A low uptake of the controversial MMR vaccine has been blamed for a measles outbreak in Co Wicklow which has forced the closure of a local school.
Three pupils attending St Philomena's National School, Bray, fell ill with the disease just before the school's mid-term break late last month.
They were diagnosed over the holidays, and since then the school's 250 children have been told to stay at home.
According to the East Coast Area Health Board, as few as 40 per cent of pupils in the youngest classes in the school have received the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) injection. The take-up rate increases to 80 per cent among 10- to 11-year-olds, indicating that the drop-off is a recent phenomenon.
"This is a salutary reminder to parents to ensure their children get the MMR vaccine," said a health board spokesman.
"We have had parents promoting that message consistently. Despite what certain groups have been saying, there is no medical evidence to prove risks associated with the vaccine, while there are definite risks if the vaccine is not taken."
A local GP assessed the outbreak at the school, also known as Ravenswell National School, and recommended it remain closed for a week as a precaution.
While no one was available at the school to comment, an answering phone message said it would remain closed until next Tuesday on medical advice due to the outbreak.
Describing the uptake of the MMR vaccine in the area as "very, very low", the health board spokesman said: "Unfortunately there has been a lot of discussion and a lot of it is groundless in relation to this issue.
"Our advice was and remains that parents should vaccinate their kids, and here is an example why."
The spokesman stressed there was no indication that the public health doctors' strike impacted upon the health board's ability to
deal with the outbreak.
The doctors had been "very co-operative in providing emergency cover" throughout the industrial dispute,
he said.
