THE Health Service Executive has confirmed a new outbreak of measles in north Dublin with at least five cases reported since the start of February.
Health officials are now advising anybody who thinks they have measles to stay at home and contact their GP for advice.
People most at risk of infection are those not vaccinated with the MMR vaccine or who have not had measles anytime in the past.
There is a risk of developing measles for up to 21 days after contact with a case of measles.
Public Health Specialist, Dr Ruth McDermott, spoke about the disease and offered some advice for anybody concerned about the latest outbreak.
“Measles can be a serious illness and is highly infectious,” she said.
“The best protection is to be vaccinated with MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine.”
Measles symptoms include a high fever, red eyes and a red rash that starts on head and spread down the body.
This normally starts a few days after onset of illness.
The rash consists of flat red or brown blotches, which can flow into each other. It lasts about 4-7 days.
The time between exposure to measles and developing the rash is usually 14 days (range 7-21 days).
People are infectious from four days before rash starts until four days after.
People who are sick should not attend settings such as crèche, school, work or religious gatherings until they have recovered from illness.
Health experts say all children should get the MMR vaccine when they are aged 12 months.
If any child aged over 12 months has missed this vaccine they should get it now from their GP.
All children should get a second dose of MMR vaccine when they are 4-5 years old in Junior Infants at school.
If any child in Senior Infants or older has missed this vaccine they should also get it now from their GP.
Adults under 40 years who have not had measles or have not received two doses of MMR vaccine should contact their GP to get the MMR vaccine as well.
There are now outbreaks of measles in multiple countries in the European region and worldwide.
There are growing concerns that the anti-vaccine movement is now steering those at risk away from getting vaccinated.
Most people who get measles on holiday don’t know they were exposed until they develop the illness.
Unrecognised exposures to measles have occurred at airports, on planes, at concerts, in shops and health care settings.
Measles is a notifiable disease and GPs and hospital clinicians are obliged to immediately notify Public Health if they suspect someone has the disease.