The ten cases of measles currently recorded in the province are of concern to Public Health, which is once again calling on the population to get vaccinated. “The situation is constantly evolving, even rapidly,” warns the national director of public health, Dr Luc Boileau.
Among the ten cases currently recorded in Quebec, three are linked to international travel, but “we can suspect that there are some which may have been acquired in the community,” said the Dr Boileau at a press briefing in Montreal on Monday.
“That’s why we are vigilant and why we are worried,” he added. The last cases of measles in Quebec date back to 2019.
It is a disease that is very contagious. The vast majority of people who are not vaccinated and who are in contact with a case will develop the disease.
Dr Luc Boileau, national director of public health
All cases are currently in the greater Montreal area.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
DD Mylène Drouin, regional public health director of Montreal
“It may not seem like a lot, ten cases, but we are working to eliminate this disease,” recalled the DD Mylène Drouin, regional public health director of Montreal, who believes that it is still possible to control these cases in the coming weeks.
The list of environments that have experienced exposure to measles is published on the Santé Montréal website. It is possible that contacts took place in the emergency room of CHU Sainte-Justine at the end of February.
The low vaccination coverage rate worries Public Health in certain regions, notably in Montreal, Montérégie and Laval, but also in Quebec. The target rate is 95%.
In some Montreal schools, vaccination coverage is as low as 30%, but generally speaking, in elementary schools, we observe 78% vaccination coverage. This coverage is 82% at secondary level.
“If a school is 80% vaccinated and we get measles in there, it will make a lot of them sick, and we will say to ourselves “oh my God””, illustrated the Dr Boileau. In the event of a measles outbreak, unvaccinated children were taken out of school, he explained.
“It could happen. We absolutely wouldn’t be surprised if this happened in the coming weeks. The important thing is to prevent that,” continued the national director of public health.
When we return from spring break, schools with particularly low vaccination rates will be targeted for vaccination campaigns.
A progressing disease
The first case of measles was confirmed in early February in a person returning from a trip to Africa. In the days that followed, a member of his family was also infected, said the Montreal Regional Public Health Department.
It only takes two doses of vaccine to be 95% protected against measles for life.
The main symptoms of the disease include high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, general malaise and redness first on the face and then on the body.
People most at risk of complications from the disease are babies under 1 year of age, people with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women who are not adequately vaccinated against measles.
On Monday, a first case of the disease was also confirmed in British Columbia, bringing the number of cases counted in Canada to a dozen since the start of 2024, or as many as in all of 2023.
According to the World Health Organization, the number of measles cases worldwide increased 79% in 2023 compared to 2022. This increase is attributed in part to a decrease in measles vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. 19.
With Alice Girard-Bossé, The Pressand The Canadian Press