Measles holiday warning as cases rise in Europe
Families travelling abroad this summer on holiday or to visit relatives are being warned about the rise in measles cases in Europe and other regions.
Measles infections in Europe are at a 25-year high, while cases are also surging in countries such as Pakistan and Nigeria.
Childhood vaccination rates in the UK that offer protection against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) are still a long way below the recommended 95% uptake, with the lowest regional rates found in London at just over 73% vaccinated.
The UK Health Security Agency is warning holidaymakers to make sure they are up to date with their vaccinations and stress that it is never too late to get vaccinated.
The UKHSA's latest data on measles infections shows that an outbreak is continuing in England.
Some 109 cases were confirmed in April and 86 so far in May. These cases have mostly been in unvaccinated children aged 10 years and under.
London has reported almost half of all cases in the past four weeks.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, says the rise in cases in England reflects what is happening abroad - and that's a concern as the summer holiday season gets going.
"It's essential that everyone, particularly parents of young children, check all family members are up to date with two MMR doses, especially if you are travelling this summer for holidays or visiting family," Dr Saliba said.
"Measles cases are picking up again in England and outbreaks are happening in Europe and many countries with close links to the UK."
Measles spreads very easily and can be a nasty disease, leading to complications like ear and chest infections and inflammation of the brain with some children tragically ending up in hospital and suffering life-long consequences, Dr Saliba added.
"Nobody wants this for their child and it's not something you want to experience when away on holiday."
The decline in vaccination rates in the UK - particularly since the Covid pandemic - has been mirrored in other countries, especially in Europe.
The World Health Organization and UNICEF reported 127,350 measles cases in the European Region in 2024 - double the number of cases reported during the previous year and the highest number since 1997.
This year has seen outbreaks in several other European countries popular with UK holidaymakers, including France, Italy, Spain and Germany.
The WHO has also reported that Romania, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Nigeria currently have among the largest number of measles cases worldwide.
There has been a big push to improve MMR vaccination rates across the UK, but Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services at NHS England, says there is still a lot of work to do.
"Too many babies and young children are still not protected against the diseases, which are contagious infections that spread very easily and can cause serious health problems.
"MMR jabs are provided free as part of the NHS routine immunisation programme – and I would encourage all parents to act on invites or check vaccination records if they think they may have missed their child's vaccination."
Health experts say that anyone, whatever their age, who has not had two doses of the MMR vaccine can contact their GP surgery to book an appointment and that it is never too late to catch up.
Measles is a highly contagious disease which is spread by coughs and sneezes.
Common symptoms include:
high fever
sore, red and watery eyes
runny nose
coughing
sneezing
Small white spots may appear inside the mouth.
A blotchy red or brown rash usually appears after a few days, typically on the face and behind the ears, before spreading to the rest of the body.
It can be harder to see on brown and black skin.
Measles normally clears up within seven to 10 days. However, it can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures.
Babies and young children, pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system are at increased risk. Getting it while pregnant can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage or babies being born small.
Measles can be fatal, but this is rare.
Parents of baby with measles in vaccination plea
'Concerning' measles rise prompts warning
Major MMR drive among teenagers and young adults
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Sunset World Group Trains Its Kitchen Staff in Cooperation with the German Organization Senior Expert Service
CANCÚN, Mexico, June 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, the Culinary Team and kitchen staff at Sunset Royal and Sunset Marina hotels of the Sunset World Group were trained in haute cuisine and pastry making, guided by two chefs from the German organization Senior Expert Service: Norbert Winkler, an expert in European cuisine, and Giordano Giovanni Bottignole, an expert pastry chef. At Sunset Royal, the training focused on the most authentic Western flavors and included the preparation of beef Wellington, chicken cordon bleu, pork roulette, beef bourguignon, sauerkraut, and minestrone soup, among others, focusing on baking and fermentation techniques. This training was primarily provided to the buffet and dinner staff. As for Sunset Marina, the training was provided to pastry chefs and consisted of improving techniques such as chocolate decoration, molding, and fortifying flavors and textures, preparing, among other famous desserts, apple strudel, chocolate volcano, mousses, plum tart, Italian meringue, and French sponge cake. Senior Expert Service is Germany's leading volunteer organization for retired experts and executives in all sectors to share and exchange knowledge and experiences internationally under a "help-for-do-it-yourself" approach. Senior Expert Service has been present in Mexico since 2017. Sunset World Group is a Mexican family business founded by some of the pioneers of Cancun who helped turn it into the most sought-after tourist destination worldwide. Sunset World Group has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and a sincere passion for environmental conservation, which is why it implemented an Energy Efficiency Program by substituting supply technologies in its six hotels in Cancun and The Riviera Maya. In addition, all Sunset World hotels are supplied with clean and renewable energy produced at Mexican wind farms and geothermal plants, which has considerably reduced the company's carbon footprint. The activity and gastronomy programs in all six hotels are updated and expanded constantly for the enjoyment of all family members, since Sunset World Group always focuses on providing the best vacation experiences for its members and guests. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Sunset World Resorts & Vacation Experiences Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How RFK Jr. is quickly changing U.S. health agencies
