Protection against critical illnesses | Insufficient vaccination coverage of Montreal children

The number of adequately vaccinated children is insufficient to maintain collective immunity against certain serious diseases such as measles, poliomyelitis and whooping cough, Montreal Public Health said on Thursday. To prevent risks, it is launching a new awareness campaign.

“During COVID-19, parents had a lot to deal with. It is quite normal that some have forgotten appointments, especially since access to services was not optimal. What they are being asked to do now is to check if their children’s vaccination schedule is up to date,” explains Dr.^D Catherine Dea, youth medical chief at the Montreal Regional Public Health Department (DRSPM).

According to the latest estimates, measles vaccination coverage in Montreal would oscillate between 80 and 85% among kindergarten students, while the target to prevent the transmission of the disease is 95%. Insufficient vaccination coverage exposes the Montreal population to risky situations in the event of outbreaks, warns the DRSPM.

Claiming to be aware of geographic and linguistic barriers, the CIUSSS promises to offer staggered time slots outside working hours. Campaign posters were also translated into nine languages, reaching multiple communities at once.

M^me Dea does not hide that Public Health is particularly “worried” about the strong circulation of respiratory viruses and pediatric hospitalizations on the rise almost everywhere in Quebec. “We certainly don’t want to get into a worrying situation for measles as well,” says the doctor.

The need to be well informed

For virologist and professor in the department of biological sciences at UQAM Benoit Barbeau, these insufficient vaccination rates are probably explained by “a part of misinformation in the population, which makes some parents fear vaccines for their children ” .

Moreover, the vaccine against measles has not always had good press. In 1998, a British gastroenterologist, Andrew Wakefield, falsely showed a correlation between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and the autistic syndrome. These results have been widely taken up and publicized. Although he was shown to have falsified his data and been struck off the British Medical Board, some people remain fearful to this day.

Mr. Barbeau reiterates that the vaccines available are all safe and effective, even if they are “not perfect” against transmission. “It remains the best element we currently have in our toolbox,” continues the expert, calling on parents to find out from official sources.

Very serious consequences

“Some of these diseases can have very serious consequences such as permanent neurological sequelae or death”, underlines Alain Lamarre, professor-researcher specializing in immunology and virology at the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS).

Measles in particular, he says, “is one of the most contagious infectious diseases, if not the most contagious.” “We need a very high rate of vaccination coverage to break the chains of transmission and so that the virus cannot find people who are likely to catch it. »

Above all, we must avoid having certain population groups with low vaccination coverage which could become environments conducive to outbreaks, says Mr. Lamarre. “For example, we have seen in the past religious communities that did not recommend vaccination and that led to measles outbreaks in other countries, but also in Canada,” he says.

“The younger the children, the more likely they are to have severe illnesses. This is also the time when they begin to socialize with other children, such as in daycare centres, where transmission can be significant, ”concludes the specialist.