The second child in 2 years has died as a result of contracting measles. This occurred at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and reports suggest that Liverpool is one of 22 places across the country where the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) rates have dropped below 75%.

Alder Hey has confirmed that it has had 17 cases of children with measles attending the hospital since the start of June and there have been a total of 529 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England since the start of January 2025.

What is measles?

Measles is an infection that typically starts with cold-like symptoms including high temperature, runny nose, sneezing, coughing and sore watery eyes. This can lead to a rash and sometimes small spots in the mouth.

The rash that starts after a few days of showing cold symptoms, will start on the face and behind the ears, before spreading down the body.

Measles is usually a self-limiting condition and so it typically gets better by itself; however, it can lead to serious problems if it spreads to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or brain. Examples of the serious problems that can be caused by measles are meningitis, pneumonia, blindness, and seizures.

Certain people are at greater risk of serious complications, namely children younger than 1 year of age, people who are immunocompromised and if they are pregnant.

In such circumstances where there are complications, hospital admission will likely be required and the patient will require careful management. There is no antiviral treatment for measles but management focuses on providing supportive care to prevent complications. Vitamin A can be prescribed in severe cases but it requires careful management, as Vitamin A can cause harm if prescribed inappropriately.

Measles is highly contagious and can spread through breathing, coughing or sneezing. You will be infectious from when you first have symptoms (around 4 days before the rash appears) until 4 days after the rash.

Why vaccinate against measles?

The best way to protect again measles and the serious complication of measles is to get vaccinated. The MMR vaccine is offered to all children in the UK and involves 2 doses which can give lifelong protection against measles, mumps, and rubella

The rise in measles cases is considered to be as a result of the drop in children receiving the vaccination. In order to reduce the risk of infections such as measles increasing in cases across the UK, herd immunity is recommended. Herd immunity is when a large number of the population is vaccinated against the illness reducing the number of people that will be prone to getting it. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says, in order to achieve herd immunity, at least 95% of children should receive their full set of vaccine doses for each illness.

The NHS England data shows that no council area of England hit the target figure of vaccinating 95% of children against measles, mumps, and rubella by their fifth birthday and most are only just reaching 75%.

If you or a loved one have suffered measles and consider that there have been potential failings in the management of the same which has led to a worse outcome, please contact our experienced medical negligence team to discuss how we may be able to assist.