Outbreak control teams have been convened in HSE East, South and Midwest, where thirty confirmed measles cases have been identified to date, 22 of which are in Kerry.
All cases have occurred in individuals under 30 years of age, with six cases in children under 12 months.
Most of those who have been infected did not know that they had been in contact with measles. It is also known that most had not received the MMR (Measles- Mumps- Rubella) vaccine.
According to the HSE, the infection most likely came from another European country where measles outbreaks are occurring and newspapers are reporting the latest outbreak has been traced to an adult with the illness who visited Kerry and Dublin recently.
The HSE has identified certain areas in Kerry, Dublin, Limerick, Louth and Sligo as places where individuals confirmed with measles have been while infectious in the past couple of months.
Dr. Fiona Ryan, Consultant in Public Health stressed that “measles is highly infectious, and if cases are isolated early, the risk of transmission to vulnerable individuals decreases. The time between exposure to the virus and developing measles rash is normally 14 days (range seven-21 days). People are infectious from four days before rash starts until four days after.”
People who are fully vaccinated with two doses of MMR vaccine are normally protected. Those most at risk are those who are not fully vaccinated with two doses of MMR, babies (younger than 12 months so too young to be vaccinated), and those with weakened immune systems.
Measles symptoms include:
- High fever
- Cough
- Runny nose
- Red eyes
- Red rash that starts on head and spread down the body- this normally starts a few days after onset of illness
If you or someone in your family develops measles symptoms:
- Stay at home and phone your GP
- Tell the doctor or nurse you think you might have measles
- Stop visitors coming to the house to prevent spreading the infection
Measles is a notifiable disease and GPs and hospital clinicians should immediately notify public health if they suspect someone has measles.
More information on measles is available here.
