The HSE is reminding people of the importance of vaccinations, following a number of measles outbreaks and related deaths in Europe.

It has insisted that complacency about vaccines could lead to deaths in Ireland.

A number of European countries have reported measles outbreaks recently. In the last six months in Romania, more than 4,000 cases of the disease have been reported and these have led to 18 deaths.

"Other countries with recent measles outbreaks include Italy, France, Germany, Poland and Belgium. An outbreak involving 40 cases occurred in Ireland as recently as 2016," noted Dr Brenda Corcoran, head of the HSE National Immunisation Office.

She pointed out that measles is ‘one of the most infectious diseases' around.

"It is spread by coughing and sneezing, and by close contact with an infected individual. With today's travel patterns, no person or country is beyond the reach of the measles virus," she said.

She explained that the only protection against measles is the MMR vaccine. Two doses of this vaccine are required to offer children full protection. These are given at 12 months of age and again at four to five years of age.

"While uptake in Ireland has remained steady at around 92%, we need to increase uptake rates to the target of 95% to make sure that measles does not circulate here. This is important for everybody, but is particularly vital to protect young babies as they cannot receive the MMR vaccine until they are 12 months old, so they are vulnerable to complications, including death if they are exposed to measles infection," Dr Corcoran said.

While MMR uptake rates are currently considered steady, this has not always been the case. Immunisation rates worldwide fell in the late 1990s and 2000s and this was partially blamed on a widely publicised 1998 study claiming to have found a link between the measles vaccine and autism.

The small study by Dr Andrew Wakefield was published in the influential medical journal, The Lancet and its findings were trumpeted globally by anti-vaccine activists and some high-profile media commentators.

As a result, many parents worldwide, Including in Ireland, chose not to have their children vaccinated with the triple vaccine. This was despite the fact that a number of large studies since 1998 found no such link with autism.

Furthermore in early 2004, the editor of The Lancet, Dr Richard Horton, said that Dr Wakefield's study should never have been published as it was ‘flawed'.

In 2010, Dr Wakefield was struck off the medical register in the UK after its General Medical Council found him guilty of serious professional misconduct over the way in which he carried out his research.

Dr Corcoran insisted that the MMR vaccine, along with many other vaccines, ‘save lives and protect against serious illness'.

"Due to good vaccine uptake, we have thankfully not seen outbreaks of other infectious diseases in Ireland that we witnessed in the past, but we must not let complacency creep in.

"We have seen a recent fall in the uptake of HPV vaccine because of unsubstantiated safety concerns. This serves as a reminder that on-going efforts are required to reach and maintain high vaccine uptake levels," she added.

Dr Corcoran made her comments to coincide with European Immunisation Week, which runs until April 30.

For more information on vaccines, or to help keep track of your child's vaccination record, see our unique Child Immunisation Tracker here