THE WORLD Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional office for Europe has called on governments and health professionals to improve national immunisation uptake rates as outbreaks of measles grow larger and cross country borders.
Over the last 12 months, 8,145 cases of measles have been reported in the region. There were more than 2,000 cases in Switzerland where an outbreak, which spread to Austria and Germany, is continuing; more than 1,400 cases in the UK; and more than 1,200 cases in Italy.
The WHO said the decline in MMR immunisation rates was attributable to a combination of vaccine scepticism born of ideological positions and the success of immunisation programmes in earlier generations. In addition, some hard-to-reach vulnerable groups in every country still lacked access to immunisation.
“Further, the challenges to immunisation are fed by disturbing and dangerously misleading anti-vaccination advocacy campaigns.”
It added that measles could lead to serious complications, such as pneumonia, encephalitis and death. Between 2005 and 2008, 25 deaths from measles were reported in the region.
Dr Nata Menabde, deputy regional director at the WHO regional office for Europe, said countries need to increase vaccination to ensure the gains made so far were not jeopardised.
Provision figures show there were 57 cases of measles in the Republic last year, four more than in 2007. However, there is now an 89 per cent uptake rate of the MMR vaccine here, the highest ever recorded in the State.