Is MMR Hysteria Behind Increase in Ireland’s Measles Cases?
Public health officials in Ireland are blaming anti-measles, mumps and rubella vaccine hysteria for causing an increase in the number of measles cases there.
The MMR vaccination rate has fallen to just 72 percent nationwide in Ireland, and is at only 63 percent in Dublin. To be assured of controlling measles, mumps and rubella, the vaccination rate needs to be 95 percent.
Over a six week period in December and January when 30 cases of measles would normally be seen, 100 cases of the disease were reported. In the following two weeks, another 100 cases were reported.
Ireland last saw a measles epidemic in 2000 when 1,630 children came down with the disease and three died. In the United States, by contrast, only a few cases of the disease are reported annually and most of those cases are contracted by foreigners visiting the country.
Physician Dr. Maurice Gueret disputed the MMR hysteria link, telling the New York Times that the problem “goes back generations; we’ve always had an appalling vaccination rate in Ireland” owing to a substandard health care system and poor tracking of which children have been vaccinated.
Whatever the root cause, Ireland’s example highlights the importance of maintaining high vaccination rates.
Source:
As vaccination rates decline in Ireland, cases of measles soar. Brian Lavery, The New York Times, February 7, 2003.
Tags: Vaccination