Medical teams from the Western Health Board are to administer measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) injections this week to Co Galway schoolchildren who have not received the vaccine. The board says it is still "seriously concerned" about the risk of a major outbreak of measles in the area, following confirmation of a second cluster in the Tuam area in just a fortnight.
Some 21 suspected cases of measles have been found in a primary school and a day-care centre in Tuam, and parental consent is now being sought to vaccinate against further infection. Some 10 clinical cases of measles were identified within an extended family two weeks ago, and two of the 10 were treated in hospital. A helpline has now been set up as part of a public alert and general practitioners have also been notified.
Measles is usually a mild illness, but it can cause serious complications, including pneumonia, seizures, brain damage and death. It is spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. There has been an increase in the number of cases of measles in Ireland in recent years because of falling rates of immunisation through the MMR vaccine.
The vaccine is offered free to all children at 15 months, and a second dose is administered when children are aged between five and six. In the Western Health Board area, the take-up is about 74 per cent of all children. The health board has acknowledged that many parents have concerns about the vaccine, but it says these have not been supported by the scientific evidence.
"The risks of serious illness and death from measles far outweighs the risk of any complication of the MMR vaccine," the board said yesterday.
The board has advised parents who suspect their child has measles to avoid health centres or doctors' surgeries and to ask their family doctor or public health nurse to see the child at home.
In 2000, an outbreak of measles affected over 1,600 children in Ireland, most of them in the Dublin area. Three children died and many children were hospitalised.
The Western Health Board has set up a helpline which will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. The freephone number is 1800 62 22 11.
