Research and analysis

Confirmed cases of measles in England by month, age, region and upper tier local authority: 2024

Updated 29 August 2024

Applies to England

England measles epidemiology 2024

This report describes measles epidemiology in England from 1 January 2024. The summary of cases for 2023 can be found on the measles epidemiology 2023 page.

Situational update

Since 1 January 2024, there have been 2,387 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England, an increase of 109 cases since the last report on 15 August 2024 (Figures 1 and 2)^{[footnote 1]}. There was a rapid increase in cases in late 2023 driven by a large outbreak in Birmingham but this has now decreased to lower levels. There has subsequently been a rise in cases in London and small clusters in other regions.

2024 summary

The following number of cases have been reported: 276 cases were reported in January, 276 in February, 332 in March, 390 in April, 395 in May, 312 in June, 318 in July and 88 so far in August. The UKHSA data dashboard provides tabular data on the total number of cases by week of onset in 2024.

The majority (1,473 out of 2,387, 62%) of these cases were in children aged 10 years and under, and 31% (749 out of 2,387) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over (Table 1).

47% (1,121 out of 2,387) of these cases have been in London, 23% (544 out of 2,387) in the West Midlands, and 8% (182 out of 2,387) in the East Midlands. A total of 130 upper tier local authorities (UTLAs) have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since January 2024, with the highest numbers reported in Birmingham (355 out of 2,387, 15%), Lambeth (167 out of 2,387, 7%) and Wandsworth (140 out of 2,387, 6%) (Table 2a).

The vaccination status of all confirmed cases is published quarterly in the related health protection reports.

Recent activity

In the 4 weeks since 29 July 2024, there have been 122 confirmed cases. Data reporting lags have had the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity. London accounted for the highest proportion of these (73%, 89 out of 122). 14% (17 out of 122) of cases have been in the South East, and 8% (10 out of 122) in the West Midlands. 38 UTLAs have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since 29 July 2024, with the highest number of cases reported in Lambeth (n=22), Croydon (n=18) and Southwark (n=13) (Table 2b).

Figure 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by month of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England 1 January 2012 to 26 August 2024 [notes 1 and 2]

Figure 2. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by week of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London, West Midlands and England: 1 January 2024 to 26 August 2024 [notes 1 and 2]

Note 1: Cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.

Note 2: Data is provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

The data reporting lag has had the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity. For this reason, these data points are represented by dotted lines.

Table 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by age group and region in England: 1 January 2024 to 26 August 2024 [note 3]

Age group (years)	East Midlands	East of England	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and Humber	England
Under 1	9	20	130	14	11	11	4	70	9	278
1 to 4	50	55	277	16	18	13	4	147	19	599
5 to 10	61	45	317	20	12	10	4	112	15	596
11 to 14	20	8	68	7	4	7	0	48	3	165
15 to 24	19	14	104	3	11	13	3	81	11	259
25 to 34	12	14	122	8	17	21	9	47	13	263
35 and over	11	15	103	10	16	18	4	39	11	227
Total	182	171	1,121	78	89	93	28	544	81	2,387

Note 3: Data is provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

Table 2a. Number of laboratory-confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 1 January 2024 to 26 August 2024 [note 4]

Upper tier local authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Birmingham	West Midlands	355
Lambeth	London	167
Wandsworth	London	140
Leicester	East Midlands	123
Harrow	London	95
Croydon	London	83
Hertfordshire	East of England	66
Brent	London	63
Middlesbrough	North East	55
Walsall	West Midlands	55
Enfield	London	46
Southwark	London	44
Merton	London	40
Hillingdon	London	38
Ealing	London	32
Hounslow	London	31
Surrey	South East	30
Lewisham	London	29
Coventry	West Midlands	27
Greenwich	London	26
Sandwell	West Midlands	26
Luton	East of England	25
Newham	London	25
Barnet	London	24
Hammersmith and Fulham	London	23
Waltham Forest	London	23
Kensington and Chelsea	London	22
Westminster	London	22
Wolverhampton	West Midlands	22
Camden	London	20
Lancashire	North West	19
Milton Keynes	East of England	19
Sutton	London	19
Bexley	London	18
Haringey	London	18
Bradford	Yorkshire and Humber	17
Central Bedfordshire	East of England	17
Solihull	West Midlands	15
Essex	East of England	14
Manchester	North West	14
Doncaster	Yorkshire and Humber	13
Staffordshire	West Midlands	13
Nottingham	East Midlands	12
Southampton	South East	12
Thurrock	East of England	12
Hackney	London	11
Leicestershire	East Midlands	11
Stockport	North West	11
Kingston upon Hull, City of	Yorkshire and Humber	10
Kingston upon Thames	London	10
West Northamptonshire	East Midlands	10

Note 4: Case counts have been suppressed to not present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases. Data is provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after obtaining further epidemiological information or undergoing confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

Table 2b. Number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 29 July 2024 to 26 August 2024 [note 5]

Upper tier local authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Lambeth	London	22
Croydon	London	18
Southwark	London	13

Note 5: Case counts have been suppressed to not present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases. Data is provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after obtaining further epidemiological information or undergoing confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

The data reporting lag has had the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity.

1. Following the resolution of a methodological issue on the week commencing 19 August, 8 previously confirmed cases have now been discarded. This is due to an update in the immunisation information system data available to us. ↩