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Written question asked by Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party) on Monday, 12 May 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 14 May 2025. It was answered by Ashley Dalton (Labour) on Friday, 16 May 2025 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Measles

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with measles have been admitted to hospital in the last 12 months.

Answer

NHS England publishes annual data on Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity in England. The latest data covers activity from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, during which 428 hospital admissions were reported where measles was recorded as the main reason for admission.

The United Kingdom relies on laboratory testing to confirm or exclude measles infection. This means the admission figures above will include suspected measles cases which are later discarded after testing, and may also not capture some true measles.

A more accurate method for identifying measles-related hospitalisations links laboratory confirmed measles case data to hospital admission data. The UK Health Security Agency undertakes this analysis and plans to publish hospitalisation data in the quarterly Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Health Protection Report. The first inclusion of these figures in the report will be published by the end of June 2025. The current reports are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-mumps-and-rubella-lab-confirmed-cases-in-england-2024

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
51371
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Admissions Hospitals Measles
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk