THE NUMBER of measles outbreaks in Ireland and Europe has been described by health authorities as “worrying” after a 149 per cent rise in cases was revealed.
The Health Service Executive Health Protection Surveillance Centre published its annual report yesterday, with a breakdown of the incidence of notifiable diseases for last year.
Measles cases increased by 149 per cent, with 403 cases notified compared with 162 cases in 2009. The centre said 108 of the cases last year resulted in hospitalisation. Cases predominantly occurred in children who had not been vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases, it added.
Other European countries also saw measles outbreaks last year.
The number of cases of mumps fell by 53 per cent, with 293 cases reported compared to 620 in 2009.
The number of MRSA and HIV infections, as well as certain gastroenteric diseases and healthcare-associated infections, all fell.
MRSA rates in Ireland are now at their lowest rates since surveillance began in 1999, the centre said. It found such bloodstream infections fell by 14 per cent in 2010, with 305 cases notified compared with 355 the previous year.
HIV cases fell by 21 per cent in 2010. There were 331 cases notified compared with 395 cases in 2009. The highest number of new HIV diagnoses in 2010 were among men who have sex with men, with 40.5 per cent of new cases occurring in this category.
During 2010 the incidence of all types of invasive pneumococcal disease fell by 25 per cent compared with 2008, when the vaccine was first introduced. One young child who was not vaccinated died from pneumococcal meningitis in 2010.
Health Protection Surveillance Centre director Dr Darina O’Flanagan said the decline in many notifiable diseases was very welcome and was due to strong public health surveillance and hard work in the battle against infectious disease.
She said a catch-up MMR vaccination campaign was needed to control and eliminate the continued transmission of measles, mumps and rubella in Ireland, as there had been “a worrying number of measles outbreaks in Ireland and Europe during 2010”.