
Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, will provide an update on the province’s measles outbreak on Monday, after six measles cases were recently reported in Montreal and two in Laval.
Measles was previously eradicated in Canada through vaccination, but it has quietly spread again, with the province’s Ministry of Health and Social Services last week saying that not all recent cases are “associated with returning from travel.” revealed.
The resurgence of measles can be explained by the decline in vaccination rates, which are now 95 per cent below the threshold that guarantees minimum immunity for Quebecers.
Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, a pediatrician, microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at CHU Sainte-Justine and professor at the University of Montreal, will join Dr. Boileau in Monday’s update.
The press conference will be broadcast live by the Quebec Ministry of Health. Facebook page at 1 p.m.
Laval Public Health announced last week that it was carrying out contact tracing in locations frequented by infected people, including:
- Ecole International des Venturiers It will be held in Laval from February 19th to February 20th.
- Couche-Tard, 800 Chomedey Blvd., Laval, from Feb. 19 to Feb. 20. The person was there for 10 minutes sometime between 4:30pm and 5:30pm.
- February 25th in the waiting room of the Center Medical Museum on Boulevard Henri Bourassa. The person was there from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
- February 21st from 6pm to 7:30pm, CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital, 2nd floor
- The hospital’s emergency room on Feb. 26 from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“If vaccination rates are high, even if a small number of people become ill, the virus tends not to spread,” said epidemiologist and cardiologist Dr. Christopher Labos. “The big concern this time around is that if enough people are unvaccinated, the virus could start to spread and continue to be present in society, so we don’t have isolated outbreaks like we’ve seen in the past. “Instead of ongoing measles infections, the situation is much the same as it was 20 or 30 years ago.”
Dr. Lavos says if you’ve had measles in the past or have received two doses of the vaccine, you’ll probably have immunity for the rest of your life.
“Those at risk are those who have never been vaccinated or have only had one dose, and those who have never had measles before,” he said. “The most important thing is to get the second vaccination as soon as possible, so that children are protected, especially when they start school. At least in the case of measles, this is the key to reducing the spread of the virus. Because it tends to be a very important medium.”
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, issued a statement warning about the rise in cases in late February.
“Although measles has been eliminated in Canada, cases can still occur in Canada if individuals who have not been fully vaccinated travel to or from countries where measles is endemic,” she wrote. . “Imported cases can subsequently spread measles among unvaccinated or undervaccinated populations in Canada. As of February 23, 2024, there were 6 cases of measles in Canada. Measles cases have been confirmed, some of which require hospitalization.”
Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that more than 306,000 measles cases were recorded worldwide in 2023, an increase of 79% compared to 2022.