WASHINGTON — In just a few short months, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has begun to transform U.S. health policy: shrinking staff at health agencies, restructuring the focus of some regulators and researchers, changing Covid vaccine regulations and reshaping the mission of his department to focus more on alternative medicine. The directives are all part of the same issue set that drove a slice of health-conscious, left-leaning Americans to eventually vote for a Republican president whose favorite meal is from McDonald's, Trump and Kennedy catered to a type of voter who has grown distrustful of America's health care establishment — but possibly fomented a new type of distrust in federal health policy along the way. Bernadine Francis, a lifelong Democrat who backed Joe Biden for president in 2020 before supporting Donald Trump in 2024, told NBC News in an interview that she approves of Kennedy's efforts so far, despite his 'hands being tied' by entrenched forces in the administration and in Congress. 'From what I have seen so far with what RFK has been trying to do,' she said, 'I am really, really proud of what he's doing.' Francis is among the voters who left the Democratic Party and voted for Trump because 'nothing else mattered' apart from public health, which they — like Kennedy — felt was going in the wrong direction. Concerns about chemicals in food and toxins in the environment, long championed by Democrats, has become a galvanizing issue to a key portion of Trump's Republican Party, complete with an oversaturation of information that in some cases hasn't been proven. It's wrapped up, as well, in concerns about the Covid vaccine, which was accelerated under Trump, administered under Biden and weaponized by anti-vaccine activists like Kennedy amid lockdowns and firings in the wake of the devastating pandemic. 'We knew in order to get RFK in there so he can help with the situation that we have in the health industry, we knew we had to do this,' said Francis, a retired Washington, D.C., public school administrator, who said she left her 'beloved' career because she had refused the vaccine. 'It seemed to me, as soon as [Biden] became president, the vaccine was mandated, and that was when I lost all hope in the Democrats,' Francis told NBC News, referring to vaccination mandates put in place by the Biden administration for a large portion of the federal workforce during the height of the pandemic. There are not currently any federal Covid vaccine mandates. There have been 1,228,393 confirmed Covid deaths in the United States since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Marty Makary, Kennedy's hand-picked commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and a John Hopkins scientist and researcher, told NBC News in an interview that he wants to transform the agency, which he said faced 'corruption' over influence from the pharmaceutical and food industries. 'I mean, you look at the food pyramid, it was not based on what's best for you, it was based on what companies wanted you to buy,' he said, referring to the 1992 and later iterations of official government nutritional guidance. He said there would be 'entirely new nutrition guidance' released later this year, as soon as this summer. He praised the FDA's mission of research and regulation, saying the agency is 'incredibly well-oiled, and we've got the trains running on time.' He also highlighted the 75-page 'Make America Healthy Again' commission report — which focused on ultraprocessed foods and toxins in the environment — as having set 'the agenda for research' at the FDA, HHS and agencies overseeing social safety net programs such as Medicare and food stamps moving forward. (The MAHA report initially cited some studies that didn't exist, a mistake that Kennedy adviser Calley Means said was a 'great disservice' to their mission.) 'I think there's a lot we're going to learn. For example, the microbiome, which gets attention in the MAHA report, needs to be on the map. We don't even talk about it in our medical circles,' Makary said. 'The microbiome, food is medicine, the immune response that happens when chemicals that don't appear in nature go down our GI tract.' Pressed on other areas of the administration, like the Environmental Protection Agency, making decisions that run counter to the pro-regulatory ideas presented in the MAHA report, Makary said he can 'only comment on the FDA' where they are 'committed to Secretary Kennedy's vision.' But Kennedy's public health agenda goes beyond looking at the food supply and chemicals. Recently, Kennedy said in a video posted on X last month that the Covid vaccine is no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, a change in CDC guidance that skipped the normal public review period. Days later, after critics questioned the decision and raised concerns over a lack of public data behind the move, the administration updated its guidance again, urging parents to consult with their doctors instead. Pressed about the confusion and whether Americans are now trading one side of public distrust in the health system for another, Makary defended Kennedy, who has been criticized for spreading misinformation. 'My experience with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is that he listens. He listens to myself, he listens to Jay Bhattacharya, listens to Dr. Mehmet Oz, he listens to a host of scientists that are giving him guidance,' Makary argued, referring to the director of the National Institutes of Health and the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, respectively. 