PARENTS are being urged to be on high alert after three measles cases were confirmed last week just across the border in Cavan.
According to Northern Sound, many more people in the area may have been exposed to infection as one of those diagnosed presented at Cavan General Hospital, with GPs in the area notified of a possible surge in cases.
On this side of the border, the Public Health Agency (PHA) has confirmed that between January 1 and July 21 this year there were 146 suspected cases of the potentially deadly disease recorded in the North, with 14 of these officially confirmed in a laboratory.
Highly contagious and potentially very serious, measles had almost gone the way of smallpox and polio in that it had been almost entirely eradicated thanks to a vaccine.
However, following a viral fake story in the late ‘90s linking the MMR jab with autism – which has been categorically disproven, not least because you are born with autism and it is not an acquired condition – and the rise of vaccine skepticism since the Covid pandemic, there has been a surge in cases in recent times.
Indeed, prior to this year, there had been no cases of measles in the North at all since 2017. Just like across Ireland and the UK, the re-emergence of the disease here corresponds directly with a drop in vaccine rates.
Measles is an infectious viral infection that is often accompanied by a fever, rash and cold-like symptoms. While it can pass in around 10 days, it can result in serious complications for children, who can be left with damage to their brain, eye sight, hearing. In some cases, children can die.
The Western Trust is continuing to offer those who have not yet received both MMR vaccines, between the ages of six and 25-years-old, the chance to become immunised, with clinics in the SWAH, Omagh or Altnagelvin.
Appointments can be made via www.nidirect.gov.uk/mmr You can also call the Trust booking line on 028 71610753 (Monday to Wednesday, 9am – 4pm) and 028 82835352 (Thursday – Friday, 9am – 4pm).
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