Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the incidence of diphtheria in migrants arriving via irregular transit routes.

There is an effective vaccine against diphtheria which in the United Kingdom is offered as part of the routine childhood programme. Vaccination offers high levels of protection against symptomatic disease, meaning that it is a very rare infection in the UK where vaccination coverage is high. The risk of diphtheria to the general UK public therefore remains very low.

There was an increase in the number of cases of diphtheria detected among people seeking asylum in the last quarter of 2022, with a total of 73 confirmed cases of diphtheria among this population in England in 2022 and one case confirmed so far in 2023. The majority of these cases were detected in people arriving via small boat Channel crossings. There have been no linked cases in workers in asylum seeker settings or linked cases in the general public.

The UK Health Security Agency, Home Office and NHS England are working with local partners to put measures in place to manage the risk of diphtheria in this population.