Measles outbreak – children must get vaccinated
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre is urging all parents to make sure that their children are vaccinated against measles following a national outbreak of the disease which has caused a number of children to need hospitalisation.
The outbreak which started in August, is continuing, and there are real concerns about spread among non-vaccinated individuals. A majority of cases this year have occurred among children from the Traveler community.
Measles is highly infectious and can cause severe illness and occasionally cause death. An outbreak in 2000 resulted in more than 1600 cases and three deaths.
As vaccination with the MMR is the only way to prevent measles infection, all parents must make sure their children have received the recommended two doses of the vaccine. While the first dose is usually given at 12 months of age by GPs and the second in school at 4-5 years of age, the vaccine can be received at any time. Anyone who is not sure about their vaccination status should get another dose, which will not do them any harm, and will protect against measles, mumps and rubella.
Further information on the measles outbreak is available in a recent HPSC press release and measles articles in January's issue of Epi-Insight and the March issue of Eurosurveillance.
Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile in Ireland: May 2008 - Dec 2009
There were 3538 notifications of C. difficile associated disease (CDAD) from May 2008, when it first became notifiable, and December 2009 giving a national crude incidence rate (CIR) of 56.9 cases per 100,000 population in 2008 and 45.1 cases per 100,000 population in 2009. For further information view the March edition of Epi-Insight.
Indigenous salmonellosis low in Ireland
In 2008, there were 449 cases of salmonellosis notified, equating to a national crude incidence rate (CIR) of 10.6/100,000.
For the last eight years, the incidence of salmonellosis in Ireland has remained reasonably steady with around 350-450 cases reported per annum. This is a decrease from the number of cases that were reported in the late 1990s, when the number of cases peaked at 1257 cases in 1998. For further information view the March edition of Epi-Insight.