Live95 Limerick Today Podcasts
Free MMR vaccines for Limerick students
Dr Kenneth Beatty joins Joe to discuss the new programme offering free MMR vaccines to college students in Limerick.
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- Broadcast on:
- 23 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
your views, your news, your limerick today with Joe Net on live 95. So with me in the studio now we have Dr Kenneth Beatty consulted in public health medicine at public health HSE in the Midwest which obviously covers the Nemorg region. You're welcome Kenneth. Good morning to you and I take a second look at this because what you're asking for is something that you know maybe what 10-15 years ago you wouldn't have to have and that relates to the MMOR vaccine but you're especially targeting students quite. Yeah so again this is probably a part of our wider MMOR catch-up campaign in response to the surge in measles that we've seen both in Ireland and across Europe since the start of the year. And really one of our main concerns is in young adults now who may have been born in around the time when we've seen a drop off in MMOR in the late 90s and early 2000s. And we have seen a number of cases in that young adult age group of measles in Ireland so we're actively trying to ask three things of college students. First of all that they know their own vaccine status so they can do that by talking to their GPs or looking on their local health office website. If they're not vaccinated to attend these clinics that are coming up this week and get a vaccine and then if they are concerned at all about symptoms of measles that they seek medical advice urgently as well. So tell me more about the clinics. So there's four clinics being run across this week, Tuesday to Friday of this week starting in the Shannon College of Hospitality Management tomorrow then Tuse University on Wednesday, Mary Eye on Thursday and ending in University of Limic on Friday and anyone can attend. And again just to, we can check the vaccine status on the day as well. And if they know themselves that they didn't receive a vaccine for whatever reason they can receive the vaccine on the day. Now obviously you're looking at public health on the widest sense. So is there a gap? Why is there a gap in those who have taken up the vaccine in the age range that you're referring to? And has that gap been rectified since? So do we have an odd situation that either side of a particular age cohort, there is vaccination at the level required? Well, I suppose the data we focus on primarily and it's because more vaccine is given to young children firstly at 12 months of age and then again at about four years of age. So the data we have is specific to that age group. But we do know even in that age group that the vaccine uptake rate has fallen below 90% and has been quite consistently below 90% for a number of years. And really for something ever diseases as infectious as measles you really wanted to be above 95% to stop it circulating in the community. As regards reasons why people may have not been vaccinated again, it's very hard. There's usually multiple factors. Sometimes again, it can be down to misinformation around the vaccine back in the early 2000s, late 90s, there was concerns around links to autism that has all been completely debunked. And the papers linking those that are making those claims have been completely debunked as well. But again, there can be a lot of different reasons. Sometimes it's lack of availability, difficulty accessing a GP. Maybe feeling that measles isn't a particularly significant issue or anything like that. So with anything in relation to vaccine hesitancy, there's multiple factors that can play into it as well. What is it like then to guess the vaccine for MM or as a 19, 20 or 21 year old? Yeah, generally it's tolerated in much the same way as young children when they receive it as well. So again, this is not a new vaccine. This vaccine has been in Ireland since the mid 80s. So there's excellent data in regards in regards safety and in regards efficacy. So really, there's no increased safety risk or anything like that or no evidence of increased harm receiving it later in life. Okay, but it is a highly infectious illness isn't it? If you're not vaccinated, absolutely. It's probably one of the most infectious diseases we know of. I think I mentioned before, if we had a room full of unvaccinated people and a case of measles there, you would expect to see between 14 and 18 cases coming from that one case alone. So extremely infectious. And unfortunately, it can be quite severe as well. We're already one of only two countries in Europe this year who've reported a death from measles. So while many people feel it is not a very serious condition, it does cause very serious disease caused death and oftentimes in our most vulnerable populations as well. So that's why it's so important to get back to you. So you're trying to make it as straightforward as possible for students in particular this week to get the vaccine. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think it's really important just to, as part of people coming back maybe from holidays, they may have been traveling across Europe where we've seen higher rates of measles coming back to Ireland. That's why we're concerned just with people congregating again in third level colleges, that there may be a risk of transmission. So it's really important just to know your vaccine status. And if you are under vaccinated, consider coming to one of our clinics that were running this week. Okay. Then, because we're going into vaccination season aren't we? What about the flu vaccine? What about the COVID vaccine? So was there in the background, isn't it? Yeah. So yeah, absolutely. The flu and COVID vaccines will launch officially on the 30th of this month. And the first of October, the vaccine campaigns will be going live. Again, there's a wide variety of groups that can avail of different vaccines. And you can see that on the HSE website. But again, we would just really advocate for people, particularly in high risk groups, to receive those vaccines. We've seen a surge of COVID over the summer period. And while it has dropped off, it's still at a reasonably high level. And as we enter into the winter period, we'd be concerned then of pressures on healthcare services as well. And just one other question, will you expect at some point that COVID will become like the flu? In other words, that it'll be seasonal? Yeah, in the same way, the flu generally is a winter illness. Yeah, absolutely. It's very difficult to say that for certain because I suppose this particular type of virus is COVID virus has only been around for five years. So it's very difficult to say exactly how it will behave over the next few years. Right now, it's not behaving in a seasonal pattern. We've seen just this year, surges of COVID over the summer period, resulting in high attendances in ED departments in particular. So it's hard to say for sure how it will develop, but it's definitely not behaving in the same manner as the flu virus right now. Okay. Well, listen, thank you very much for all of that this morning. That's Dr. Kenneth Beatty Consultant in Public Health Medicine with Public Health HEA Monday mornings, Public Health HSE Midwest. Thanks, Joe. (upbeat music) You