Britain has lost its measles-free status with the World Health Organisation (WHO) - three years after the virus was eliminated in the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged immediate action to boost the number of children receiving vaccinations against the virus, following a rise in cases of measles.

He credits "superstitious mumbo jumbo" spread online about the risks of the measles, mumps and rubella jab (MMR) for the UK to lose its status.

Measles is a highly infectious disease that can only be controlled by vaccination, yet in the first quarter of 2019, there were 231 confirmed cases of measles in the UK.

Why have we lost measles elimination status?

WHO defines elimination when there is an absence of measles circulating, a high vaccine coverage, along with good systems to identify cases of measles.

The UK achieved this status in 2017 based on data published from 2014-16.

However last year, there were 991 confirmed cases in England and Wales, compared to 285 in 2017, according to Public Health England.

Therefore transmission of the disease has now been re-established.

Boris Johnson has called health chiefs to renew their efforts to ensure 95 per cent of the population has had both doses of the MMR vaccine

Why has there been an increase in measles cases?

Measles remains an epidemic in many countries around the world so until we see an elimination globally, we will continue to see the virus in the UK.

Public Health England says to limit the spread in the UK, it's important to maintain a high coverage of two doses of the MMR vaccine.

Coverage of the first dose of the vaccine in the UK reached the WHO target of 95 per cent of children aged five, but the coverage of the second MMR vaccine reached 87.4 per cent.

Even though the virus is associated with children, adults who missed out on the first vaccine are susceptible.

Because of how infectious measles is, even a small decline in uptake can have a huge impact.

Herd immunity also plays an important role in protection, which is when a high percentage of the population is protected against a disease through vaccination, it becomes harder for the disease to pass between people who have not been vaccinated.

This is particularly important as not everyone can get vaccinated, but those who can are able to help protect those who can’t.

95 per cent of the population need to be protected to achieve herd immunity.

Measles, mumps and rubella are highly infectious conditions

Why have people put off having the MMR jab?

There was some controversy about whether the vaccine causes autism, following a 1998 study by Dr Andrew Wakefield.

This has since been discredited and studies in the last nine years have found no link between the vaccine and autism, or bowel disease.

Who is eligible for the vaccine?

Children will have the MMR vaccine in two doses; the first given to babies, usually within a month of their first birthday, and then they'll have a second injected usually before starting school, around the age of three.

Young teens up to the age of 18 who missed their earlier MMR vaccination can have a catch-up jab on the NHS.

The MMR vaccine can also be given on the NHS to adults who may need it, including people born between 1970 and 1979, who may have only been vaccinated against measles and people born from 1980 to 1990, who may not be protected against mumps.


What is being done to combat the outbreak?

The Prime Minister has called for health chiefs to renew their efforts to ensure 95 per cent of the population has had both doses of the MMR vaccine.

Speaking at a hospital in Cornwall, Mr Johnson said: "I think there's complacency on the part of parents about the need to get that second vaccine but also, I'm afraid, people have been listening to that superstitious mumbo jumbo on the internet, all that anti-vax stuff and thinking that the MMR vaccine is a bad idea.

"That's wrong.

"Please get your kids vaccinated because it's not just the right thing for them, but also of course it is the right thing for the whole population because it might not be your kid that gets it, it could be somebody else's."

His comments came after Public Health England warned that one in seven five-year-olds may not be fully up to date with routine immunisations and the call for social media giants to do more to tackle misinformation online.

"We know that vaccinations are an incredibly good way of protecting large numbers of the population," health minister, Jo Churchill.

She urged social media companies to do more to fight misinformation on vaccines following a spike in measles cases.

"The side-effects of somebody that contracts measles are awful, and it also affects other groups with low immune systems, so people suffering from leukaemia for example", she added.

NHS England will write to all GPs, urging them to promote "catch-up" vaccination programmes

NHS England will write to all GPs, urging them to promote "catch-up" vaccination programmes, and will seek to strengthen the role of local immunisation co-ordinators in a bid to improve uptake.

The government will also seek to update the advice on the NHS's website to address misleading information about the dangers of vaccines.


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Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "It's a shocking indictment that the UK has now lost its measles-free status.

"Labour has long warned of falling vaccination rates - now at a six-year low, having fallen in consecutive years - and missing the World Health Organisation target, while the Tories continued to cut public health budgets, watch health visitor numbers fall and pile more pressure on overstretched family doctors.

"We need also serious action on falling vaccination rates, including an enforced duty of care for social media to prevent anti-vaccination propaganda."