Australia to issue monthly fines to parents who don't vaccinate children

Australia has strengthened its “no jab, no pay” policy by issuing further financial sanctions to parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

Parents will now lose A$28 (£16) a fortnight from their tax benefits for each child not up to date with their immunisations.

Previously, parents whose children were not up to date with vaccinations would lose an end of year payment to their family tax benefit, worth A$737.

The new fortnightly sanction will see parents lose out on roughly the same amount but is said to serve as a more “constant reminder”. Those earning over A$80 a day will also have further penalties imposed.

The move is part of an ongoing clampdown by the Australian government on the “anti-vaxxer” movement after the percentage of children under seven with a “conscientious objection” to immunisation rose from 0.23 per cent in December 1999 to 1.77 per cent in December 2014, according to Australia’s parliament.

Minister for Social Services Dan Tehan said the clampdown was necessary to protect public health.

“Immunisation is the safest way to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said in a statement, news.com.au reported. “Parents who don’t immunise their children are putting their own kids at risk as well as the children of other people.”

It comes as a leading medical journal in the UK found measles “remains a threat” to the British public after 643 cases were recorded up to 18 June this year, up from 274 cases in the whole of 2017.

World news in pictures 50 show all World news in pictures 1/50 4 July 2018 Former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak (C) arrives at Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak appeared in court to face graft charges linked to the EPA 2/50 3 July 2018 Rescue workers come out from the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive according to a local media's report, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand. Reuters 3/50 2 July 2018 Firefighters scramble to control flames surrounding a fire truck as the Pawnee fire jumps across highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks, California. AFP/Getty 4/50 1 July 2018 Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador greets supporters as he arrives at a polling station during the presidential election in Mexico City. Reuters 5/50 30 June 2018 North Korea leader Kim Jong Un inspects Unit 1524 of the Korean People's Army (KPA). KCNA via Reuters 6/50 29 June 2018 Mount Agung's crater glows red from the lava as it spews volcanic smoke on Bali Island. The Indonesian tourist island closed its international airport, stranding thousands of travelers, as the Mount Agung volcano gushed a 2,500-meter (8,200-feet) column of ash and smoke. AP 7/50 28 June 2018 The remains of market stalls smoulder after a fire swept through a marketplace in Nairobi, Kenya. Several people have died in the fire and about 70 are receiving hospital treatment, with rescue teams left searching through the scene. AP 8/50 27 June 2018 Smoke rises in the rebel-held town of Nawa in southern Syria during airstrikes by Syrian regime forces. Syria's army launched an assault on the flashpoint southern city of Daraa state media said, after a week of deadly bombardment on the nearby countryside caused mass displacement. Government forces have set their sights on retaking the south of the country, a strategic area that borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. AFP/Getty 9/50 26 June 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron greets Pope Francis at the end of a private audience at the Vatican. AFP/Getty Images 10/50 25 June 2018 The frame of an abandoned Peugeot 404 rests in Niger's Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Sunday, June 3, 2018. Once a well-worn roadway for overlander tourists, the highway 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) are a favored path for migrants heading north in hopes of a better life and more recently thousands who are being expelled south from Algeria. AP 11/50 24 June 2018 Saudi women celebrate after they drove their cars in Al Khobar after the law allowing women to drive took effect. Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from June 24, ending the world's only ban on female motorists. REUTERS 12/50 23 June 2018 People gather as the injured are helped by medics at the scene of an explosion during a rally to support the country's new reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reports say the blast occurred shortly after he addressed thousands of his supporters. He then spoke to the crowd afterwards, saying a people had been killed. EPA 13/50 22 June 2018 Participants of the Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim are seen in the River Derwent at dawn, in Hobart, Australia, Reuters 14/50 21 June 2018 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in a mass yoga session along with other practitioners to mark International Yoga Day at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun. Tens of thousands of yoga practitioners worldwide on June 21 are expected to celebrate the fourth annual International Yoga Day, first proposed by the Indian PM in 2014 to the UN General Assembly and adopted unanimously. AFP/Getty 15/50 20 June 2018 A woman and child are told they will have to wait before crossing the US border as confusion sets in following the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on immigration Getty 16/50 19 June 2018 People wave a banner with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a gathering of supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul, Turkey,. Turkish President Erdogan announced on 18 April that Turkey will hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 June 2018, after elections were scheduled to be held in November 2019. EPA 17/50 18 June 2018 Residents pass by a temple gate collapsed by an earthquake in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan. The earthquake, which struck western Japan, killed three people and injured more than 50. EPA 18/50 17 June 2018 Juan Carlos Osorio, manager of Mexico's national football team, celebrates their World Cup victory against Germany Getty 19/50 16 June 2018 Kashmiri youths through stones during clashes between protestors and Indian government forces in Srinagar AFP/Getty Images 20/50 16 June 2018 People are silhouetted on the flybridge of a yacht as fireworks illuminates the sky over the Yas Viceroy luxury hotel on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr at the Marina on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi EPA 21/50 15 June 2018 Somali Muslims take part in Eid al-Fitr prayer which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan at the football pitch of the Jamacadaha stadium in Mogadishu. AFP/Getty Images 22/50 14 June 2018 Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Cup in Russia ahead of the group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Getty 23/50 13 June 2018 Pope Francis arrives to lead the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican Reuters 24/50 12 June 2018 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their historic meeting at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore. Reuters 25/50 11 June 2018 US President Donald Trump looking at a cake being brought for him during a working lunch with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to The Istana, the official residence of the prime minister, in Singapore. