Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Measles vaccination programmes need a shot in the arm
The increased risk of a measles outbreak in London highlights the need for more access to vaccination — not just in this country but worldwide, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL

IN the 19th century, London used to be a haven for measles, with millions catching the disease. Karl Marx and his family were among them: in May 1854 they all got measles, the three Marx children aged between six and nine probably having picked it up at school.

Today, rates of measles in London are vanishingly low compared to the 1850s. However, last week on July 14 a report from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) stated that London is at risk of a large measles outbreak in the near future.

Models predict that measles could spread in a London outbreak of 40-160,000 people, potentially causing dozens of deaths and the hospitalisation of thousands.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
UNRECOGNISED POTENTIA:L: Girl students conduct an experiment by throwing cotton balls to demonstrate the instinctive reaction of flinching at The Big Bang Fair 2025, for young scientists and engineers, at the NEC in Birmingham on June 18 2025
Science and Society / 16 July 2025
16 July 2025

What’s behind the stubborn gender gap in Stem disciplines ask ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT in their column Science and Society

The ruins of Guernica after it was bombed by the Nazis on April 26, 1937
Science and Society / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

While politicians condemned fascist bombing of Spanish civilians in 1937, they ignored identical RAF tactics across the colonies. Today’s aerial warfare continues this pattern of applying different moral standards based on geography and race, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

LETHAL PLANS: Keir Starmer visits a defence contractor in Bedfordshire
Science and Society / 4 June 2025
4 June 2025

The distinction between domestic and military drones is more theoretical than practical, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

UNEASY COHABITATION: Southern Ridges, Singapore, 2015 Pic: Zairon/CC
Science and Society / 21 May 2025
21 May 2025

Nature's self-reconstruction is both intriguing and beneficial and as such merits human protection, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

 

Similar stories
An asbestos warning sign
Features / 8 November 2024
8 November 2024
HANK ROBERTS warns that new research predicts a catastrophic rise in asbestos-related deaths among former pupils and teachers as school buildings deteriorate, bursting the ‘it’s safe if not disturbed’ myth
POLIO: A TRAGEDY FORETOLD: For months sewage has been flowin
Science and Society / 27 August 2024
27 August 2024
ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT explain the workings of the virus and the contributory factor of IDF’s deliberate targeting of civic infrastructure
NO ONE IS SAFE: Palestinian children forced to evacuate a sc
Features / 24 August 2024
24 August 2024
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed the reemergence of polio in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues to decimate healthcare infrastructure, says ANA VRACAR