Measles figures appear to be slowing in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said, with 11 cases in September so far and only 30 cases since the last report a month ago.
But there is no room for complacency, officials said, as with vaccine uptake under the level needed for herd immunity, outbreaks could happen at any time.
Officials had warned that outbreaks were continuing around the country and in April figures had looked to be heading in the wrong direction.
Bodies had warned of the need to ‘restore momentum’ to the MMR vaccination programme after the tragic death of a child in Liverpool from measles.
Health officials in the city had warned of high numbers of children seriously ill in hospital with the infection.
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London and the North West had seen the highest number of cases but since July numbers appear to be coming down, UKHSA said.
Last year there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually, since 2012.
A national incident was called after a large outbreak in the West Midlands.
Since January there have been 772 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England overall.
The goal is to get vaccine uptake above the 95% recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Lack of vaccination take up has reversed significant progress made on measles, which was classed as eliminated in the UK in 2017.
Both Scotland and Wales surpassed this target for one dose of MMR in the under fives, recently published Cover data shows.
In England, by the age of two years, 88.9% of children have had the first dose of MMR – a figure that appears to now be stable after a drop from a peak of 93% in 2015/16.
There is particular concern about uptake of the second dose of MMR in children under the age of five years.
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Last month experts urged parents to check if their children’s booster vaccines were up to date after figures showed In England, five-year coverage of the MMR2 vaccine decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 83.7%.
Looking at the past decade, this is 4.5 percentage points below the peak of 88.2% in 2015/16.
A report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health earlier this year pointed to ‘stubborn barriers’ to accessing vaccinations including booking GP appointments.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, UKHSA consultant epidemiologist said while rates of measles had declined since the summer, outbreaks could still re-occur in many parts of the country because vaccine uptake was still not where it needed to be.
‘Far too many children, around one in five, started school not fully protected and are at risk of serious diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, that have in recent years caused outbreaks and tragically deaths.
‘Measles, spreads incredibly fast so can be the “canary in the coalmine” and a wake-up call that urgent action is needed to stop the very real risk of other diseases re-emerging.
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‘We know that GP practices are working hard to ensure children are protected, sending reminders and using every other opportunity to check that children, and their families, are up to date for their vaccines.
‘We encourage parents who may have concerns to speak to their GP or practice nurse who should be able to help reassure them.’
This article was initially published by our sister publication Pulse