The Health Service Executive has strongly advised parents to ensure their children have two doses of MMR vaccine, as cases of measles begin to rise in Ireland and across Europe. The MMR vaccine is the only protection available from measles, which can be a very serious and sometimes fatal illness.
“We have seen a rapid increase in numbers of measles cases recently, most of them centred in north Dublin city,” said Dr Margaret Fitzgerald, HSE director of public health. “Measles is a serious illness, and MMR vaccine is the only protection against it. In the year 2000, a serious outbreak in Dublin saw cases rise as high as 1,600, and claimed the lives of three young children.”
Measles is a highly infectious and dangerous illness which spreads very easily, particularly in homes, crèches, playgroups, camps, schools and universities. There have been 135 cases of measles in Ireland since the start of 2011. Of the more than 26,000 cases across Europe, some have resulted in some severe outcomes, with six deaths, 14 neurological complications, and 444 cases of severe pneumonia.
In Ireland, the first MMR dose is given at 12 months of age, and the second dose at four to five years of ages. At the moment, only 90 per cent of children in Ireland have received one dose of MMR by 24 months of age, which is below the target of 95 per cent to prevent cases of measles and measles outbreaks.