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump will meet on June 12 for an unprecedented summit, with the US President calling it a "one time shot" at peace. AFP/Getty 26/50 10 June 2018 Muharrem Ince, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), delivers a speech from the roof of a bus during a campaign meeting in Istanbul. AFP/Getty 27/50 9 June 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking to US Presidend Donald Trump during the second day of the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Canada. Looking on is US National Security Advisor John Bolton. EPA 28/50 8 June 2018 Former South African President Jacob Zuma sings and dances on stage after delivering a speech during a rally in his support outside the High Court, in Durban. AFP/Getty 29/50 7 June 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a question during his annual call-in show in Moscow. Putin hosts call-in shows every year, which typically provide a platform for ordinary Russians to appeal to the president on issues ranging from foreign policy to housing and utilities. AP 30/50 6 June 2018 Protesters wave flags and shout slogans during a demonstration against the use of the term "Macedonia" in any solution to a dispute between Athens and Skopje over the former Yugoslav republic's name, in the northern town of Pella, Greece. Reuters 31/50 5 June 2018 Police officers salute as the caskets of policewomen Soraya Belkacemi, 44, and Lucile Garcia, 54, arrive during their funeral in Liege. The two officers, and one bystander were killed in Liege on Tuesday by a gunman. Police later killed the attacker, and other officers were wounded in the shooting. AP 32/50 4 June 2018 A rescue worker carries a child covered with ash after a volcano erupted violently in El Rodeo, Guatemala. Volcan de Fuego, whose name means "Volcano of Fire", spewed an 8km (5-mile) stream of red hot lava and belched a thick plume of black smoke and ash that rained onto the capital and other regions. Dozens were killed across three villages. Reuters 33/50 3 June 2018 A recycler drags a huge bag of paper sorted for recycling past a heap of non-recyclable material at Richmond sanitary landfill site in the industrial city of Bulawayo. Plastic waste remains a challenging waste management issue due to its non-biodegrable nature, if not managed properly plastic ends up as litter polluting water ways, wetlands and storm drains causing flash flooding around Zimbabwe's cities and towns. Urban and rural areas are fighting the continuous battle against a scourge of plastic litter. On June 5, 2018 the United Nations mark the World Environment Day which plastic pollution is the main theme this year. AFP/Getty 34/50 2 June 2018 Palestinian mourners carry the body of 21-year-old medical volunteer Razan al-Najjar during her funeral after she was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border fence on June 1, in another day of protests and violence. She was shot near Khan Yunis in the south of the territory, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, bringing the toll of Gazans killed by Israeli fire since the end of March to 123. AFP/Getty 35/50 1 June 2018 Spain's new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez poses after a vote on a no-confidence motion at the Spanish Parliament in Madrid. Spain's parliament ousted Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote sparked by fury over his party's corruption woes, with his Socialist arch-rival Pedro Sanchez automatically taking over. AFP/Getty 36/50 31 May 2018 Zinedine Zidane looks on after a press conference to announce his resignation as manager from Real Madrid. He confirmed he was leaving the Spanish giants, just days after winning the Champions League for the third year in a row. AFP/Getty 37/50 30 May 2018 A worker cleans up the Millenaire migrants makeshift camp along the Canal de Saint-Denis near Porte de la Villette, northern Paris, following its evacuation on May 30. More than a thousand migrants and refugees were evacuated early in the morning from the camp that had been set up for several weeks along the Canal. AFP/Getty 38/50 29 May 2018 Police and ambulances are seen at the site where a gunman shot dead three people, two of them policemen, before being killed by elite officers, in the eastern Belgian city of Liege. AFP/Getty 39/50 28 May 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Mamoudou Gassama, 22, from Mali, at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris. Gassama living illegally in France is being honored by Macron for scaling an apartment building over the weekend to save a 4-year-old child dangling from a fifth-floor balcony. AP 40/50 27 May 2018 Migrants wait to disembark from the ship Aquarius in the Sicilian harbour of Catania, Italy Reuters 41/50 26 May 2018 Ireland awaits the official result of a referendum that could end the country’s ban on abortion. Co-Director of Together For Yes Ailbhe Smyth speaks to the media after exit polls suggested victory for the Yes campaign. PA Wire/PA Images 42/50 25 May 2018 Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at the 1st Precinct in Manhattan where he turned himself in to New York police for sexual misconduct charges. Reuters 43/50 24 May 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Konstantin Palace in Strelna, outside Saint Petersburg, on May 24, 2018 Getty Images 44/50 23 May 2018 People protest outisde the Tamil Nadu House after at least 10 people were killed when police fired on protesters seeking closure of plant on environmental grounds in town of Thoothukudi in southern state of Tamil Nadu, in New Delhi. ANI via Reuters 45/50 22 May 2018 People demonstrate in Paris during a nationwide day protest by French public sector employees and public servants against the overhauls proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, calling them an "attack" by the centrist leader against civil services as well as their economic security. AFP/Getty 46/50 21 May 2018 Newly appointed Catalan president Quim Torra arrives to visit jailed Catalan separatist politicians at the Estremera jail near Madrid. AFP/Getty 47/50 20 May 2018 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro casts his vote during the presidential elections in Caracas. Maduro was seeking a second term in power. AFP/Getty 48/50 19 May 2018 Channelized lava emerges on Kilauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone on Hawaii. The USGS said on its website that "a fast-moving pahoehoe lava flow that emerged from fissure 20... continues to flow southeast," with the quickest of three "lobes" progressing at 230 yards (210 meters) per hour. AFP/US Geological Survey 49/50 18 May 2018 Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school in Texas. Shrader said her friend was shot in the incident. Multiple people have been killed. Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP 50/50 17 May 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria. Reuters 1/50 4 July 2018 Former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak (C) arrives at Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak appeared in court to face graft charges linked to the EPA 2/50 3 July 2018 Rescue workers come out from the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive according to a local media's report, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand. Reuters 3/50 2 July 2018 Firefighters scramble to control flames surrounding a fire truck as the Pawnee fire jumps across highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks, California. AFP/Getty 4/50 1 July 2018 Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador greets supporters as he arrives at a polling station during the presidential election in Mexico City. Reuters 5/50 30 June 2018 North Korea leader Kim Jong Un inspects Unit 1524 of the Korean People's Army (KPA). KCNA via Reuters 6/50 29 June 2018 Mount Agung's crater glows red from the lava as it spews volcanic smoke on Bali Island. The Indonesian tourist island closed its international airport, stranding thousands of travelers, as the Mount Agung volcano gushed a 2,500-meter (8,200-feet) column of ash and smoke. AP 7/50 28 June 2018 The remains of market stalls smoulder after a fire swept through a marketplace in Nairobi, Kenya. Several people have died in the fire and about 70 are receiving hospital treatment, with rescue teams left searching through the scene. AP 8/50 27 June 2018 Smoke rises in the rebel-held town of Nawa in southern Syria during airstrikes by Syrian regime forces. Syria's army launched an assault on the flashpoint southern city of Daraa state media said, after a week of deadly bombardment on the nearby countryside caused mass displacement. Government forces have set their sights on retaking the south of the country, a strategic area that borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. AFP/Getty 9/50 26 June 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron greets Pope Francis at the end of a private audience at the Vatican. AFP/Getty Images 10/50 25 June 2018 The frame of an abandoned Peugeot 404 rests in Niger's Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Sunday, June 3, 2018. Once a well-worn roadway for overlander tourists, the highway 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) are a favored path for migrants heading north in hopes of a better life and more recently thousands who are being expelled south from Algeria. AP 11/50 24 June 2018 Saudi women celebrate after they drove their cars in Al Khobar after the law allowing women to drive took effect. Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from June 24, ending the world's only ban on female motorists. REUTERS 12/50 23 June 2018 People gather as the injured are helped by medics at the scene of an explosion during a rally to support the country's new reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reports say the blast occurred shortly after he addressed thousands of his supporters. He then spoke to the crowd afterwards, saying a people had been killed. EPA 13/50 22 June 2018 Participants of the Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim are seen in the River Derwent at dawn, in Hobart, Australia, Reuters 14/50 21 June 2018 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in a mass yoga session along with other practitioners to mark International Yoga Day at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun. Tens of thousands of yoga practitioners worldwide on June 21 are expected to celebrate the fourth annual International Yoga Day, first proposed by the Indian PM in 2014 to the UN General Assembly and adopted unanimously. AFP/Getty 15/50 20 June 2018 A woman and child are told they will have to wait before crossing the US border as confusion sets in following the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on immigration Getty 16/50 19 June 2018 People wave a banner with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a gathering of supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul, Turkey,. Turkish President Erdogan announced on 18 April that Turkey will hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 June 2018, after elections were scheduled to be held in November 2019. EPA 17/50 18 June 2018 Residents pass by a temple gate collapsed by an earthquake in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan. The earthquake, which struck western Japan, killed three people and injured more than 50. EPA 18/50 17 June 2018 Juan Carlos Osorio, manager of Mexico's national football team, celebrates their World Cup victory against Germany Getty 19/50 16 June 2018 Kashmiri youths through stones during clashes between protestors and Indian government forces in Srinagar AFP/Getty Images 20/50 16 June 2018 People are silhouetted on the flybridge of a yacht as fireworks illuminates the sky over the Yas Viceroy luxury hotel on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr at the Marina on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi EPA 21/50 15 June 2018 Somali Muslims take part in Eid al-Fitr prayer which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan at the football pitch of the Jamacadaha stadium in Mogadishu. AFP/Getty Images 22/50 14 June 2018 Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Cup in Russia ahead of the group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Getty 23/50 13 June 2018 Pope Francis arrives to lead the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican Reuters 24/50 12 June 2018 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their historic meeting at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore. Reuters 25/50 11 June 2018 US President Donald Trump looking at a cake being brought for him during a working lunch with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to The Istana, the official residence of the prime minister, in Singapore. