Mumps outbreaks across England (Public Health England)

Public Health England urges people to ensure they have 2 doses of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine as mumps cases rise to highest levels in a decade.

 

The steep rise in cases in 2019 has been largely driven by outbreaks in universities and colleges.

 

Many of the cases in 2019 were seen in the so-called ‘Wakefield cohorts’ – young adults born in the late nineties and early 2000s who missed out on the MMR vaccine when they were children.

 

These cohorts are now old enough to attend college and university and are likely to continue fuelling outbreaks into 2020.