Measles cases in England: January to December 2018
Updated 12 July 2019
The total number of laboratory confirmed measles cases for with onset dates in 2018 (January to December) in England was 971 (see figure 1). This is over 3 times higher than the total for 2017 of 259 cases.
![Figure: Number of confirmed measles cases by month of onset, England: January 2012 to December 2018](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d2368aae5274a2f9d17566d/msls2018_fig1.jpg)
Figure 1: Number of confirmed measles cases by month of onset, England: January 2012 to December 2018
The age distribution of the cases this year shows a peak in the 1 to 4 year old age group (172 cases, 18%) with an apparent shift in age, when compared to the previous year (see figure 2). The majority (87%) of measles cases in 2018 had no recorded MMR vaccination, 59 cases (6.1%) reported one dose of measles containing vaccine and 63 cases (6.5%) reported 2 doses.
![Figure: Age distribution of confirmed measles in England, January to December 2018, compared to 2017](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d2368aae5274a2f97a4bef1/msls2018_fig2.jpg)
Figure 2: Age distribution of confirmed measles in England, January to December 2018, compared to 2017
The 971 cases are distributed across England, although London (40% of cases), South East (19% cases) and South West (14%) have the highest totals (table 1). There were several large outbreaks associated with cases from “hard-to-reach” populations with known low coverage.
Overall 320 cases (33%) were admitted to hospital due to measles infection; 15 of these experienced complications such as pneumonia, meningitis and respiratory failure.
Nearly 8% (74 cases) of the measles laboratory confirmed cases in 2018 acquired their infection abroad; the majority of these reported travel to Europe (42 cases,57% of importations) or Asia (24 cases, 32% of importations) where measles has been known to circulate. In 2017, 17% (46 cases) of the measles cases were associated with travel abroad, with most (35 cases, 76% of importations) associated with travel to Europe.
In February the WHO Euro release a warning following the highest number of people affected by measles in Europe in 2018: 3 times the total reported in 2017 and 15 times the record low number of people affected in 2016 [footnote 1].
Table 1: Age group and region distribution of laboratory confirmed cases of measles in England, January to December 2018
Age group | less than 1 | 1 to 4 | 5 to 9 | 10 to 14 | 15 to 19 | 20 to 24 | 25 to 29 | 30 to 34 | >=35 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N EAST | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
N WEST | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 34 |
YORK&HUM | 10 | 20 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 83 |
E MIDS | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
W MIDS | 11 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 82 |
EASTERN | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 34 |
LONDON | 32 | 74 | 52 | 24 | 30 | 41 | 43 | 32 | 60 | 388 |
S EAST | 14 | 19 | 12 | 17 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 44 | 184 |
S WEST | 11 | 30 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 27 | 139 |
Total | 90 | 172 | 93 | 74 | 126 | 93 | 97 | 69 | 157 | 971 |
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Measles in Europe: record number of both sick and immunized; Copenhagen, 7 February 2019. Available from: www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2019/measles-in-europe-record-number-of-both-sick-and-immunized ↩