An outbreak of measles in the UK is putting children in Ireland at risk. There have been 198 cases of the contagious infection in Britain since October. High levels of travel between Ireland and the UK, as well as a falling vaccination rate in both countries, means it's very likely measles will be imported. Monaghan GP, Dr Ilona Duffy, says the infection should not be taken lightly. According to the local GP, one in five people who develop measles will end up in hospital. She added that people have "forgotten" how "serious" this disease is due to the rarity of cases.
"One in 3,000 people who get measles may die as a result of the disease and that is massive," explained Dr Duffy. "That statistic is actually much more than any of the other disease that we are more worried about.
"We've forgotten how serious this disease is. We feel that vaccination rates have dropped and there are quite a number of people in our population like young children who aren't protected. We know that the MMR vaccine which all children are given around the 12 months mark and again between the ages of four and five offers substantial protection but without it, they're not protected and without it they are at high risk."
