Measles fears over vaccine levels

THE likelihood of serious measles and mumps outbreaks is increasing rapidly as immunisation levels reach dangerously low levels, a health board report has warned.

Last year the numbers of children receiving primary immunisation jabs dropped in some areas to below 50%.

International practice demands an immunisation level of at least 95% to reduce the risk of diseases such as mumps and measles.

“In order to prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases such as measles, the uptake of primary childhood immunisation should be 95%. At levels lower than this the risk of outbreaks occurring increases significantly,” said Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) public health director Dr Marie Laffoy.

According to the ERHA review, immunisation uptake of children aged between 12 and 24 months dropped in 2001. The uptake rate at 12 months of age for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and Hib vaccines dropped by 10% to 60% for the last quarter of 2001.

Meanwhile, the uptake for the same vaccinations for children aged two years fell four points to 77%.

However, there was an alarming drop of 21% in two-year-olds receiving the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) jab bringing the immunisation rate down to a worrying 59% at the end of 2001. Alarmingly the ERHA report also found some areas had extremely low uptake rates of between 45% and 50%.

“These low uptake rates greatly increase the risk of an outbreak of measles,” said Dr Laffoy, pointing out that the review had found falling immunisation rates had been influenced by negative media coverage of the MMR vaccine.

Launching the Authority’s new drive to promote immunisation, Dr Laffoy urged all parents to immunise their children for their own safety.

Dr Laffoy said that of those who contract measles, one in 15 will develop serious medical complications while one in every 1,000 will die.

Complications of mumps include meningitis, encephalitis and deafness. Rubella is generally a mild illness but, if acquired by mothers in early pregnancy, can have devastating effects on unborn children as it can lead to learning difficulties, deafness and heart problems.

Two years ago a measles outbreak in the Eastern Region led to 1,230 cases, three deaths and just over 350 hospital admissions.

As part of the new ERHA immunisation drive geographic black spots are to be specifically targeted, staff training is to be prioritised and back-to-school campaigns will be launched across the region.