Nearly 400 people have been diagnosed with mumps so far this year.
New HSE figures show that's over 6 times more than in the same time frame in 2018.
New statistics from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show 64 new cases of mumps were reported last week, bringing the total for this year up to 381.
Just over 60% of cases were in the 15 to 24 age bracket, which means they would have been born around the time of former British doctor Andrew Wakefield's discredited research where he claimed there was a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Just 59 cases of the disease were diagnosed in the first 8 weeks of 2018.
115 of the cases so far this year were in the Eastern region, while just 9 diagnoses were confirmed in the South East area
Some outbreaks have been reported in schools and universities, with Trinity College telling people to stay at home if they feel unwell.
