The HSE has urged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated against measles following an outbreak in west Cork that has affected 51 children.
Assistant national director of health protection Dr Kevin Kelleher said two of those affected had been hospitalised, which showed how serious a measles infection could be, and the importance of vaccination to prevent unnecessary illness and the associated complications.
“Most of the children infected in Cork are teenagers and 88 per cent of cases have never received any dose of MMR vaccine. This large and rapidly spreading outbreak is a major concern not only to people in west Cork but for the whole of Ireland,” Dr Kelleher said.
Vaccination with MMR is the only way to protect against measles, he added.
“Failure to vaccinate leaves children exposed to a serious and potentially fatal disease. “But just as importantly, it exposes other children especially the most vulnerable babies under one year of age to this devastating disease.”
Children under one are those most likely to be liable to the severe complications and possibly death, Dr Kelleher said.
MMR vaccine is routinely provided at 12 months of age and again at preschool age (4-5 years of age.
The HSE said older children who did not get the vaccine at these ages needed to be vaccinated and that their parents should contact their GP.
Children younger than 13 years of age who missed out on the vaccine may still get it free of charge from their GP.
An administration fee may apply for older children and teenagers, but the vaccine itself is free.
MMR immunisation rates here have still not recovered following discredited research in 1998 linking the vaccine with bowel disease and autism.