We are ‘vulnerable’ to a major measles outbreak
WHO issues fresh warning as low vaccine uptake puts Ireland at risk
IRELAND is ‘vulnerable’ to a serious measles outbreak due to low vaccination rates, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said.
Mr Donnelly said that the country is more at risk as our vaccination rate is below the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of 95%,
However, no cases have been reported in Ireland this year.
The minister said he is bringing a memo to Cabinet in the next fortnight about the issue.
It comes after the WHO this week issued a fresh warning over measles following an almost 45fold rise in cases across Europe.
A measles outbreak in the UK was declared a ‘national incident’ by the UK Health Security Agency.
Measles can lead to serious complications, lifelong disability and even death.
It can affect the lungs and brain and cause pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures.
In Britain, millions of parents are being urged to vaccinate their children due to the ‘very real risk’ of an outbreak.
The campaign by the UK’s NHS comes after 216 confirmed measles cases and 103 probable cases in England’s West Midlands since October 1 last year.
A second case in Scotland has been confirmed this week.
Mr Donnelly said his department is watching the situation carefully.
He added: ‘We’re keeping a very close watch now on the situation with measles, particularly in light of the outbreaks that we’ve seen in the UK.’
He has received a ‘detailed update’ from Chief Medical Officer Breda Smyth on the situation and has discussed it with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. He said he will be bringing a memo to the Government in the next two weeks on Ireland’s lower rate of full vaccination against measles. It will address measures to increase the uptake of vaccines and the current incidence of the disease in Ireland. Mr Donnelly added: ‘Our vaccination rate is in the high 80s [%]. The WHO target is 95%. So high 80s is good but we need to we need to reach the targets. ‘A significant amount of work now has been kicked off between the department and the HSE in terms of reaching out to parents; it’s all about parents, reaching out to parents, letting them know how important it is and getting the rates up so there’d be more advertising out there.’ The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) here issued a warning this week about possible cases of measles. In 2022, the overall uptake of the vaccine administered by GPs and the HSE to junior infant children decreased to 86.3% and 87.5% respectively.
The vaccine is generally given to children aged 12-13 months, with the second dose given at three years and four months old. However, if the second dose is missed, it can be administered at any age.
WHO experts said Europe is seeing an ‘alarming rise’ in the spread of the disease, which has ‘accelerated in recent months’.
Some 42,200 cases were reported by member states in 2023, almost 45 times the 941 cases in 2022.
Two in five cases were in children aged one to four and 20% were among people aged 20 and over.
The WHO warned that the rising trend is expected to continue if people do not vaccinate their children against the disease.
Mr Donnelly was speaking at the site of the new National Maternity Hospital at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin as the enabling works on the site commenced.
He said these works on ‘one of the biggest and most important healthcare projects we’ve ever had’ will take 12 months, in which time the aim is to appoint a contractor to begin the main site works, once the enabling works are completed.
A Department of Health spokeswoman confirmed that to date no confirmed cases of measles have been reported here.
She added: ‘Recent HPSC reports show we are not reaching the 95% of vaccination needed to achieve community immunity and protection from these vaccine preventable diseases.’
‘Nationally, uptake has declined to below 90% since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.’
‘We advise people to be vigilant and take necessary steps to prevent the spread of this highly contagious virus.’
‘We are keeping a very close watch’