Almost 2,000 cases of mumps have been reported in Ireland since last July

In the past 12 months, Ireland has seen almost 2,000 reported cases of the highly infectious disease, mumps.

According to the health authorities, a significant number of cases were reported in Cork, Kerry, Waterford and south Tipperary while the highest incidence of the disease was reported in the North-West

As result of the outbreak which appeared to begin in July of last year, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has recommend an increase in the overall coverage of the MMR vaccine among adolescents and teenagers in order to prevent a similar outbreak in the future.

Elaborating on the worrying outbreak which authorities believe is linked to schools and universities, the centre said that figures indicated there existed a gap between the uptake of the two-dose MMR vaccination which was introduced in Ireland in 1988.

However, the centre did attest that a large percentage of the patients has received one to three doses of the MMR vaccine while the vast majority had received at least one.

According to figures, males accounted for 56% of the reported cases while the median age of those infected in the last 12 months was 20-years-old with two-thirds of patients aged between 15 and 24.

Commenting on the severity of the situation, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre said the results were similar to other international outbreaks which had indicated decreasing immunity to the mumps component of the MMR vaccine.

According to officials, two doses of the MMR vaccine is 88% effective while one dose provides 78% protection.

There is no cure for the disease, but treatment focuses on relieving symptoms and preventing further spread of infection.