A MID West medical consultant has urged parents to give their child the best chance possible by availing of vaccines that can prevent damaging and even life-threatening illnesses.
Ahead of European Immunisation Week, the HSE has launched a campaign to highlight the importance of immunisation in protecting babies and children against serious diseases such as measles and whooping cough, which are re-emerging in Ireland.
Dr Geraldine Casey, consultant in public health medicine at Public Health HSE Mid West, said that “vaccination is one of the most important things parents can do to protect their child’s health. By vaccinating your child, you are protecting them against serious and life-threatening diseases such as measles, meningitis and whooping cough.”
“Pregnant women can also protect their babies against whooping cough by receiving the pertussis vaccine during pregnancy. It’s important that childhood vaccines are given on time for the best protection but if your child missed a vaccine, contact your GP to catch up.”
Since 2020, the uptake of primary childhood immunisation has declined across all vaccines, the HSE says, including whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, meningitis, and diphtheria. As a result, the county is seeing a re-emergence of some of these diseases.
The HSE is now appealing to parents to check their children’s vaccination status and book appointments for any missed.
Anyone with an older child in primary school or first year of secondary school who is not sure if they have received their school vaccines can contact the HSE School Immunisation team to check the child’s record and advise about the vaccines that may have been missed.
Further information is available on mychild.ie and immunisation.ie.
