Measles infections in Europe hit a decade high in 2018, despite more children than ever before receiving vaccinations.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 82,500 people contracted measles in 2018, with two thirds of people hospitalised as a result and 72 people died.

The total number of infections last year is 15 times higher than the record low just two years ago, and three times higher than the total reported in 2017.

Measles, a highly contagious viral disease common among children, causes a rash and high fever. But in severe cases complications from the disease can lead to blindness, pneumonia and death.

Despite availability of safe and cost-effective vaccines since the 1960s, more than 100,000 people die globally from the illness each year - the majority of whom are children younger than five years old in developing countries.

But while the disease had virtually disappeared in much of the developed world, it has recently returned with a vengeance - in part thanks to rising vaccine hesitancy.