Ireland measles: Adult dies in hospital after contracting disease

It is the first confirmed measles case in Ireland this year.

There were four measles cases in 2023, two in 2022, none in 2021, and five in 2020, with no deaths reported in any of those years, according to the HSE.

It comes as health officials across Europe and the UK warn of rising cases amid falling vaccination rates.

The adult died in a hospital in the Dublin and Midlands health region, which covers the Leinster province. The HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has been notified.

Public health teams and the Measles National Incident Management Team (IMT) said they were “taking all necessary public health actions in relation to the case”.

Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smyth said she was “very concerned” there was a “high risk” of a measles outbreak in the country and urged people to take up the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

In a video shared on social media on Thursday, which was originally posted last month, Prof Smyth said vaccination levels had fallen below 90% nationally, and below 80% in some Irish counties.

About 95% of the population needed to be vaccinated in order to prevent the disease from spreading, she said.

Since 2020, most confirmed cases of measles in Ireland reported recent travel to countries where outbreaks were ongoing, the HPSC said.

Continue here: BBC

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