A measles outbreak in North London is causing concern and medics are turning to teams in Birmingham for assistance

North London has been experiencing a big outbreak of Measles since the beginning of 2026 which also occurred in Birmingham in 2023. Low vaccination rates for the measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination in Birmingham were said to be the cause of the spread of the disease in 2023. Children aged 10 years and under were being diagnosed more regularly than ever. Teams of retired medical professionals were brought in to make 13 000 phone calls to families who had not had the vaccination. Nearly 1000 more people chose to get the vaccination for their children after receiving a phone call. In North London, the same problem is now occurring where there has been a large outbreak of measles recently. London are looking to Birmingham for tips on how to encourage the uptake of this vaccination. 50 cases since the beginning of 2026 have been confirmed in North London amongst young children with some having been admitted to hospital. London are looking to use the team who worked on the calls back in 2023 to tackle the same problem in a different city, three years down the line.

If the vaccination is had, this can reduce the chance of meningitis, blindness and in severe cases, death. The aim of the phone calls is merely to educate individuals in the hope that this convinces them to have the vaccination in an effort to stop the spread of the disease. They have a rule where they will only call three times and never leave a message in case the message cannot be understood. They have a team of people who speak a variety of languages in an attempt to access as many people as possible.

There are many reasons why people did not have the vaccination in the first place. Sometimes there are language barriers where communication gaps exist but also some individuals are concerned by the pork gelatin in the vaccination which is easily resolved by using the gelatine free vaccination. Conspiracy theories also play a key role in the poor uptake. After the calls in 2023, a further 7000 people had the vaccination in 2024 so the hope is that the same will happen again.

A measles outbreak in North London is causing concern and medics are turning to teams in Birmingham for assistance

1. What is measles?

2. Alongside phone calls, what else is being done to increase the uptake of the vaccination?

3. Why are families sometimes hesitant to get their children vaccinated?