Health chief issues urgent 'call to action' over potentially deadly disease that is spreading across UK

The head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has called for a national effort to ensure children are vaccinated against potentially deadly measles. , Professor Dame Jenny Harries warned that the disease is spreading among unvaccinated communities and urged parents to check if their children have had the MMR jab.

Dame Jenny highlighted that vaccination rates have been falling across the country, with particular concerns about some areas, including parts of London and the West Midlands. Recent figures from the UKHSA showed there were 198 confirmed cases and 104 "likely" cases in the West Midlands between October 2023 and January 2024.

Most of these cases (80%) were found in Birmingham, while 8% were identified in Coventry, with the rest spread around the West Midlands. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme ahead of her visit to Birmingham, Dame Jenny reminded people that measles can make children very sick for a week or two, with symptoms like a nasty rash, high fever and ear infections. She also stressed that the virus is highly infectious and can lead to serious complications, hospital admissions and even death.

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"The focus this morning obviously is on the West Midlands and I'm going there, but I think the real issue is we need a call to action right across the country," she said. "We had established measles elimination status in the UK, but in fact our vaccination rates now have dropped on average to about only 85% of children arriving at school having had the two MMR doses.

"In the West Midlands, that's in some areas down to 81%, (and) if we go down to the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board area, that's just over 70%." She added: "So we