It is almost twice as contagious as the common cold

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a warning about an illness that's "nearly twice as contagious" as the common cold. In a new alert on X, formerly known as Twitter , health bosses are urging parents and carers to ensure their children have had all their routine childhood jabs including polio and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations.

This comes as MMR vaccination rates have seen a decline in recent years. Since the start of the year, there have been 811 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, according to the latest data.

Most of these cases were in children aged 10 years and under, though some 25% were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over. Information from Gov.uk adds: "Data reporting lags

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