Chief Medical Officer's annual report 2025: infections
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-04)

The Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, has released his annual report for 2025, on infectious diseases.

The Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, has released his annual report for 2025 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2025-infections). It is on infectious diseases.

We have been very successful at reducing the risk of once common and feared infections to very low levels in children and young adults. Several major risks and opportunities remain. In a wide ranging report with recommendations for the public, the NHS and the government, Professor Whitty makes a number of key points, including that:

the great majority of deaths from infections are now in older people, who can also suffer significant harms from infections, but we are much less systematic about preventing infections in older age

vaccines provide protection from some of the worst infections and have eliminated or could eliminate many major diseases in the UK, from polio to cervical cancer. England and the wider UK still have some of the world’s highest vaccine uptake rates but these are drifting down - we must turn this around

unlike other major disease types, infections can evolve around our protections, potentially making them ineffective, as seen with antimicrobial resistance and some vaccines. We therefore need constantly to innovate to stay ahead of this evolution

major pandemics and epidemics of new or emerging diseases have always occurred, and always will. We need to maintain our ability to respond to them rapidly. It is very easy to let down our guard and disinvest between emergencies, but if we do that we will always regret it when the next emergency strikes

England has great expertise in preventing, diagnosing and treating people with rare, serious and imported infections in the UK and globally. We need to maintain this capacity to reduce the risk to all

The major risk infections pose to older people is often underappreciated. Older adults are more likely to acquire many infections, much more likely for infections to become severe, and the great majority of those who die of infections are older adults. Infections also increase the risk of other major diseases of older age including stroke and heart attacks, often for weeks after the infection has gone.

Even less-severe infections can significantly impair the quality of life of older people, leading to pain, reduced mobility, repeated hospital admissions and social isolation. We have made remarkable progress in preventing severe infections in children and young adults, and need to achieve similar success in older adults. Recent successes in vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), shingles and COVID-19 show what is possible.

Some of the most effective vaccines are against extremely dangerous infections including several previously relatively common causes of meningitis, neurological disease and deaths in children, such as meningococcus, HiB, measles and polio.

Vaccines provided in childhood also provide lifelong protection against cervical and liver cancer. Maintaining good vaccination rates protects the children who are vaccinated and those around them. UK vaccination rates are high by global standards, but some have been drifting down.

Since being vaccinated protects both the child involved and all those around them it is in the interests of everybody in society we reverse this.

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said:

Protecting children against previously common serious infections by vaccination is one of the greatest achievements of medicine and we must not throw this away by allowing vaccination rates to fall.

The great majority of deaths from infections are now in older adults. Infections can also cause strokes, heart attacks and reduce quality of life and independence in older people. We need to be much more systematic about preventing infections in older adults as we have done in children and young adults.

Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said:

Every epidemic and pandemic is a system test. UKHSA can provide intelligence, laboratories, and national co-ordination, but our real strength comes from the wider system that stands with us: primary care and hospitals spotting early signals, local authorities acting quickly on the ground, NHS teams delivering surge healthcare response, academia and industry driving the science, and government sustaining long-term investment.

When those parts work together, we move fast enough to contain threats before they escalate. When they don’t, the country pays the price. Readiness is collective. When we maintain and strengthen the whole system, we improve health security and protect lives.

Professor David Lalloo, Vice Chancellor of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said:

Dangerous infections and epidemics move around the world continuously. Maintaining the UK’s world-leading research and clinical expertise in infectious diseases will be essential to protecting public health over the next 20 years.

Professor Andy Pollard, Professor of Vaccinology, Oxford University, said:

Our world-class NHS vaccination programme prevents thousands of life-threatening infections every year. It protects our children from the daily threats posed by harmful bacteria and viruses and helps older adults stay healthier and out of hospital, freeing up vital capacity in an already stretched health system. Vaccines act as a powerful shield, but the infections remain out there, which is why it’s essential that every person stays protected by vaccination.

The Chief Medical Officer’s reports have been released annually for over 150 years, providing an independent assessment of the state of the public’s health in England.