Ireland: Mumps cases

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Re: Ireland: Mumps cases

Source: http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/s...f-1863910.html

Mairtins ready to play after mumps call-off
EUROPEAN MORTGAGES LOUTH SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

By Francis CARROLL

Wednesday August 19 2009

'SO far, so good. We are geared up for Friday night,' asserted Naomh Mairtin chairman Michael Fanning ahead of Friday night's crucial championship game against Cooley Kickhams ? which had to be postponed last weekend because of an outbreak of mumps in the Monasterboice camp.

'We had four of the first team down with mumps. We sought medical advice, and had to isolate those players for a week, so they weren't able to train,' the chairman explained.

'The medical officer suggested that the match (originally fixed for St Brigid's Park, Dowdallshill last Sunday night) be deferred.'

Giving some background to the affair, Mr Fanning said three of the players contracted the infectious illness, which causes swelling to the glands at the side of the neck, last Monday week. Another member of the team had picked up the mumps the previous week.

'They say after five to seven days sufferers are over the worst of it, and it does seem to have cleared. They players are fit to go back training.

'Mumps are contagious, and we had to distribute literature about it around the club.'

However, Naomh Mairtin are now looking forward to the tie, which has a 7pm throw-in at St Brigid's Park.

Unlike Group B, from where St Patrick's have already qualified for the semi-finals and Dundalk Gaels look good for a quarter-final berth, Group A is much more congested.

Newtown Blues beat Mattock Rangers in the only match to go ahead at the weekend, to take over at the top of the table. The St Bride's v Glyde Rangers fixture was called off following the Knockbridge tragedy which claimed two lives.

There is no knowing how it will turn out, but one thing is for sure, Mairtins are expecting a tough battle against Kickhams.

'Cooley are always hard to beat. We have no issue with the venue, and never had. If we are good enough we will beat them, if we're not, we won't,' said Fanning.

The St Bride's v Glyde Rangers tie has been re-fixed for Louth Village at 7pm on Friday.

- Francis CARROLL

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Re: Ireland: Mumps cases

Source: http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurl...y-1878082.html

Kilkenny ace Fennelly hopes mumps bout won't deny him crowning glory

By Donnchadh Boyle

Friday September 04 2009

CURSED and blessed in equal measure, Michael Fennelly will hardly know where to look on Sunday.

He could be given the honour of lifting the Liam McCarthy cup, thus confirming this Kilkenny team's place in the history books. But it's also plausible that he won't play any of the 70 minutes on Sunday, such is the talent that exists in Brian Cody's side. In a different era in the illustrious history of Kilkenny hurling, he might well have been a regular fixture in the side.

With club champions picking the captain for the following year in Kilkenny, Fennelly was the natural choice after the honour had already been bestowed on his club-mates James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick and Henry Shefflin.

He seemed to be the right choice for another reason -- captaining Kilkenny is in his blood. His uncles, Ger and Liam, have led Kilkenny to All-Ireland success and he looked to have nailed down a starting spot earlier this year before a bout of the mumps struck him down.

In a cruel twist of fate, he was diagnosed with the illness on the morning the Cats were due to play Tipperary in the league final.

DISAPPOINTED

"I was very disappointed I missed that game. We were playing a team like Tipperary on league final day and being captain and all that," he said ruefully.

"I looked after myself well, I ate well. It is fierce important to do that when you have the mumps, supposedly. I had the best of doctors."

But the residual effects can stay with the diagnosed for months and although Fennelly managed to force his way back into the side for the Leinster semi-final clash with Galway, he was replaced by Derek Lyng in that game.

To add to his woes, 'Cha' has since returned to his best form (also after contracting mumps) leaving Fennelly, Lyng and Michael Rice to fight it out for the remaining centre-field spot.

"With this Kilkenny team, it is so competitive. There is nothing straight forward about it. If you are not performing well, you have a lad chomping on your heels straight away. That probably has been the key to our success: the competitiveness within Kilkenny."

That success could be brought a step further on Sunday, though he has only allowed himself to think briefly about the possibility of lifting the cup on Croke Park turf.

"It would be absolutely supreme to lift the Liam McCarthy and the fact that relations have lifted it before would really finish things off on a nice note," he said.

"You get the honour and privilege to captain Kilkenny and it comes around once in every lifetime really."

- Donnchadh Boyle

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Re: Ireland: Mumps cases

Source: http://www.imn.ie/index.php/current-...ng-to-increase

Mumps continuing to increase

Written by Dawn O'Shea Monday, 02 November 2009 15:35


Mumps cases have increased by more than 400 per cent over the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

The figures show the rise of cases highlighted by health officials earlier in the year continues, with 3,592 cases of mumps reported as of October 10 2009, compared with 626 cases for the same period in 2008.

So far in 2009, there were 2,966 more cases of mumps than in 2008.
Earlier this year, the Director of the HPSC Dr Darina O?Flanagan described the current outbreak of mumps as a ?shameful thing to happen? given the presence of the MMR vaccine.

Meanwhile, the latest HPSC figures show there are 212 more cases of noroviral infection than the same period last year, rising from 1,342 in 2008 to 1,563 so far in 2009. The figures also show a fall in the number of hepatitis C cases up until the beginning of October, falling from 1,174 in October 2008 to 1,010 in 2009.