Why are we talking vaccines again this week?
A child has just died in Liverpool. A family has lost their child to a disease that is preventable.
And we need to talk about this because know that falling vaccination rates are more than just that families are vaccine hesitant. It is often that parents and patients do not have enough or correct information on the importance of vaccines. Families don’t know when the vaccines are due or what to do if they missed a vaccine, or have trouble getting GP appointments due to GP shortage.
It’s necessary to remind everyone about the importance of vaccines, because that the vaccines have become a victim of their own success. No one remembers things like the polio lockdown in Cork in 1956(an outbreak that saw 500+ infected; 20 died and many left with lifelong disabilities.) The Republic of Ireland had its worst measles outbreak in 2000 when. Uptake of the vaccine at that time was less than 80% — more than 1220 cases of measles were reported that year and 2 children died. We have a short memory: Today, our overall vaccination uptake levels are still below the needed 95%; there are areas where it is below 80% and areas where it is above 98%.
Even as we still have polio survivors still living among us: I recently saw a post on social media: “Has anyone ever even seen any of these so-called ‘preventable’ childhood diseases?” Yes, yes I have. I have seen adult polio survivors with long term complications. Have seen mumps. I have seen diphtheria. I have see patients who have lost sight due to complications of shingles. Patients who have died or have pneumonia from influenza. Sepsis from chickenpox. Yes, we have seen them — there is not a healthcare worker who has not seen these diseases. Stories that need not have happened.
Is this all Big Pharma Funding?
Disclosure: I don’t get paid by pharmaceutical companies, with the exception of the exactly one time I did a paid session –– where I ironically talked about de-prescribing medication in chronic disease. I don’t work in general practice (so I don’t actually give childhood vaccines myself). I do have post-doctoral work in molecular biology and was a former Fellow in the Eck Institute for Global Health. I have worked in publicly funded infectious disease research (nope, no pharma money) I am a member of the WHO Fides collaboration (this is not paid or sponsored). I have researched and published multiple papers, including on Covid.
But that’s more of a problem “over there”, right?
In Liverpool, where that child has recently died,only 73% of children aged five have received the necessary two doses, while in parts of London uptake is below 65%. There have been more than 500 cases of measles in the UK in 2025. And we can’t take the view that it’s only a problem “over there.” With more than 100 flights between Dublin and Liverpool a week and dozens of ferries – this does affect us here. And the UK isn’ t the only country to see outbreaks of measles: In the US, there has been 1288 cases and 13% of those were hospitalized. There have been 3 child deaths so far in 2025. Over 90% of cases have been unvaccinated. What we can learn from the US is that this disease was eliminated in 2000, but due to global travel and falling vaccination rates, it has resurged. And as we get ready for summer travel, we need t oknow that there are also outbreaks in Canada and across Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. Here in Europe, we are seeing measles in France, Spain, Romania, Netherlands and Belgium.
Okay, but why the fuss about measles and not, for example, chicken pox?
Measles is often seen as a ‘canary in the coalmine’ that a community is at risk from under-vaccination against disease. It does not matter whether the low levels of vaccination is due to vaccine misinformation, lack of access to vaccination, or effects of war/conflict. We focus on measles because is one of the most contagious diseases that we know of! The virus is airborne and can linger in rooms for 2 hours. People can pass along the virus in days before they know they have it. We have danger after Covid of thinking that what everyone learned about the Covid virus (Sars-CoV-2) applies to other viruses – but it doesn’t work that way.
What is the best protection against measles?
The best way to protect yourself and those around you is to make sure you and your family members are vaccinated against measles. Sin é.
MMR vaccine is offered FREE to all children in Ireland as part of the Primary Childhood and Schools Immunisation Programmes. Children are offered two doses of MMR vaccine at 12 months of age and in junior infants in primary school.
If you think you or your child are not up-to-date with MMR vaccines, vaccination can usually be arranged with your GP. MMR vaccine is available FREE of charge for individuals who are not age-appropriately vaccinated. In addition, infants aged 6 months to <12 months are eligible to receive an MMR vaccine, FREE of charge at their GP, prior to travel abroad. It is recommended that infants receive this MMR vaccine at least 14 days prior to travel.
