“We need to be much more systematic about preventing infections in older adults,” England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said as he published his 2025 Annual Report on 4 December. The report sets out why deaths from infections are now concentrated in older age and what must change. For the North West, it reads like a winter to‑do list.

Whitty’s message is clear: while severe childhood infections have been driven to low levels, older residents face higher risks of catching infections, becoming severely unwell, and then suffering knock‑on problems such as strokes and heart issues for weeks afterwards. The impact on independence is real too, through pain, reduced mobility and repeat admissions.

He also warns that infectious threats keep shifting - from antimicrobial resistance to new variants - and that the reflex to scale back between crises will cost lives next time. The call is to maintain rapid response capability and protect specialist services for rare and imported infections across England.

Vaccines remain the clearest route to fewer hospital beds filled this winter and beyond. England still posts high coverage by global standards, but uptake is drifting down. NHS England Digital reports MMR1 at 24 months fell to 88.9% in 2023–24 and MMR2 at five years to 83.9%, the weakest in more than a decade.

The North West’s own figures underline the gap. NHS North West said in September 2024 that nearly one in six five‑year‑olds had not received both MMR doses, and some communities were below 80%. Regional teams moved on pharmacy and school catch‑ups, and outreach such as Cheshire and Merseyside’s Living Well Bus.

That vulnerability has since shown up in the data. UKHSA confirms 811 measles cases in England to October 2025, with 125 in the North West; Salford alone recorded 40, among the highest counts outside London.

Not all the news is bleak. Early results from England’s new RSV programme suggest around a 30% drop in hospital admissions among 75‑ to 79‑year‑olds where uptake has begun. Coverage is building but uneven: the latest report shows 61.7% overall, falling to 48.3% in the most deprived areas and rising to 70.1% in the least deprived.

System readiness still matters. UKHSA chief executive Professor Susan Hopkins calls every epidemic “a system test” and says “readiness is collective” - meaning primary care, hospitals, local authorities, laboratories, universities and government all moving at pace together, not just in the capital.

Liverpool knows this work. The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine - founded in 1898 and the first institution of its kind worldwide - remains a backbone of UK expertise. Its vice‑chancellor Professor David Lalloo warns that “dangerous infections… move around the world continuously” and argues Britain must sustain world‑leading research and clinical capacity.

Vaccines still do the heavy lifting on the front line. Oxford’s Professor Andy Pollard notes they protect children and help older adults stay out of hospital, easing pressure on an “already stretched” NHS - headroom northern hospitals badly need through winter.

For families, the next steps are practical and local: check the red book or NHS App, and if doses are missing, book through your GP, school immunisation team or a participating pharmacy. In the North West, pharmacies can now deliver MMR for children aged five and over, with extra evening and weekend sessions running.

And for older readers - and those who care for them - take up RSV and shingles when called, plus flu and COVID‑19 each autumn, and seek advice early if an infection bites. As Whitty put it, protecting children by vaccination was “one of the greatest achievements of medicine”; now the task is to bring the same discipline to older age.