Stark warning as UK faces surge of FIVE infectious diseases – putting lives at risk and NHS under ‘immense strain’
BRITAIN is facing an “unrelenting rise” in “vaccine-preventable infections”, putting immense strain on the NHS, a new report reveals.
Cases of measles, RSV, flu, whooping cough, and tuberculosis have all surged since 2022.
“It’s a big wake-up call for eligible groups to go and get vaccinated,” Richard Pebody, director of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) told The Sun.
Experts blame plummeting jab rates, increased socialising, and international travel.
“We are really starting to lose ground again,” Dame Jenny Harries also from the UKHSA, said at the body’s annual conference.
The fresh warnings come from the body’s first infectious disease trends report, tracking data since 2022, released today.
It revealed that 20 per cent of hospital beds are taken up by infectious disease patients and they cost the NHS £6billion last year.
“Behind this data there are real people, people who are sick or at risk of becoming sick, and in some cases dying,” Dame Jenny added.
“Yet much of this harm and distress is preventable.”
This comes just days after UKHSA released a new list of viruses and bacteria posing the greatest pandemic threat.
The “priority pathogen” guide highlighted flu and coronaviruses as the biggest risks.
Cases of TB, dubbed the ‘world’s most infectious disease,’ are soaring, up 11 per cent in 2023 and another 13 per cent in 2024, figures show.
For years, the UK was classified as a ‘low incidence’ nation due to its low TB rates.
But health chiefs have warned that if cases keep rising, the country could lose this status, meaning more people could be at risk of catching the disease.
This week, global health officials warned that rates of the deadly disease in Europe had surged, with child cases jumping by 10 per cent in just one year.
Meanwhile, measles cases surged among children under 10 in 2023/4, as MMR jab uptake remains at a shocking 15-year low.
An outbreak of whooping cough, also called the ‘100-day cough’ in 2024 saw 433 cases in children under three months, 10 of whom tragically died.
Similarly, this comes as coverage of the maternal whooping cough vaccine, which protects newborns, has dropped in recent years.
RSV and flu cases have spiked in 2024/25, with hospital admissions at post-pandemic levels.
The NHS offers vaccines for children, including those for measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, HPV, and flu.
Pregnant women can receive vaccines for flu and whooping cough through the NHS to protect both themselves and their babies.
If you believe you or your child has missed a vaccine, contact your GP to arrange a catch-up dose.
The life-saving vaccines you need at every age
The age at which you receive a vaccine depends on two things - the vaccine itself and the diseases it protects against.
Eight Weeks
- 6-in-1 vaccine
- Rotavirus vaccine
- MenB vaccine
12 Weeks
- 6-in-1 vaccine (2nd dose)
- Pneumococcal vaccine
- Rotavirus vaccine (2nd dose)
16 Weeks
- 6-in-1 vaccine (3rd dose)
- MenB vaccine (2nd dose)
One Year
- Hib/MenC vaccine (1st dose)
- MMR vaccine (1st dose)
- Pneumococcal vaccine (2nd dose)
- MenB vaccine (3rd dose)
Two to 15 Years
- Children’s flu vaccine (every year until children finish Year 11 of secondary school)
Three Years and Four Months
- MMR vaccine (2nd dose)
- 4-in-1 pre-school booster vaccine
12 to 13 Years
- HPV vaccine
14 Years
- 3-in-1 teenage booster vaccine
- MenACWY vaccine
65 Years
- Flu vaccine (given every year after turning 65)
- Pneumococcal vaccine
- Shingles vaccine (if you turned 65 on or after 1 September 2023)
70 to 79 Years
- Shingles vaccine
Source: The NHS