Uptake of the MMR vaccine to protect children against the onset of measles, mumps and rubella is falling again in the eastern region and in the west, according to latest figures.
They indicate that uptake rates in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area, covering Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare, and in the Western Health Board region, which serves Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, fell to 75 per cent and 74 per cent respectively in the first quarter of the year.
Nationally, uptake of the MMR, which has been affected by claims, disputed by the majority of health professionals, that it might be linked to the onset of autism, now stands at 80 per cent, some three per cent lower than in 2000 and 15 per cent below the national target rate of 95 per cent.
In Northern Ireland uptake rates are 88 per cent, while in the UK they stand at 82 per cent.
The latest uptake rates were published by the National Disease Surveillance Centre yesterday. They show uptake of the vaccine is now lowest in the Western Health Board region at 74 per cent, down from 76 per cent in the last quarter of 2003, and second lowest in the eastern region at 75 per cent, down from 77 per cent in the final quarter of 2003.
Uptake rates also fell by one per cent to 85 per cent in the North Western Health Board region between the final quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004.
The uptake rate for the MMR is highest in the Midland Health Board region where 90 per cent of children are being immunised. Rates in this region are continuing to rise, up from 89 per cent in the last quarter of 2003.
They are also improving in a number of other health board regions. These include the Mid-Western Health Board, up from 82 to 83 per cent between the final quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004; the South- Eastern Health Board, up from 84 per cent to 86 per cent over the same period; and the Southern Health Board, up from 80 per cent to 82 per cent for the same timeframe.