The World Health Organization has issued a warning after more than 30,000 measles cases were reported in Europe between January and October in 2023, compared with just 941 cases in the whole of 2022.

In the UK, there have been outbreaks in London and parts of the West Midlands. A new NHS campaign has been launched in the UK to encourage people who are unvaccinated or undervaccinated – two doses of MMR are recommended – to get their jabs.

The Guardian’s science correspondent Nicola Davis tells Hannah Moore about how serious measles can be, why we need herd immunity to protect the most vulnerable, and what is needed to increase the uptake of the vaccines.

Support The Guardian

The Guardian is editorially independent.
And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all.
But we increasingly need our readers to fund our work.

Support The Guardian