Measles is highly contagious, so even a small decline in vaccine uptake can lead to a rise in cases. There has been a resurgence of measles in England, and around the world, in recent years. In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually in decades.
Measles is highly contagious so even a small decline in vaccine uptake can lead to a rise in cases. There has been a resurgence of measles in England and around the world in recent years. In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually in decades.
The NHS childhood vaccination schedule has recently been updated to help give children even better protection against diseases. Changes include protecting children against some diseases earlier and adding vaccines that protect against more diseases.
This blog post was last checked and updated February 2026. Due to the introduction of a varicella (chickenpox) vaccination programme, the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine replaced the MMR vaccine in the routine childhood programme from the 1 …
