Latest news with #PublicHealthOntario
CTV News
7 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Conestoga College campus listed as possible measles exposure site
People who visit Conestoga College's Doon Campus may have been exposed to measles. In a new release, the Region of Waterloo said people may have been exposed to the highly contagious disease on May 21 between 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The areas of concern include 2E06, Starbucks in the Doon Main Building E-Wing and any other classrooms or corridors on the second floor of the building. 'Region of Waterloo Public Health has been working closely with Conestoga College to notify students and staff who should refer to the communication provided by the College to determine if they can attend school,' the news release said. The Region of Waterloo maintains an ongoing list of potential measles exposure locations. Some of the latest additions include Dr. Erin Walker Family Dentist on May 22, Waterloo Region Health Network @ Midtown (formerly known as Grand River Hospital) on May 21 and Cook's Pharmacy on May 20. More than a dozen new cases According to the latest data released by Public Health Ontario on Thursday, Waterloo Region Public Health and Emergency Services has reported at least 78 cases of measles between Oct. 28 and May 27. That number represents an increase of 14 cases since the last report from Public Health Ontario a week ago. Meanwhile, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health has reported 54 cases of measles since Oct. 28, including one new case within the last week. Grand Erie Public Health, which serves Brant County, Norfolk County, Haldimand County and the City of Brantford, continues to struggle with the spread of measles. They have reported 248 cases since Oct. 28, including 12 new cases since the last update from Public Health Ontario. In a news release on Thursday, Grand Erie Public Health said community members may have been exposed to the measles at Houghton Public School in Langton on May 20 and May 21 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The health unit said school bus route N534 is also considered a potential measles exposure site during those days. What to know about measles Measles is a highly contagious virus. The disease can spread through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes. Even brief exposure to measles can result in illness. Symptoms include a fever, runny nose, cough, red watery eyes, small white spots inside the mouth and a red blotchy rash. Other signs of measles include diarrhea, ear infections and pneumonia. In severe cases, measles can cause brain inflammation and death. It usually takes between seven and 21 days for symptoms to show up. Anyone who believes they may have been exposed to measles is asked to stay at home and avoid contact with others. If medical treatment is needed, people are urged to contact their health provider ahead of time to prevent the illness from spreading to other patients.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Almost 70 per cent of Canadians surveyed want child vaccines to be mandatory: poll
A new poll suggests nearly 70 per cent of Canadians support mandatory childhood vaccinations. The Angus Reid Institute survey comes as a measles outbreak touches several provinces, primarily infecting unvaccinated infants, kids and teens. The poll of almost 1,700 Canadians found 69 per cent of respondents between May 20 and 23 said proof of immunization should be required for kids to attend daycare and school. That's an increase from the 55 per cent of respondents who said the same thing last year, before the outbreak began. Public Health Ontario says it has seen 93 new measles cases over the past week, bringing the province's total number of infections to 1,888 since October. That's compared to 173 new cases reported May 22 and 182 reported May 15. Ontario officials say measles has sent 141 people to hospital so far, including 101 unvaccinated infants, kids and teenagers, and 10 people who required intensive care. Alberta reported a cumulative total of 628 cases on Wednesday. Half of the poll respondents in Ontario and Alberta said they believed more should be done to control the outbreak at all levels of health management, from the premier to the chief medical officer of health. Proof of vaccination is mandatory for kids to attend school in Ontario and New Brunswick, unless they have a valid exemption, but that's not the case across the country. The percentage of respondents who favoured proof of vaccination was slightly lower in Alberta, at 60 per cent, but higher than the 48 per cent of Albertans who supported a mandate last year. A Canadian Journal of Public Health article published in October 2024 found approximately 76 per cent of seven-year-olds were vaccinated against measles in 2023, down from just over 86 per cent in 2019. The poll also found 37 per cent of respondents in Alberta said they had no confidence in their provincial government's response to measles, while 30 per cent said the same in Saskatchewan and 27 per cent said that in Ontario. The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May, 29, 2025. Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content. Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
Ottawa Citizen
29-05-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
Support for mandatory childhood vaccination increases, as measles outbreaks continue
As measles cases continue to rise in Ontario and Alberta, there are signs that support for mandatory childhood vaccination is rebounding, although hesitancy among parents is also rising. Article content Article content A new poll of almost 1,700 Canadians suggests support for mandatory childhood immunization has resurged across Canada, with nearly 70 per cent saying they should be mandatory. That is already the case in Ontario, with exemptions for medical and philosophical reasons, but not in all provinces. That number is up from 55 per cent a year ago. Article content Article content The apparently strengthening support for mandatory childhood immunization could reflect the historic measles outbreaks this year — the largest since the highly infectious disease was considered eliminated in Canada in 1998. Canada now risks losing its elimination status. Article content Article content But the Angus Reid poll also suggests vaccine hesitancy and opposition to childhood vaccination is on the rise among parents of children under 18 — from 16 per cent a decade ago to 22 per cent in the latest poll. The poll also found that a higher rate of people who voted Conservative in the April election feel that 'measles isn't as bad as people think it is'. Article content The findings suggest that closing vaccination gaps to ensure herd immunity (about 95 per cent for measles) will be a complex task. There will likely continue to be geographic pockets where vaccination rates are low, in addition to a continuing gap among people who missed doses or for whom access to primary care is difficult. Article content Article content On Thursday, Public Health Ontario reported that the measles outbreak in the province had grown by 93 cases in the past week, bringing the total since last fall to 1,888 cases. There have also been 87 cases in Ontario since the beginning of the year that were not linked to the outbreak. As of May 17, there had been 509 measles cases in Alberta this year, with fewer than 100 in other provinces, totalling more than 2,500 cases across the country since the start of 2025. Article content Article content In the large Ontario outbreak, the majority of cases have been among infants, children and youth who were unvaccinated. Most cases have been centred in southwestern Ontario, but the outbreak has spread across much of the province, including Eastern Ontario. Ottawa Public Health reported two travel-related measles cases earlier, but has not reported any cases directly related to the outbreak.
