Last Updated: 2002-12-11 14:00:31 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Amanda Haverty

DUBLIN (Reuters Health) - Ireland could be facing another measles outbreak, authorities said on Wednesday. Cases of the disease are on the rise in the Eastern Area as vaccination levels with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine have dropped.

A spokeswoman for the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) told Reuters Health that the warning was essentially preemptive but that public health officials would continue to urge parents to have their child vaccinated with the MMR vaccine.

Figures from Tuesday show 10 cases of measles diagnosed in the past week, compared to the usual two or three in the region.

Director of Public Health with the Eastern Regional Health Authority, Dr. Marie Laffoy said she was concerned that this might possibly be the start of an outbreak and warned parents that every child over 12 months should be vaccinated against the disease with the triple MMR vaccine.

Fears about the safety of the triple vaccine arose from a medical study published in 1998. Despite an independent review by doctors concluding that it was not a cause of autism or bowel disease, speculation has continued and the number of children being vaccinated has dropped. Numerous studies since that time have ruled out the vaccine as a cause of autism or other health problems.

The uptake rate for MMR vaccine is currently less than 70% in the eastern region--the target is 95%--and the ERHA is urging parents to have their child vaccinated to avoid another outbreak.

"Measles can be a very serious illness and the message is that if your child is aged 12 months or over and has not been vaccinated they should be vaccinated now," she said.

An outbreak in the area in March 2000 resulted in over 1,200 children diagnosed with measles and three children died.

Earlier this year another outbreak in the west of Ireland saw more than 20 children diagnosed with the illness.

The latest rise in cases follows a warning from the ERHA last month against the use of single vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella.

The ERHA and the Irish Medicines Board issued a joint warning to parents and doctors against the use of unlicensed single vaccines against mumps and measles in the area.

Dr. Joan Gilvarry, medical director of the Irish Medicines Board said there was insufficient information about separate vaccines to be able to offer the public any assurances about the safety, quality or efficacy.

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