Now nine ‘cases of measles’
New data shows suspected cases in children found just last week
NINE suspected cases of measles have been reported in Ireland, as concern over vaccination levels grows following the death of a man from the highly infectious virus.
Announcing the man’s death on Wednesday night, the HSE had said he was the first confirmed measles case in Ireland in 2024.
However, new data released yesterday by the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre record nine suspected cases of measles having been notified to it in the fifth week of this year – the start of this month. A HSE spokesperson said the nine cases in children under the age of nine were under investigation, but were not yet confirmed to be measles.
The cases will be tested in a laboratory, and will be delisted if they turn out not to be measles. Cases of the disease have risen across Europe in recent months, with particularly virulent outbreaks in the Midlands and London areas of England.
Serious complications of measles include pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain) – one in five infected may need to go to hospital and it can be fatal, although this is rare in Ireland.
It is particularly dangerous for children under one year of age, pregnant women, and the immunosuppressed.
An investigation is under way into the circumstances surrounding the man who died in the Dublin and Midlands health region, who is understood to have recently travelled from the UK.
The HSE said that its public health teams, along with the HSE Measles National Incident Management Team (IMT), are taking all necessary public health actions in relation to the case.
The last fatalities from measles in Ireland were recorded in 2000, when three people died in connection with a very large outbreak in Dublin. In August 2023, there was a family outbreak in Ireland involving four people, and children aged between three and nine, after a person picked up the infection abroad. In late 2017, there were two outbreaks in Dublin and Meath.
The HSE Measles IMT was established in response to the spike in measles cases in the UK and Europe.
A rapid risk assessment carried out by the HSE in January found that the probability of a measles outbreak in Ireland was high.
The World Health Organisation’s recommendation for the MMR vaccine is that 95% of the population should be vaccinated for full protection, but in Ireland the uptake rate has been at 90% for seven quarters in a row.
The vaccination rates vary by county – they have plummeted below 80% in some areas.