CTV News
24-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
HPPH advising of new measles exposures
Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) is advising the community of several new measles exposures in Stratford. The exposures occurred at the following locations, dates and times: Life Labs | 106-342 Erie St., Stratford Tuesday, May 13, 2025 | 7:10 a.m.-9:40 a.m. Stratford Tailoring and Alterations | 319 Ontario St., Stratford Tuesday, May 13, 2025 | 10 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Fanfare Books | 92 Ontario St., Stratford Tuesday, May 13, 2025 | 12:45 p.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, 2025 | 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Balzac's Coffee | 149 Ontario St., Stratford Wednesday, May 14, 2025 | 4 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Buzz Stop | 17 York St., Stratford Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Anyone who was at these locations during these timeframes needs to monitor for measles signs and symptoms for 21 days after exposure. Public Health Ontario is reporting a total of 214 cases in Huron Perth between Oct. 28, 2024, and May 20, 2025.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Canada achieved measles elimination status in 1998. Now, it could lose it
As Canada's measles outbreak continues to grow, the country is at risk of losing its measles elimination status — a bar set by the World Health Organization. "The risk is substantial," said Dr. Sarah Wilson, a public health physician with Public Health Ontario who has been tracking the measles outbreak in that province. Ontario is now reporting more measles cases each week than it once saw over an entire decade, Wilson said. "It is a very different situation than what we experienced in the last decade since measles elimination was achieved," she said. Measles elimination is reached when a virus is no longer endemic — circulating regularly — in a certain country or region. It's different from eradication, which is when person-to-person transmission has been eliminated globally. A country can lose elimination status when transmission of the virus continues for one year or more. Canada's outbreak began in October 2024. That means if sustained transmission continues until October 2025, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) can revoke the elimination status. Canada currently has more cases than any other country in the Americas, according to PAHO. Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows measles cases continue to spread to more provinces and territories. The largest outbreak is in Ontario where there have been 1,795 cases since October, according to the latest numbers from Public Health Ontario. Alberta's outbreak is growing too, with more than 500 cases as of Friday. While losing elimination status might not affect Canadians' day-to-day lives, Dr. Santina Lee, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in Winnipeg, said it would be an unfortunate marker. "It would definitely feel like a bit of a step back," said Lee, given that measles is a vaccine-preventable disease. "For an infection like measles where we do have the tools, and to not be able to use them to the full extent that they are available, I think definitely is a challenge." Measles concerns in the Americas PAHO is the body that verifies measles elimination status in the region, which is made up of 35 member states. The region as a whole was the first in the world to eliminate measles in 2016. It lost that status three years later, because of outbreaks in Venezuela and Brazil, but re-gained it in 2024. The U.K. and U.S. have also seen the return of transmission in recent years, with the U.S. coming close to losing its elimination status in 2019. Brazil was able to end its outbreak thanks to targeted vaccine campaigns in priority communities, expanding molecular testing to identify the virus and training rapid response teams, according to PAHO. Now, the region is at risk of losing that status again, if Canada's outbreak isn't contained in the coming months. "We're hoping that Canada is going to stop the outbreaks and they're going to maintain the verification, but this is something uncertain," said Dr. Daniel Salas, executive manager for the Comprehensive Special Program on Immunization at PAHO in Washington, D.C. While Salas said the status itself is symbolic, losing it represents an increased risk across the region. "What we are more concerned about is all those disruptions of burden of disease, the mortality that measles can cause and, unfortunately, the situations of fragility," he said. That includes people living in poverty, without access to timely health-care services and children suffering from malnutrition who can be more susceptible to complications or death. Worldwide, more than 100,000 people — mostly children under the age of five — died from measles in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That same year, 22 million infants missed at least one dose of the measles vaccine. The WHO estimates vaccines prevented around 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023. Can Canada reverse course? Canada last went through the verification process in November of 2024, according to infectious diseases specialist Marina Salvadori, a senior medical advisor at the Public Health Agency of Canada, and is now preparing for the next one. It will look at a range of elements including the number of cases Canada has, the country's laboratory standards and immunization rates. With just five months left before that crucial one-year mark, Salvadori said she wouldn't be surprised if the outbreak continues past October. Still, even if Canada loses elimination status, Salvadori is confident the country could regain it through continued vaccination pushes. Because measles is one of the most contagious viruses humans can catch, 95 per cent of the population needs to be immunized to reach herd immunity, meaning the population is considered well-protected. Canada's vaccination rate is below that threshold. First-dose coverage declined between 2019 and 2023, from 90 to 83 per cent, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. "What I really don't want to see is true endemicity, where children are at risk and where this is a normal childhood infection. Because there's nothing normal about measles. It's a serious, serious infection," Salvadori said. Measles can have dangerous consequences, especially for children, she said, including pneumonia, swelling of the brain and even death. Cases are primarily spreading among people who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated. In Ontario, for example, nearly 90 per cent of the cases are among those who are not immunized. Public Health Ontario's Dr. Wilson said that makes stopping the virus difficult. In Manitoba, which is also experiencing an outbreak, provincial health officials have expanded vaccine eligibility in the most affected regions, offering shots to children aged six months to one year, in addition to the routine schedule that starts at 12 months. Dr. Lee, in Winnipeg, said there is still time for people hesitant about vaccines to reconsider.
