Croatia, Hungary and Estonia.
The latest figures come after 10,887 cases of measles across the continent were reported during the last 12 months, with seven people having died after contracting the infection. The majority of infections, 87%, were found in unvaccinated people.
Experts are now urging parents to consider vaccinating their child with the MMR vaccine to try and limit the chance of infection and potentially life-threatening complications should they contract the disease. Earlier this month, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) urged parents to be vigilant after UK cases rose substantially at the start of the year.
This year, almost 900 cases of the virus have been recorded in 2024 so far, compared with 368 cases recorded 2023, meaning England has seen more cases of the disease in the first four months of this year, than in the whole of last year.
“Most of the cases have been in London, although there have been cases picked up across the country and some are linked to travel abroad,” the UKHSA wrote.
Vaccination rates for the deadly disease remain at a 12-year low, with only 84% of children having had both MMR vaccines (a combined jab for Measles, Mumps and Rubella) before the age of five. In order to stop outbreaks and protect vulnerable people who may be unable to have the jab, this figure needs to be above 90%.
Dr Helen Bedford, Professor of Children’s Health at UCL, said current vaccine uptake figures are too low to keep the virus at bay, and cases will only rise if they remain stagnant. She said: “This is the biggest outbreak of measles we’ve had since 2012. We’ve had more cases in the first four months of this year than in the whole of last year.
“The main reason for that is vaccine uptake figures – for all vaccines, not just MMR – figures have been going down very slightly year-on-year for the last ten years. Our uptake for the MMR vaccines overall for England is 89.3% for the first dose and 84.5% for the second dose.
“But the big, important thing about measles is that it is incredibly infectious. It is the most infectious respiratory disease around, and because of that, we need to have very very high levels of vaccine uptake. We need at least 95% for both doses.”
What are the symptoms of measles?
Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, runny or blocked nose, sneezing, cough and sore watery eyes, followed by a rash a few days later.
Some people may also get small spots in their mouth. These small white spots may appear inside the cheeks and on the back of the lips a few days later. These spots usually last a few days.
The rash usually appears a few days after the cold-like symptoms and starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading to the rest of the body. The spots of the measles rash are sometimes raised and join together to form blotchy patches. They’re not usually itchy.
The rash looks brown or red on white skin. It may be harder to see on brown and black skin.
How can I prevent measles?
The best way to prevent measles is by getting the MMR vaccine, a combined vaccine which offers protection against measles, mumps and rubella. The MMR vaccine is offered to all children in the UK in 2 doses, which can give lifelong protection against all three diseases.
Some people however are unable to be vaccinated such as pregnant women, those with a weakened immune system or if you’ve ever had a serious allergy to any ingredients in the jab, neomycin or gelatine.