Ireland's head of the National Disease Surveillance Center, Dr. Darina O'Flanagan, pleaded for the government to impose special incentives to increase the uptake of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine among children. Her request followed the confirmation of over 100 cases of measles during the past seven weeks and fears that another outbreak of the disease will occur. Two years ago, 1,230 children in the Eastern region were diagnosed with measles, and out of that number, 350 children had to be hospitalized and three died. MMR coverage rates are as low as 45 percent in some regions of Ireland; the minimum level needed to prevent disease outbreaks is 95 percent.