Urgent warning issued to Irish holidaymakers as measles outbreaks spike in holiday hotspots

A warning has been issued to Irish people heading abroad this summer as many parts of Europe and North America have been experiencing outbreaks of measles in recent months.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has reported surges in cases of the highly contagious viral infection in countries such as Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Romania. 

Romania has been particularly impacted by the outbreak with over 7,416 reported cases and 8 deaths since the start of this year. 

The ECDC's most recent published figures on the outbreak showed that 18 countries in Europe were effected, with Romania, France, Spain and the Netherlands experiencing the highest number of cases.

There has also been outbreaks in the US, Mexico and Canada as well as some Asian countries.

In the ECDC's 'Communicable Disease Threats Report' they attributed the increase in measles cases to seasonality, a low uptake of measles vaccines, as well as the movement of people from areas of high infection rates.

They added in the report: "The majority of recently reported cases have acquired the disease within the reported country through community/local transmission; however, cases related to international travel have been reported."

With numbers expected to rise over the busy travel period, Irish holidaymakers have been warned before jetting off to some of these impacted destinations to be aware of the signs and symptoms of measles. So far, there has been no reported outbreaks in Ireland.

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What are the symptoms?

According to the HSE, measles start off with cold-like symptoms around 10 days after you first get infected. These symptoms may include:

• Cold-like symptoms such as aches and pains, runny nose, sneezing, a cough, sore throat, red eyes
• Temperature of 38 degrees Celsius or above
• Small grey-white spots in your mouth
• Tiredness, irritability and a lack of energy 
• loss of appetite
• Measles rash

The measles rash appears around 2 to 4 days after your first symptoms and fades after a week. The rash typically starts on your head or neck and spreads outwards to the rest of your body. The HSE says the rash can be flat or slightly raised and join together into large blotchy patches. It also looks brown or red and can be itchy for some people.

What to do?

If you are pregnant, or think you or your child has measles, then you should contact your GP or maternity hospital urgently. Likewise, if you were in close contact with some who has measles and you are pregnant or you did not have measles in the past or 2 doses of the MMR vaccine, then you should also contact your GP or the hospital.

However, do call before you visit your GP or hospital as they will need to make arrangements to reduce the risk of spreading the infection. 

The HSE has assured that you are unlikely to get measles if have had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine or if you've had measles in the past.