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump will meet on June 12 for an unprecedented summit, with the US President calling it a "one time shot" at peace. AFP/Getty 26/50 10 June 2018 Muharrem Ince, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), delivers a speech from the roof of a bus during a campaign meeting in Istanbul. AFP/Getty 27/50 9 June 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking to US Presidend Donald Trump during the second day of the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Canada. Looking on is US National Security Advisor John Bolton. EPA 28/50 8 June 2018 Former South African President Jacob Zuma sings and dances on stage after delivering a speech during a rally in his support outside the High Court, in Durban. AFP/Getty 29/50 7 June 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a question during his annual call-in show in Moscow. Putin hosts call-in shows every year, which typically provide a platform for ordinary Russians to appeal to the president on issues ranging from foreign policy to housing and utilities. AP 30/50 6 June 2018 Protesters wave flags and shout slogans during a demonstration against the use of the term "Macedonia" in any solution to a dispute between Athens and Skopje over the former Yugoslav republic's name, in the northern town of Pella, Greece. Reuters 31/50 5 June 2018 Police officers salute as the caskets of policewomen Soraya Belkacemi, 44, and Lucile Garcia, 54, arrive during their funeral in Liege. The two officers, and one bystander were killed in Liege on Tuesday by a gunman. Police later killed the attacker, and other officers were wounded in the shooting. AP 32/50 4 June 2018 A rescue worker carries a child covered with ash after a volcano erupted violently in El Rodeo, Guatemala. Volcan de Fuego, whose name means "Volcano of Fire", spewed an 8km (5-mile) stream of red hot lava and belched a thick plume of black smoke and ash that rained onto the capital and other regions. Dozens were killed across three villages. Reuters 33/50 3 June 2018 A recycler drags a huge bag of paper sorted for recycling past a heap of non-recyclable material at Richmond sanitary landfill site in the industrial city of Bulawayo. Plastic waste remains a challenging waste management issue due to its non-biodegrable nature, if not managed properly plastic ends up as litter polluting water ways, wetlands and storm drains causing flash flooding around Zimbabwe's cities and towns. Urban and rural areas are fighting the continuous battle against a scourge of plastic litter. On June 5, 2018 the United Nations mark the World Environment Day which plastic pollution is the main theme this year. AFP/Getty 34/50 2 June 2018 Palestinian mourners carry the body of 21-year-old medical volunteer Razan al-Najjar during her funeral after she was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border fence on June 1, in another day of protests and violence. She was shot near Khan Yunis in the south of the territory, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, bringing the toll of Gazans killed by Israeli fire since the end of March to 123. AFP/Getty 35/50 1 June 2018 Spain's new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez poses after a vote on a no-confidence motion at the Spanish Parliament in Madrid. Spain's parliament ousted Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote sparked by fury over his party's corruption woes, with his Socialist arch-rival Pedro Sanchez automatically taking over. AFP/Getty 36/50 31 May 2018 Zinedine Zidane looks on after a press conference to announce his resignation as manager from Real Madrid. He confirmed he was leaving the Spanish giants, just days after winning the Champions League for the third year in a row. AFP/Getty 37/50 30 May 2018 A worker cleans up the Millenaire migrants makeshift camp along the Canal de Saint-Denis near Porte de la Villette, northern Paris, following its evacuation on May 30. More than a thousand migrants and refugees were evacuated early in the morning from the camp that had been set up for several weeks along the Canal. AFP/Getty 38/50 29 May 2018 Police and ambulances are seen at the site where a gunman shot dead three people, two of them policemen, before being killed by elite officers, in the eastern Belgian city of Liege. AFP/Getty 39/50 28 May 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Mamoudou Gassama, 22, from Mali, at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris. Gassama living illegally in France is being honored by Macron for scaling an apartment building over the weekend to save a 4-year-old child dangling from a fifth-floor balcony. AP 40/50 27 May 2018 Migrants wait to disembark from the ship Aquarius in the Sicilian harbour of Catania, Italy Reuters 41/50 26 May 2018 Ireland awaits the official result of a referendum that could end the country’s ban on abortion. Co-Director of Together For Yes Ailbhe Smyth speaks to the media after exit polls suggested victory for the Yes campaign. PA Wire/PA Images 42/50 25 May 2018 Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at the 1st Precinct in Manhattan where he turned himself in to New York police for sexual misconduct charges. Reuters 43/50 24 May 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Konstantin Palace in Strelna, outside Saint Petersburg, on May 24, 2018 Getty Images 44/50 23 May 2018 People protest outisde the Tamil Nadu House after at least 10 people were killed when police fired on protesters seeking closure of plant on environmental grounds in town of Thoothukudi in southern state of Tamil Nadu, in New Delhi. ANI via Reuters 45/50 22 May 2018 People demonstrate in Paris during a nationwide day protest by French public sector employees and public servants against the overhauls proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, calling them an "attack" by the centrist leader against civil services as well as their economic security. AFP/Getty 46/50 21 May 2018 Newly appointed Catalan president Quim Torra arrives to visit jailed Catalan separatist politicians at the Estremera jail near Madrid. AFP/Getty 47/50 20 May 2018 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro casts his vote during the presidential elections in Caracas. Maduro was seeking a second term in power. AFP/Getty 48/50 19 May 2018 Channelized lava emerges on Kilauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone on Hawaii. The USGS said on its website that "a fast-moving pahoehoe lava flow that emerged from fissure 20... continues to flow southeast," with the quickest of three "lobes" progressing at 230 yards (210 meters) per hour. AFP/US Geological Survey 49/50 18 May 2018 Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school in Texas. Shrader said her friend was shot in the incident. Multiple people have been killed. Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP 50/50 17 May 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria. Reuters

