England measles epidemiology 2024

This report describes measles epidemiology in England from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.

Summary

From 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases. There was a rapid increase in cases in late 2023 driven by a large outbreak in Birmingham, with subsequent rises in London and small clusters in other regions in the first half of 2024. Case counts then followed a downward trajectory from mid-July with small, localised outbreaks affecting the South West, Yorkshire and Humber and East Midlands regions.

Amongst the 2,911 cases, the majority (1,722 of 2,911, 60.9%) were in children aged 10 years and under, and 31.9% (929 of 2,911) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over (Table 1). During this period, all regions had reported at least one confirmed case. However, most cases were reported in London (1,305 of 2,911, 44.8%), West Midlands (562 of 2,911, 19.3%) and East of England (252 of 2,911, 8.7%). 134 upper tier local authorities (UTLAs) reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset in 2024, with the highest numbers reported in Birmingham (364 of 2,911, 12.5%), Lambeth (178 of 2,911, 6.1%) and Wandsworth (152 of 2,911, 5.7%) (Table 2).

One acute measles-related death was reported in 2024 in a young person who was known to have other medical conditions. Information on historical measles-related deaths is available on the notifications and deaths webpage. The vaccination status of all confirmed cases is published quarterly in the related health protection reports.

Figure 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by week of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 [note 1]

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

Table 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of measles by age group and region in England: 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 [note 2]

Age group	East Midlands	East of England	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and Humber	Total
less than 1 year	13	25	151	15	11	15	10	70	22	332
1 to 4 years	57	66	327	16	23	16	10	157	38	710
5 to 10 years	68	63	362	20	13	14	20	116	54	730
11 to 14 years	25	19	78	7	5	8	10	49	9	210
15 to 24 years	22	28	122	4	12	16	24	84	16	328
25 to 34 years	16	29	144	8	17	26	19	47	16	322
35 years and older	13	22	121	9	18	26	19	39	12	279
Total	214	252	1,305	79	99	121	112	562	167	2,911

Note 2: Cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.

Table 2. Number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 [notes 3, 4]

Upper Tier Local Authority	Total cases
Birmingham	364
Lambeth	178
Wandsworth	152
Leicester	124
Harrow	99
Croydon	98
Leeds	79
Hertfordshire	78
Brent	75
Essex	70
Enfield	65
Middlesbrough	55
Southwark	55
Walsall	55
Bristol	53
Lewisham	43
Hillingdon	42
Merton	42
Surrey	40
Ealing	35
Hounslow	35
Waltham Forest	34
Newham	31
Sandwell	31
Barnet	30
Coventry	28
Greenwich	26
Haringey	25
Kensington and Chelsea	25
Luton	25
Camden	24
Hammersmith and Fulham	24
Gloucestershire	23
Sutton	23
Westminster	23
Wolverhampton	22
Bradford	21
Bexley	20
Lancashire	20
Hackney	19
Milton Keynes	19
Nottingham	19
West Northamptonshire	19
Central Bedfordshire	17
Manchester	16
Solihull	16
Tower Hamlets	16
Leicestershire	15
Hampshire	14
Redbridge	14
Doncaster	13
Southampton	13
Staffordshire	13
Thurrock	13
Kingston upon Thames	12
Nottinghamshire	12
Bromley	11
Islington	11
Kent	11
Kingston upon Hull	11
North Northamptonshire	11
Somerset	11
Stockport	11
North Yorkshire	10

Note 3: Cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.

Note 4: Case counts have been suppressed to not present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases.