Children and teenagers who have been given a flu vaccine are at greater risk of developing narcolepsy, research has found.

HSE guidelines warn that the type of virus which caused a lethal nursing home outbreak could spread rapidly in enclosed settings and, among older people, may not be stopped by the flu jab.

An investigation into how a serious flu outbreak at a private nursing home led to the deaths of six residents and infected 27 others will focus on why the facility failed to inform authorities of the crisis in time.

Test results are due this evening from residents at a private nursing home in Co Donegal where six people died from a respiratory illness in the last 12 days.

Information gaps in computer systems supposed to record patient and vaccination data is creating head-aches for the HSE in finding the number of people suffering narcolepsy after getting the swine flu vaccine.

THE flu claimed 32 lives last year, tuberculosis (TB) claimed 10, and the number of measles cases jumped an alarming 149% according to a new report.

A WOMAN from the south of Ireland who had an underlying illness has died from swine flu, the Department of Health has confirmed.

ABOUT 4% of the population have been infected with swine flu, the country’s public health watchdog has confirmed. And it looks as if the initial wave of the pandemic has peaked, the Health Protection Surveillance Centres said.

THE death of the first pregnant woman from swine flu has prompted the state’s chief medical officer to urge expectant mothers to get vaccinated against the virus.

THE question of whether people will be charged by GPs to administer the human swine flu vaccine has not yet been discussed, it emerged yesterday.

AROUND 1,500 people visited GPs last week with suspected swine flu and the number will continue to rise, a senior public health specialist has revealed.

AS Ireland prepares for a swine flu pandemic the State’s disease monitoring watchdog says GPs are failing to ensure that their older patients are vaccinated against the seasonal flu.

A SENIOR public health specialist has expressed concern that family doctors are not passing on sufficient information to the health authorities about the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Ireland.

DESPITE a rise in the uptake of the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), the number of mumps cases exceeded 1,300 at the end of 2008 — more than nine times the number reported in 2007.

Rural households using private wells were tonight warned of the dangers of a virulent E.coli bug after twice the average number of cases were reported this year.

EXPERTS handling the biggest TB outbreak on recent record have predicted further cases of the disease among children at two Cork crèches.

EXPERTS in public health medicine, disease surveillance and respiratory illness will gather in Cork on Monday night to address parents of children attending two creches where 19 people have been diagnosed with TB.

RATES of TB increased significantly in Cork last year, showing the highest number of reported cases for a decade.

UP TO 5,000 people could die, with 14,000 possibly requiring hospitalisation when the next flu pandemic hits Ireland, health experts warned yesterday.

The recent deaths of four people from bird flu in Turkey has not increased the risk of the disease spreading to Ireland, experts said today.

MENINGITIS C has almost been eradicated since a national vaccination programme was implemented three years ago.

FOUR children in the last three years were born here with syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease they inherited from their mothers.

An 18-month old boy has become the first victim in Ireland of the virulent form of the flu, it was confirmed today.

The head of the National Disease Surveillance Centre today defended a plan by doctors to escalate industrial action in their row with the Government.

MEDICAL experts have recommended children be given the MMR vaccine at an earlier age after a measles outbreak claimed three lives.