Measles Cases in England
Written by AlisonFreemantle on Friday 9th June 2023
Be alert for cases and know the signs and symptoms
From the 1 January to the 20 April 2023 there have been 49 lab confirmed measles cases in England, 33 (67%) of these in London and six cases in the South East compared to 880 cases in the whole of 2019.
Managing suspected cases: Patients with a rash and fever should isolate and not attend the pharmacy.
Signs should be used advising patients with a rash to contact their GP surgery and to isolate to reduce the spread of infection. Measles period of infectiousness generally starts from about 4 days before the rash and lasts up to 4 days after the onset of the rash. Patients with suspected measles should be advised to stay off nursery, school or work for at least 4 days from when the rash first appears.
Signs and symptoms Measles - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Early symptoms include:
- High fever (>390C) around the time of rash onset
- Coryzal symptoms (cough, cold, or runny nose)
- Red and watery eyes or conjunctivitis
- Koplik spots (small red spots with bluish-white centre) on buccal mucosa may appear around the time of the rash, sometimes one day before, and last for 2 – 3 days after the rash appears. However, these are often not seen on diagnosis.
Later symptoms:
- Red/brown blotchy maculopapular (non-vesicular) rash (appears 3-4 days after initial symptom onset). The typical distinctive rash is non-itchy, starts on the face and upper neck behind the ears, then spreads across the trunk and limbs eventually reaching the hands and feet.
Download the UKHSA Poster here:
For any members of staff who are unvaccinated but would like to be, they should contact their GP practice if they have had one or no doses of the vaccine and asked to be vaccinated.
For more information on measles and the MMR vaccine visit: