Overview

• The child’s death at Alder Hey Hospital was confirmed by Health Minister Wes Streeting on July 14, and the hospital has treated 17 paediatric measles cases since June.
• Two-dose measles vaccination coverage in Liverpool stands at about 74% and the national average is 84%, both well below the 95% threshold WHO recommends for herd immunity.
• Anti-vaccine influencers Ellie Grey and Kate Shemirani have spread unverified assertions downplaying measles severity and questioning vaccine safety on social media.
• Liverpool’s public health director Matthew Ashton and the UK Health Security Agency have intensified social media and community outreach to debunk myths and promote immunization.
• The persistence of discredited claims from Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 study and content originating in US‐based anti-vaccine networks continues to undermine public trust in the MMR vaccine.