Pressroom

Source: Herald.ie

By: Murphy, Claire

08/25/2010

An outbreak of the measles in Ireland earlier in the year is now under control, according to health professionals. The Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) reports 404 positive tests for the disease, which is up nearly 10 times from last year’s total of just 44 cases. Ireland had the second-highest incidence rate of measles in Europe during the first quarter of 2010. “However, since April, the number of measles cases reported to the HPSC has decreased markedly, with an average number of cases of five per week, compared to 21 cases per week during the outbreak weeks of 2009,” says Dr. Suzanne Cotter, specialist in public health medicine at the HPSC. MMR uptake has increased in recent years, but the outbreak shows that there are still weaknesses in the Irish immunization program, says a spokeswoman. Many affected individuals had not been vaccinated or had only one dose of the MMR vaccine.