According to Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly, there is a strong likelihood of a measles epidemic among populations in Ireland who have not had the vaccination, reports RTE.
It comes after the Health Service Executive’s risk assessment from last month.
Recently, the frequency of measles cases in England and other EU nations has increased.
“What we’re finding is that about one in five young men – 18, 19, 20 21 years of age – are unvaccinated,” Mr Donnelly told RTÉ’s News at One.
He added: “That does put them at risk and potentially puts those around them at risk if there is an outbreak. The population level is nearly 90% (vaccinated). The WHO target is 95%,” reports RTE.
“What we’re seeing is a variance [in vaccination levels] around the country, in places like Louth and Meath, for example, it’s down as low as 80%. I was discussing this with the Chief Medical Officer just this morning. She’s particularly concerned about parts of the country where the vaccination rate is much lower,” Mr Donnelly said, reports RTE.
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