This article is from page 5 of the 2007-12-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
AN OUTBREAK of measles in the county has led the Health Service Ex- ecutive to issue a warning to parents to have their children immunised.
There has been one confirmed case of measles in Ennis and two other suspected measles cases in Clare in the past few weeks.
According to the HSE the parents of children in contact with the con- firmed case of measles have been advised to ensure that their children have two doses of MMR, which offers 99 per cent protection against measles.
The MMR vaccine is part of the routine immunisation from GPs. It is usually given when a baby is 12 months old and again when the child is four to five years of age.
The HSE is now asking all parents in Clare to ensure their children have oreo eMDOSDOSIUNOD ILO D
“Tf your child has not had the MMR vaccine and is over 12 months of age, please contact your GP. If you have public health queries in rela-
tion to measles, please contact the Department of Public Health on 061- 483337 and one of the doctors will be able to help you,” a spokesman said.
According to the VHI website, measles is an acute, highly infectious viral disease that attacks the respira- tory system, eyes, gut and skin.
It mainly affects children between two and five years of age, although it can occur at any age. In Ireland, the number of cases tends to rise in win- ter and spring.
In recent years some _ parents have delayed having their children vaccinated against measles due to reports suggesting a possible link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism and bowel disease.
Uptake levels have remained low in parts of the country. In the year 2000 over 1,500 new cases of the disease and two deaths due to complications associated with measles were report- ed to the National Disease Surveil- lance Centre. This compares to 147 cases the previous year.