In September last year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that measles had been eliminated in the UK. The UK also reached the WHO target for 95 per cent of five-year-olds to receive the first dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

But the journal found there had been several outbreaks of measles across Europe in countries where MMR uptake has been low historically, including Romania, France, Greece, and Italy, with 48 measles deaths reported in the European Union since 2016.

Lead author Dr Maliha Moten, who is part of Public Health England’s West Midlands Health Protection Team, said the latest British cases are “mainly linked to importations from Europe”.

Uptake of the MMR vaccine fell heavily in the late 1990s following the publication of research by Andrew Wakefield which suggested a possible link between the inoculation and autism. Experts have widely discredited his study and he was struck off the medical register in 2010.

PHE said that while vaccine uptake levels in the UK in young children are currently very high, coverage levels dipped to a low of 80 per cent in 2003, meaning significant numbers of unprotected teenagers and young adults could contract measles.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England, said: “In the early 2000s there was a fall in MMR vaccination coverage in children and as a consequence, we are now seeing measles cases in young adults.

“Measles can be more serious in adults with a higher likelihood of hospitalisation and complications arising.

“Measles is circulating in England and the rest of Europe. We often think about what travel-related vaccines we might need before going on holiday, but it’s also important to check that we are up to date with routine vaccinations like MMR.

“If you are unsure if you have had two doses of MMR call your GP practice to check and catch up if needed.”