After a child died at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, efforts have been stepped up as the government urge parents to increase their efforts to vaccinate children
A new map has revealed the current epicenter of England’s measles outbreak – as the government says the nation must “redouble its efforts” to vaccinate more children after the death of a child.
Earlier this month it was revealed that a child, who was ill with measles and other health problems, had died at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. In a statement, Alder Hey said it was “concerned about the increasing number of children and young people who are contracting measles”. Alder Hey said it had treated 17 children for effects and complications of measles since June. The case marks the second death linked to acute measles in Britain this decade, and has triggered concern from hospital bosses and public health officials.
Check measles cases and vaccination rates in your area using our interactive map below
After the latest death, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Parliament that “no child in this country should be dying of measles”. He said the tragedy showed “we have got to redouble our efforts on vaccination”.
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab provides over 95% protection against getting ill. However vaccination rates have slumped across England. Not one council area in England has hit the target rate of getting 95% of children vaccinated, which the World Health Authority (WHO) says is necessary to achieve herd immunity, which stops illnesses from transmitting across the population.
In 22 council areas, the vaccination rate for the MMR jab has slipped below 75%. At the same time, cases of measles are rising. So far this year, 529 cases of measles have been confirmed by laboratory reports.
The majority were in children aged 10 and under, but measles has also been diagnosed in young people and adults. Hackney, in Central London, has the lowest vaccination rate in the country – and the second highest number of confirmed cases of measles so far in 2025.
The latest figures show that just three in five children had received both doses of the MMR jab by their fifth birthday (60.8%) in Hackney. As our map shows, there have been 46 lab-confirmed cases of measles in the central London borough so far in 2025.
Only one council area in England has seen more cases of measles so far this year, Bristol (47). Vaccination rates were much higher in Bristol, at 83%, but still well below the 95% target.
After Bristol and Hackney, Leeds (29 confirmed cases of measles), Salford (27), Birmingham (26), and Newham (24), have seen the highest number of cases. None of the 13 hotspot areas with at least 10 confirmed cases of measles so far this year have a vaccination rate above 90%.
Fewer than seven in 10 children (70%) are up to date with their MMR jabs in four of the areas with the biggest number of infections, and fewer than 80% in eight areas. Our map only shows areas with at least 10 confirmed cases of measles. This is because UKHSA suppresses case counts in areas with fewer than 10 cases.