Measles outbreak in Greater Manchester, England, October 2012 to September 2013: epidemiology and control

Euro Surveill. 2014 Dec 11;19(49):20982. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.es2014.19.49.20982.

Abstract

This paper describes the epidemiology and management of a prolonged outbreak of measles across the 2.7 million conurbation of Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. Over a period of one year (from October 2012 to September 2013), over a thousand suspected measles cases (n = 1,073) were notified across Greater Manchester; of these, 395 (37%) were laboratory-confirmed, 91 (8%) were classed as probable, 312 (29%) were classed as possible and 275 (26%) excluded. Most confirmed and probable cases occurred in children within two age groups—infants (too young to be eligible for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination according to the national immunisation programme) and children aged 10-19 years (low vaccine uptake in this cohort because of unfounded alleged links between the MMR vaccine and autism). During this one year period, there were a series of local outbreaks and many of these occurred within the secondary school setting. A series of public health measures were taken to control this prolonged outbreak: setting up incident management teams to control local outbreaks, a concerted immunisation catch-up campaign (initially local then national) to reduce the pool of children partially or totally unprotected against measles, and the exclusion of close contacts from nurseries and school settings for a period of 10 days following the last exposure to a case of measles.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Disease Notification
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • England / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunization
  • Immunization Programs
  • Incidence
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Measles / epidemiology*
  • Measles / prevention & control*
  • Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine / administration & dosage*
  • Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine / immunology
  • Population Surveillance
  • Public Health

Substances

  • Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine