- NEWS
Shatter: Garda chief told me about WallaceEmbattled Justice Minister Alan Shatter said the Garda commissioner gave him details about TD Mick Wallace escaping penalty points and that he publicly revealed it to defend the integrity of the force.
Panicked last minutes aboard the Tit Bonhomme revealed at inquest Rarely has a voice ever carried so much panic.
- WORLD
Horror and heroism as tornado wreaks havocThe search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb raked by a massive tornado was almost complete last night.
Chile miner happy to be played by Banderas in filmAntonio Banderas will star in a movie as one of the 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground for more than two months in 2010, and the charismatic survivor he's playing couldn't be happier.
- BUSINESS
Smooth exit from bailout forecastIreland is heading for a smooth exit from the bailout programme as GDP grows — delivering a huge political and reputational reward for the country, according to the latest Ernst & Young Economic Eye.
Glanbia’s Talbot first woman to take helm at a major Irish food companySiobhan Talbot is set to succeed John Moloney as group managing director of Glanbia, at the end of this year — becoming the first woman to head up a major Irish food company.
- SPORT
Deegan in dock over advantage ruleArmagh's Jamie Clarke has cleared Paul Grimley of all responsibility for Sunday's defeat by Cavan, but questioned referee Maurice Deegan's decision not to allow him advantage in scoring his second-half disallowed goal.
One more year and that’s it, insists O’DriscollBrian O'Driscoll has ruled out extending his career beyond next June.
- LIFESTYLE
Tyranny of the majorityIn the play An Enemy of the People, one man stands for right, says Pádraic Killeen.
Opening a can of wormsThe UN thinks it's a good idea, but what do the Irish think of eating creepy crawlies, wonders Jonathan deBurca Butler.
Breaking stories
Measles vaccine drive to counter outbreak
Health authorities are to roll out a national measles vaccination campaign following a serious outbreak of the potentially fatal disease in West Cork.
By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent
The programme, which will be introduced in all schools from September, will target secondary school students initially, and then be extended to include primary schools. More than 50 students — two of whom have been hospitalised — have been infected following an outbreak in West Cork last month. Most of those affected are secondary school students at Schull Community College, but a number of primary school pupils have also been treated.
Dr Kevin Kelleher, HSE assistant national director of health protection, said the campaign was being rolled out in schools from the autumn to try to increase the number of children nationally who were protected against measles.
“From this coming academic year, we’re going to have a catch-up programme going through the schools, starting in the secondary schools and then moving down into the national schools as time moves on.”
The HSE also reiterated the need for families to get children vaccinated, with the focus on younger children as they are more vulnerable to the more serious effects of diseases.
Measles leads to complications in almost one third of cases. Nearly one in five of those infected require hospitalisation, and death has been reported in between one and three out of every 1,000 cases of measles.
There has been a surge of vaccinations in West Cork over the past week, in response to the outbreak.
Dr Brian O’Connell, a family doctor in Schull whose practice has treated more than 20 children with measles, said he was taken aback by the speed at which the highly contagious disease has spread.
Special vaccination clinics have been organised locally, and Dr O’Connell said there had been a good turnout, particularly in the past week.
“Thankfully, I think the message seems to be getting through that vaccination is the way forward with this. If you’re vaccinated, your chances of picking up measles are very slim indeed,” he told RTÉ News.
West Cork is one of the areas with the lowest uptake of the MMR vaccine for measles, with 86% of two-year-olds vaccinated last year compared to 92% nationally and 93% in the HSE South region. The area had 68 reported cases in an outbreak in 2009 and 2010, while a national outbreak in 2000 saw 1,600 people affected and three related deaths.
The low uptake of the MMR vaccine — protecting against measles, mumps, and rubella — in some parts of the country has been linked to false research published in 1998 that suggested a link to autism, research which has since been discredited.
There is a routine vaccination programme for children at the age of one and again at five, and the HSE is trying to get the uptake as high as possible.
Health authorities say many of the teenagers now affected would have been due for the two-dose vaccination at around the time that fears linked to the MMR were prevalent.