HSE considers measles catch-up vaccine programme as cases rise
April 17, 2024
Original Article: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41325223.html
The HSE is considering a catch-up MMR vaccine programme for Leaving Cert and third level students because the country is likely to face a significant measles outbreak.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will tell Cabinet on Tuesday that the HSE is examining measures to deal with an outbreak following a risk assessment carried out last month.
One of the proposals being “explored” by the HSE includes an MMR catch-up programme in Leaving Cert students and also the possibility of a campaign in colleges and higher educational institutions. HSE regions have also been testing their response plans in the event of measles cases being detected.
A geospatial analysis has been carried out to identify which counties have had a a low uptake of the vaccine. Options are now being assessed to see how the uptake in those counties can be increased.
Last week the HSE urged parents to make sure their children are vaccinated against measles following what it described as a "significant" rise in cases in parts of the UK and Europe.
The only protection against measles is vaccination.
Mr Donnelly is to tell ministers today that MMR vaccine uptake in Ireland is currently below the WHO recommended target uptake of 95%. Nationally, uptake has been below 90% for seven consecutive quarters. There are also significant geographic variations with uptake rates below 80% in Louth and Meath, but as high as 94% in Dublin Southwest.
A recent Irish study has also estimated that more than a tenth of adults aged 18-34 are non-immune to measles. It is nearly 20% for males aged 18-19 years.
Mr Donnelly will tell Cabinet the likely reason for this high level of non-immunity relates to misinformation in the past about the vaccine which falsely implicated it with a risk of autism. As autism is more often diagnosed in young male children it is likely that a cohort of now young men were not vaccinated due to parental decisions informed by this "erroneous science" which has since been discredited.
In Ireland, there were four measles events reported in 2023, all part of a family outbreak with all cases being between 3-9 years of age. The index case was imported from outside the EU.
In Europe there have been increasing numbers of measles cases notified since the beginning of 2023. In England, over 170 measles cases have been diagnosed in the West Midlands region between December 2023 and mid-January 2024.