The State body which compiles statistics on notifiable diseases has described as “worrying” the number of measles outbreaks in Ireland and Europe during 2010, after figures showed a 149 per cent increase in cases.
The HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre published its annual report on the incidence of notifiable diseases for last year.
Measles cases increased by 60 per cent in 2010, with 403 cases notified compared with 162 cases in 2009. The centre said 108 of these cases were hospitalised in 2010. A total of 40 separate measles outbreaks were reported during the year.
The predominantly occurred in children who are not vaccinated against vaccine-preventable disease. Other European countries also saw measles outbreaks during 2010.
There have been over 250 cases of measles so far this year, with about 220 of those occurring in the Dublin region.
The number of cases of mumps fell by 53 per cent, with 293 cases reported compared with 620 in 2009.
Health complications from mumps during 2010 included orchitis (swelling of the testicles), deafness, pancreatitis, encephalitis and appendicitis.
The number of MRSA and HIV infections, as well as certain gastroenteric diseases and healthcare-sssociated infections all fell in 2010, according to official figures.
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.
Cases of Clostridium difficile-associated disease fell by 11 per cent in 2010 with 1,696 cases notified compared with 1,897 cases in 2009, the centre said.
With regard to blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections, 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.
According to the centre, the trend has been observed in many European countries to such an extent that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommended that interventions to control HIV among men who have sex with men should be “the cornerstone of HIV prevention strategies in Europe”.
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 unvaccinated died from pneumococcal meningitis in 2010.
HPSC 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.
“Vaccination remains an important and very effective way of combating many diseases,” she said.
“This is illustrated by the success of the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine which has led to a 25 per cent reduction in all types of invasive pneumococcal disease in the two year period since its introduction.”
Dr O’Flanagan 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”.
Overall consumption of antibiotics in Ireland remained “mid-to-high” in comparison with other European countries, but a recently launched HSE initiative on reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage should improve our ranking in Europe.