Parents urged to protect children against measles before going abroad for Easter

Measles is highly infectious and can be an acute and serious infection and causes a rash illness, with cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and high fever. Picture: Getty Images

Parents are being urged to protect their children against measles before going abroad ahead of the Easter holidays, with cases on the rise worldwide.

Outbreaks have been recorded in the United States, South Africa, Nepal and Austria and the HSE has urged parents to make sure children are up to date with their MMR vaccines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently warned about the risk of measles in children as a result of low MMR vaccine uptake following the pandemic.

Measles is highly infectious and can be an acute and serious infection and causes a rash illness, with cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and high fever.

Complications of measles can include ear infections, pneumonia, febrile seizures and less commonly encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and even death.

Health Protection Surveillance Centre public health medicine specialist Dr Suzanne Cotter has advised that vaccination is the only protection against measles and specified that two doses are needed. She said MMR vaccines can be obtained from your GP or travel health clinic.

Measles is a notifiable disease in Ireland. 

“In recent years, most cases of measles reported in Ireland are imported or import related cases. Measles is more common in countries where uptake of measles vaccine is below recommended levels,” said Dr Cotter.

HSE Immunisation Lead and Consultant in Public Health Medicine Dr Lucy Jessop said that in Ireland, the first dose of MMR is offered when children are 12 months of age and is available from GPs.

A booster dose is offered by HSE school vaccination teams when children are in Junior Infants. If a child has missed their MMR vaccines it’s not too late to get protected.

“Most recent available information on the uptake of the second dose of MMR in Ireland for children in the 2020/2021 school year was 88%. This is down from 91% reported for the 2019/2020 school year. 

"Both of these uptake rates are well below the 95% uptake rates recommended by WHO to stop measles transmission and indicate gaps in immunity.

“When preparing to travel overseas it’s a good time to check your vaccination records and make sure that your family has had the recommended number of MMR vaccines. 

"Parents should enjoy their time abroad but please don’t get ill with measles or bring it home,” said Dr Jessop.