Research and analysis

Confirmed cases of measles in England by month, age, region and upper tier local authority: 2026

Updated 4 September 2026

Applies to England

This page is updated every 2 weeks. The next scheduled update is 17 September 2026.

England measles epidemiology 2026.

This report describes measles epidemiology in England from 1 January 2026.

Situational update

In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually, since 2012. In 2025, there were a total of 960 laboratory-confirmed measles cases. Data for 2023 to 2026 and historical data is available.

Between 1 January 2026 and 31 August 2026, there have been 983 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England. An additional 13 cases were reported since the last publication on 17 August 2026 (Figures 1 and 2). In 2026, measles activity started to increase in February, peaked in May and has declined since then.

Summary

The number of laboratory-confirmed measles cases by month of symptom onset in 2026 to date are:

• January: 105
• February: 142
• March: 144
• April: 155
• May: 215
• June: 153
• July: 50
• August: 19 (to date)

The UKHSA data dashboard provides tabular data on the total number of cases by week of onset in 2026.

The majority (599 out of 983, 61%) of these cases were in children aged 10 years and under, and 33% (325 out of 983) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over (Table 1). 51% (501 out of 983) of these cases have been in London, 16% (154 out of 983) in the West Midlands, 10% (103 out of 983) in the North West and 8.6% in the East of England (85 out of 983). However, all regions have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since January 2026. 96 upper tier local authorities (UTLAs) have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since January 2026, with the highest numbers reported in Enfield (11 out of 983, 11%), Birmingham (81 out of 983, 8%) and Hertfordshire (63 out of 983, 6%) (Table 2a).

The vaccination status of all confirmed cases is published quarterly in the related health protection reports.

Three measles related deaths have been reported to date in 2026: one was an acute measles death in a child, another was a death in a child due to late effects of measles, and the third was a death in an adult with an underlying immunological problem. Information on historical measles-related deaths is available on the notifications and deaths webpage.

Recent activity

There have been 14 laboratory-confirmed measles cases with symptom onset in the 4 weeks since 3 August 2026. London, the North West and the South East regions reported 4 cases each with 8 UTLAs reporting at least one confirmed case, during this period. Data reporting lags have the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity.

Figure 1. Laboratory-confirmed cases of measles by month of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2012 to 31 August 2026 [note 1] [note 2]

Figure 2. Laboratory-confirmed cases of measles by week of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2026 to 31 August 2026 [note 1] [note 2]

Note 1: cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.
Note 2: data are provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

The data reporting lag has had the greatest impact on the most recent 4 weeks and therefore the reported figures are likely to underestimate activity. For this reason, these data points are represented by dotted lines.

Table 1. Laboratory- confirmed cases of measles by age group and region in England: 1 January 2026 to 31 August 2026 [note 3]

Age group (years)	East Midlands	East of England	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and Humber	England
Under 1	2	12	46	1	12	3	0	26	9	111
1 to 4	6	21	141	1	27	8	2	40	18	264
5 to 10	2	26	122	1	21	7	1	29	15	224
11 to 14	3	3	33	0	8	1	0	8	3	59
15 to 24	2	8	59	0	11	5	0	14	20	119
25 to 34	4	9	50	1	15	4	1	19	10	113
35 and over	0	6	50	1	9	3	4	18	2	93
Total	19	85	501	5	103	31	8	154	77	983

Note 3: data is provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after confirmatory testing at the reference

Table 2a. Number of laboratory-confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 1 January 2026 to 31 August 2026 [note 4]

Upper tier local authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Enfield	London	111
Birmingham	West Midlands	81
Hertfordshire	East of England	63
Haringey	London	55
Islington	London	53
Kirklees	Yorkshire and Humber	39
Worcestershire	West Midlands	29
Ealing	London	26
Barnet	London	23
Bradford	Yorkshire and Humber	23
Hackney	London	23
Harrow	London	23
Brent	London	22
Camden	London	20
Hillingdon	London	20
Wirral	North West	17
Staffordshire	West Midlands	16
Bolton	North West	15
Essex	East of England	14
Hounslow	London	12
Lancashire	North West	12
Newham	London	12
Sandwell	West Midlands	12
Sefton	North West	12
Waltham Forest	London	12
Barking and Dagenham	London	11
Kent	South East	11

Note 4: case counts have been suppressed to not present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases. Data is provisional and subject to change as:

• more suspected cases undergo confirmatory testing
• some locally tested cases are discarded after obtaining further epidemiological information or undergoing confirmatory testing at the reference laboratory

Table 2b. Number of laboratory-confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 3 August 2026 to 31 August 2026 [note 5]

No UTLA recorded 10 or more laboratory-confirmed measles cases during this reporting period and so there is no Table 2b this week.