The MMR vaccine is highly effective with 93% protection after one dose and 97% after a second. MMR is a live attenuated vaccine and is not recommended for pregnant people, very young children, and immunocompromised individuals, and thus, these groups are at particular risk.
What if I am unvaccinated and exposed? Exposed people can get vaccinated, and due to the long incubation period of the virus of up to 21 days, this affords some protection. Exposed pregnant people or infants could also be treated with human immunoglobulin.
A note on misinformation and ableism: Much of the MMR misinformation falsely links the vaccine to ASD. We know that ASD has causes that include genetics – but not vaccines. This misinformation is also troubling because it 1) implies that a child’s ASD is somehow the parent’s fault for choosing vaccination 2) is ableist – implying that ASD is somehow worse than a child having a serious or life-threatening illness. If you are interested in this topic, the book “Vaccines did not cause Rachel’s Autism” by Prof. Peter Hotez is a great read. Prof. Hotez is the father of Rachel, who has ASD, and a US-based researcher who develops not-for-profit vaccines for developing countries. Read more on this.
Should we be worried?
If you and your family have your vaccines on-board, carry-on. But in the larger scale – yes, we should all be worried. If we remember that measles is our “canary in the coalmine” about the risk of preventable diseases, the rising numbers should worry us. Because it means that there is also risk of some of these diseases coming back, ones are nearly eradicated, such as polio. 127 350 measles cases were reported in the European Region for 2024, double the number of cases reported for 2023 and the highest number since 1997. More than half of the reported cases required hospitalization. A total of 38 deaths were reported. While the pandemic did disrupt immunisation schedules. , In 2023 alone, 500 000 children across the European Region missed their first dose of the measles vaccine.
And things are likely to get worse before they get better. Here in Ireland, we import a great deal of English-language health misinformation from the US, mostly via social media. RFK Jr has long been a leading conspiracy theorist and promoter of health misinformation and now has a platform in the new US administration. And it’s big business: Alternative medicine market was estimated to be workth US$144.68 billion in 2023. The revenue that social media platforms make from antivaccine content is currently estimated as being worth US$1 billion per year. Robert F Kennedy Jr himself is former chairman of the Children’s Health Defense, a anti-vaccination organisation that had reported revenues of US$23.5 million in 2023,,
Fast Facts Need to Know about Measles:
Measles is highly contagious! It is the most contagious virus that we know. It lingers in the air for up to 2 hours, and you may not get sick until 21 days after you are exposed. People are contagious before they show the rash, and on average can spread it to at least 10 other people.
We cannot treat measles. Antibiotics can’t treat the viral disease, and online misinformation, such as Vitamin A cures measles, isn’t accurate.
It’s not a harmless childhood disease.
What does the disease look like? Symptoms of measles usually begin 10–14 days after exposure to the virus. The early symptoms usually last 4–7 days and are usually fever, runny nose, cough, red and watery eyes, small white spots inside the cheeks which many don’t notice. The rash begins about 7–18 days after exposure, usually on the face and neck but spreads over about 3 days, eventually to the hands and feet. It usually lasts 5–6 days before fading.
But the real problems are due to the complications from measles:
encephalitis – when the infection cause brain swelling – occurs in 1 in 1000. It may lead to brain damage and/or sight/hearing loss or death.
around 10% may get severe diarrhoea and related dehydration and ear infections
One of of every 20 children who get measles will get pneumonia.
pregnancy complications
1 out of every 5 with measles will need hospital care
1-3 out of every 1000 will die from measles
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a very rare (7-11 out of 100,000) but fatal disease of the central nervous system. It develops 7 to 10 years after a person has measles and fully recovered. Yhe risk of developing SSPE is higher if the child gets measles before they are age 2.
Immune amnesia – It can wipe out that natural immunity memory to other germs – in some studies, the loss of antibodies can be anywhere from 11 – more than 70% – and this can last for 2 years! This leaves the person vulnerable to getting infected from viruses or other germs they had already been exposed or immune to.
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