Heads of schools in three central London boroughs have been urged to be vigilant as public health authorities beseech parents to vaccinate their children against a measles outbreak.
A letter sent from Public Health England (PHE) to school leaders in the city of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham has warned of a "significant increase" in the number of measles cases in northwest London since April.
Health authorities had noted a significant spike in cases of the infectious disease among children in the three boroughs, the letter warned educators.
It comes amid a worrying rise in cases of the infectious disease in England, where health authorities are fighting rising anti-vaxxer sentiment online and among fearful parents.
The worst-affected schools are Fulham Boys School, Chelsea Academy, and St Marylebone Church of England School, the letter, dated May 21, warns.
The PHE's consultant in health protection, Dr Janet Lo, wrote to the educators that it would normally contact affected school leaders and parents directly.
But it had decided to warn the wider school community across the three boroughs amid concerns children affected may have siblings at other schools, urging heads to "stay vigilant for any new cases reported to your school."
The health body warned that Measles is highly infectious and can lead to serious complications.
The warning comes amid global spikes in measles outbreaks, as health authorities around the world warn anti-vaccine sentiment is causing a resurgence in diseases that had largely been wiped out.
Only last week health secretary warned mandatory MMR vaccines could be brought into combat anti-vaxxer views among parents.
He suggested schools ban unvaccinated children to force parents to get the jabs for their kids by the age of five, following the overseas example of countries including Italy.
But nurses criticised the idea , warning forcing parents to vaccinate would only exacerbate scepticism about the jabs, rather than educate fearful families.
The Health Secretary made the suggestions after Unicef revealed more than half a million UK children missed the first dose of the MMR jab between 2010 and 2017.
Despite most measles outbreaks so far being limited to communites with low-vaccination rates, such as Orthodox Jewish populations, PHE last week warned that hundreds of cases of the infectious disease had been diagnosed in England in the first three months of 2019.
MMR vaccination rates have plummeted in many countries thanks to the legacy of a disgraced British surgeon's false claims that have led to persistent scare stories about the jab circulating among fearful parents.
Andrew Wakefield first claimed a link between the MMR jab and autism in 1998 research.
His research was later withdrawn and renounced by its co-authors and has been debunked in major studies since .
The Department of Health and Social Care has said it has been working with social media companies on stemming the spread of disinformation online as part of its longterm plan with the NHS to improve vaccine uptake in the UK.
