The HSE has confirmed that a man has died after contracting measles in Ireland.
The HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Center said the man died in hospital in the Dublin Midlands Health Region.
This is the first confirmed case of measles in Ireland this year.
The HSE has established the Measles National Incident Management Team (IMT) in response to an increase in measles cases in the UK and mainland Europe as vaccination rates decline.
The health department said IMT is taking all necessary public health measures regarding this incident.
In Ireland, there were four confirmed measles cases in 2023, two in 2022, zero in 2021 and five in 2020, with no deaths reported in each year.
Ireland’s chief medical officer, Professor Breda Smith, has encouraged people to take the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, adding that she is “very concerned” about the measles outbreak in Ireland. .
In a social media post on Thursday morning, Mr Smith said Ireland needed to “prevent as many infections, severe illnesses and deaths as possible”.
A video posted alongside the statement warned that vaccination levels in Ireland were below 90% nationally and below 80% in some counties.
Smith said in the video that vaccination levels need to be above 95% to prevent the spread of measles.
An adult death related to measles infection has been confirmed in Ireland. We need to prevent as many infections, severe illnesses, and deaths as possible. Get the MMR vaccine. See https://t.co/kQT8OUIL48. pic.twitter.com/Istk5mVW07
— Chief Medical Officer (@CMOIreland) February 8, 2024
The video was originally published on January 26th and was re-shared following the first confirmed measles case in 2024.
Meanwhile, the HSE has announced that it will offer the MMR vaccine to all children in Ireland as part of the childhood immunization schedule. The health department added that concerned parents should contact their GP.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told Cabinet on Tuesday that a rise in cases across Europe this winter, combined with a decline in vaccination rates in Ireland, raised concerns that the disease could spread to Ireland in 2024. explained that it is increasing.
The World Health Organization also issued an emergency measles alert after reporting a 30-fold increase in cases in Europe. The WHO reports that more than 30,000 measles cases were confirmed across Europe in the first nine months of 2023, compared with just 1,000 in all of 2022.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that can cause serious complications.
Symptoms can take up to 14 days to appear, and patients typically suffer from symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, fever, and bloodshot, watery eyes. These symptoms are usually followed by a rash that appears several days later.