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	Children are being exposed to the potentially deadly measles disease if their parents do not get them vaccinated, the Minister for Health Dr&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=James%20Reilly&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: default; outline: none !important;">James Reilly</a>&nbsp;has warned.</p>
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	Dr Reilly said the measles outbreak in&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Wales&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: default; outline: none !important;">Wales</a>, which has now surpassed 900 cases and claimed the life of a 25-year-old man last week, ought to give &ldquo;pause for serious thought&rdquo; in&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Ireland&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: default; outline: none !important;">Ireland</a>&nbsp;given the proximity of the two countries.</p>
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	Speaking at the launch of a public information campaign to coincide with European Immunisation Week, Dr Reilly said parents who do not allow their children get the MMR (Measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine are running a &ldquo;grim risk&rdquo; of exposing their children to a preventable disease.</p>
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	A previous outbreak of measles in Dublin in 2000 which affected 1,500 children led to three deaths and more than 100 hospitalisations.</p>
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	The outbreak was blamed on a health scare propagated by British doctor Dr&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Andrew%20Wakefield&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: default; outline: none !important;">Andrew Wakefield</a>&nbsp;who linked the MMR vaccine to autism and bowel disease. He was subsequently found to have falsified the results and was struck off.</p>
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	Vaccination rates dropped to below 70 per cent following that health scare.</p>
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	An outbreak last year in west&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Cork&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: default; outline: none !important;">Cork</a>&nbsp;which affected 60 children coincided with an area where the MMR vaccine uptake is considerably lower than the general population.</p>
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	Dr Reilly said the MMR uptake at between 82 per cent and 85 per cent of the eligible population is &ldquo;not good enough&rdquo; as the target figure is 95 per cent.</p>
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	Currently 92 per cent of one-year-old children received the vaccine last year though there are pockets in west Cork and inner-city Dublin where the uptake figures are lower than that.</p>
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	He urged parents to &ldquo;think about the facts and not the hype&rdquo; around vaccination and to seek advice from medical professionals if they are worried.</p>
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	He also advised health professionals to ensure that misinformation about vaccination does not become the norm.</p>
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	The public health campaign involves television radio and bus shelter advertisements which will run for four months.</p>
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	HSE consultant in public health medicine Dr&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Brenda%20Corcoran&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: default; outline: none !important;">Brenda Corcoran</a>&nbsp;said they did not have the budget for a television advertising campaign but were approached by pharmaceutical company&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_company=Pfizer&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: default; outline: none !important;">Pfizer</a>.</p>
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	Dr Corcoran maintained the partnership was &ldquo;good for both parties&rdquo; and was discussed with the HSE procurement section before being passed.</p>
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	She said Pfizer provided only one of the 12 vaccines currently given to Irish children and that was through competitive tendering.</p>
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	Vaccination rates for MMR are improving every year, but there is still a risk among those children who were not vaccinated around the Millennium and are now teenagers. They are being offered catch-up vaccinations.</p>
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	The HSE has set a goal of having Ireland measles-free by 2015, a goal which will not be accomplished unless the 95 per cent target rate for vaccination is reached.</p>
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	Dr Corcoran said there is also a problem with the Whooping Cough vaccine as the present vaccine only lasts for 10 years. There were 480 cases of Whooping Cough last year and a further 80 cases to date this year.</p>
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	Doctors now believe that a single whooping cough vaccine dose is not sufficient and that a second dose is necessary.<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/parents-who-do-not-have-their-children-vaccinated-run-grim-risk-warns-reilly-1.1368986">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/parents-who-do-not-have-their-children-vaccinated-run-grim-risk-warns-reilly-1.1368986</a></p>
