Sir, – The combination of a fall in the uptake of the measles vaccine combined with measles outbreaks being reported in a number of countries, including Austria, the US and South Africa, has led to the HSE urging parents to make sure their children are up to date with the MMR vaccines.
The HSE has noted that uptake rates are at 88 per cent, down from 91 per cent in 2020/2021 and well below the World Health Organisation recommended 95 per cent needed to prevent outbreaks occurring.
Many consider it a mild disease. But one in five children are hospitalised, and serious complications are commonest in young children under five. One in 10 get ear infections or diarrhoea, one in 20 get pneumonia, one in 1,000 get swelling of the brain (encephalitis) that can lead to convulsions, deafness or intellectual disability. Rarely, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a fatal disease involving the central nervous system, can occur up to 10 years later when the person appears to have fully recovered.
Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases. The only protection is two doses of a safe vaccine that has been in use for over 60 years.
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The key is to get fully vaccinated now before the travel season leads to cases in Ireland this year. – Yours, etc,
Dr CATHERINE CONLON,
Ballintemple,
Cork.