'So he may have big questions, but the questions he's asking are the questions most Americans are asking.' Dr. Dawn Mussallem, a breast cancer oncologist and integrative medicine doctor — a physician who combines conventional treatments with research-based alternative therapies — has tried to help her patients wade through medical misinformation they encounter online and in their social circles. Mussallem has an incredible story of personal survival: While in medical school, she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and, after conventional therapies like chemo saved her life, was diagnosed with heart failure. After undergoing a heart transplant, Mussallem ran a 26-mile marathon just one year later. 'I learned a lot in medical school, but nothing compared to what I learned being a patient,' said Mussallem, who dedicates, on average, 90 minutes each in one-on-one sessions with her patients. 'This is not about any one political choice. But we know lifestyle matters.' For example, a new study from the American Society of Clinical Oncology that finds eating food that lowers inflammation in the body may help people with advanced colon cancer survive longer. Mussallem's mission, along with her colleagues, is to elevate the modern medicine that saved her life, as well as encouraging her patients to live healthy lifestyles, including regular exercise, minimally processed foods, less screen time, more social connection and better sleep. But politics do get in the way for millions of Americans who are inundated daily with social media influencers and 'nonmedical experts,' as Mussallem puts it, who stoke fear in her patients. 'Patients come in with all these questions, fears,' she said. 'I've heard this many times from patients, that their nervous system is affected by what they're seeing happening in government.' Mussallem acknowledges that 'a lot of individuals out there' have questioned traditional medicine. For her, it isn't one or the other — it's both. 'We have to trust the conventional medicine,' she said. 'With the conventional care that marches right alongside more of an integrative modality to look at the root causes of disease, as well as to help to optimize with lifestyle, is where we need to be.' This article was originally published on
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
As measles spreads across the Americas, outbreaks in Mexico and Canada have also turned deadly
As measles cases in the United States continue to mount, neighboring countries Canada and Mexico are also experiencing significant outbreaks – all of which have been linked to at least one death. On Thursday, the chief medical officer of health of the Canadian province Ontario announced that an infant who was born prematurely with a measles infection had died. 'The infant contracted the virus before birth from their mother, who had not received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine,' Dr. Kieran Moore said in a statement. 'While measles may have been a contributing factor in both the premature birth and death, the infant also faced other serious medical complications unrelated to the virus.' At least four people have died from measles in Mexico in 2025, and three people have died in the US: two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico, all of whom were unvaccinated. This years' measles outbreaks are the biggest that Canada and Mexico have seen in decades, and the World Health Organization has warned that the 'overall risk of measles in the Americas Region is considered high.' Low vaccination rates are a key driver of this elevated risk assessment, the agency said. Mexico has reported at least 1,520 measles cases as of late May, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization. Canada reached measles elimination status in 1998, meaning that there has not been continuous spread of the virus for more than a year. But there have already been more cases reported so far this year than there were in the previous 27 years combined. At least 2,755 measles cases have been reported in Canada so far this year, according to federal data that was last updated on Monday, the vast majority of those which have been in Ontario residents. And the US has reported at least 1,168 measles cases so far this year, according to federal data published Friday – nearly 80% of which are associated with an outbreak centered in West Texas that has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and possibly Canada. It's the second highest number of cases that the US has reported since achieving measles elimination status in 2000. Significant shares of the measles outbreaks in the US, Canada and Mexico have been concentrated in Mennonite communities that are closely connected to each other – and that have historically had low vaccination rates due largely to minimal interactions with formal health care systems. However, in a recent webinar, experts from the Pan American Health Organization did not formally link outbreaks in the three countries to each other. 'The outbreak [in Mexico] started in Chihuahua, at the heart of Mennonite communities, who were very close to Texas through the border, but they're also close to other Mennonite communities in Canada,' Dr. Alvaro Whittembury, regional adviser for the Comprehensive Immunization Special Program, said in a presentation on Wednesday. 'It's important to show that although at first the outbreak starts in Mennonite communities … the vast majority of cases are outside of these communities, and they are sustained in the general population.' Only a small share of confirmed cases in the Americas have identified genetic sequences, experts from the Pan American Health Organization said, and there haven't been enough identical sequences to explicitly link cases across countries. In April, Mexico issued a warning for people traveling to the US and Canada due to high measles case rates. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also stepped up its guidance for travelers, advising that anyone traveling internationally should be vaccinated with two doses of the MMR vaccine. 'Anyone who is unvaccinated is at risk and I urge everyone, but especially those who may become pregnant, to ensure they have received two doses of the MMR vaccine, which will protect both a parent and baby,' Moore said in his statement Thursday. 'This vaccine has been safely used for over 50 years and is highly effective. Two doses provide nearly 100 per cent protection.'
