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CBC
4 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Doctors warn of 'frightening' measles complication that can strike a decade after initial infection
As Alberta's measles case counts soar, doctors and scientists are warning parents about the long-term and lesser-known complications of measles. And they can be deadly. As of midday Wednesday Alberta had reported a total of 749 cases since the outbreaks began in March. What many parents may not realize is that a rare and debilitating neurological condition, called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) can develop long after a child recovers from measles. "It just frightens the heck out of me," said Dr. Sam Wong, an Edmonton-based pediatrician and president of the section of pediatrics with the Alberta Medical Association. "Thankfully it doesn't happen very often but, when it does, it's devastating." Most people can clear the measles virus once their infection is over. But in some very young children, or people who are immune-suppressed, the virus hides out in brain cells and develops mutations that allow it to stay invisible to the immune system, according to Dawn Bowdish, a professor of immunology at McMaster University. Brain inflammation It can eventually flare up, causing brain inflammation, causing children or young adults to lose the ability to move and speak. "It starts destroying the cells of the brain — there's no treatment, there's no way to repair a broken brain — and so eventually they can end up in a coma and then they will die of it," said Bowdish. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, SSPE occurs in between four and 11 out of every 100,000 measles cases. Health officials say it strikes between seven and 11 years after an initial infection and the highest rates are among children who contract measles before the age of two. "One of the reasons we're so universally stating that people need to be vaccinated is because some of these long-term effects are just so grim," said Bowdish. Alberta's routine childhood immunization schedule recommends babies receive two doses of measles vaccine, with the first administered at 12 months and the second at 18 months. The province is offering an extra, and early, dose of the measles vaccine to babies as young as six months old who are living in the south, central and north health zones, where the current outbreaks are most intense. As the lead medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services in the South Zone, Dr. Vivien Suttorp worries about young babies whose mothers are unvaccinated. Typically, antibodies are passed along to the fetus during the third trimester, which protect them during their first few months of life, she said. But if a mom isn't immunized, the baby won't have that early protection. "They're extremely vulnerable to getting measles after birth ... and of the complications," she said, pointing to SSPE. "That's very concerning. And there is no treatment for that." According to Alberta Health, SSPE declined with the widespread adoption of measles immunization decades ago. Three cases of SSPE were reported in Alberta in 1984, followed by one case in in 1986, one in 1990 and one in 1992. No cases were reported from 1993 to 2013. In 2014, there was one more case reported in a woman who was born outside of Canada with an unknown history of measles immunization. Immune memory impacts In recent years, measles vaccination rates in Alberta have declined, and experts say that has paved the way for surging outbreaks. "Another curious complication [of measles infection] is immune amnesia," said Suttorp. Measles can wipe out a person's immune memory, she said, and make people more susceptible to other infections for months and even years. "So not only when someone has measles are they at higher risk for an infection like a bacterial pneumonia … but this also happens up to two to three years later," said Suttorp. "There is a memory loss of viruses and bacteria that someone has been exposed to before and mounted antibodies to." Bowdish said this this longer-term immune system complication happens because measles infects and kills a specific type of immune cells. "We know that people who've had measles tend to need more doctors appointments, more antibiotics and they're more susceptible to other infections for months to years to follow because measles destroys the very immune cells that we use to protect ourselves," she said. According to Bowdish, more severe initial infections trigger the loss of more immune cells and make the long-term impacts worse. She's particularly worried about infants under six months old,who are too young to be vaccinated. "Those are some of the people who are the most likely to have these really rare and severe complications," said Bowdish. "There is nothing we can do except vaccinate the people around them to protect those really, really young babies." These long-term complications are in addition to the risks that come during the initial infection, which include ear infections, pneumonia, brain swelling and death. Measles infections are fatal in roughly one to three out of every 1,000 cases, according to the Alberta government. Provincial data shows most of this year's cases are among children (569 of the 749 cases this year are under the age of 18). And the vast majority of cases are among people who are unimmunized. "Please vaccinate your child," said Wong. "It's very concerning from my point of view that, as the numbers increase, the risk of these longer-term side effects will increase, because it's a numbers game." Measles symptoms include: High fever. Cough. Runny nose. Red eyes. Blotchy, red rash that appears three to seven days after the fever starts. In darker skin colours, it may appear purple or darker than surrounding skin. Alberta Health provides detailed information on measles case counts, symptoms and free immunizations here. A list of possible exposure alerts can be found here and a measles hotline is available for people with questions about symptoms, immunization records or to book an appointment: 1-844-944-3434. A standing measles exposure advisory remains in effect for southern Alberta, due to widespread transmission in the region.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
At least 62 Israelis infected with measles amid outbreak, Health Ministry says
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, transmitted through the air via tiny droplets from bodily fluids, such as during sneezing or coughing. Israel has seen a spike in measles diagnoses in recent weeks, according to information published by the Health Ministry. At least 62 people have recently been diagnosed, approximately half of whom have already recovered. In many of the cases, the source of infection is unknown, and most of those infected were not vaccinated against the disease. The ministry also reported a new case of measles with potential exposure in public places. According to an epidemiological investigation by the Central District Health Bureau, the infected person visited the following locations: Ben Gurion Airport Arrival Hall – May 22, between 16:00 and 17:00 Shake Shack Restaurant, Cinema City Rishon LeZion – May 24, between 16:00 and 17:00 People who were present at these locations during the specified times are advised to ensure they are vaccinated against measles. Anyone over six months old who is not vaccinated should receive ameasles vaccine. Those who have had only one dose and it has been at least three months since their vaccination should receive a second dose. People born before 1957, who were likely exposed as children, or those who have received two doses, do not need further vaccination. Children under 6 years old should complete their vaccinations at Tipat Halav clinics (child wellness centers). Children over 7 and adults can get vaccinated through their healthcare providers. The ministry also recommends that pregnant women who are not fully vaccinated, immunocompromised individuals, and infants who were at the mentioned locations consult their regional health bureau about possibly receiving passive immunization against measles. Furthermore, the public is urged: If you're feeling unwell or showing typical symptoms of measles, do not attend crowded events and risk exposing your family and those around you. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, transmitted through the air via tiny droplets from bodily fluids, such as during sneezing or coughing. It has one of the highest infection rates among infectious diseases—about 90% of unvaccinated people exposed to an infected person will contract the virus. Symptoms usually appear 1 to 2 weeks after exposure and include: High fever, runny nose, eye inflammation, dry cough, and a distinctive rash covering the body. Most patients recover within a few days, but in some cases, measles can lead to complications like pneumonia, ear infections, and liver damage. A rare but severe complication is encephalitis (brain inflammation) or a later chronic neurological disorder called SSPE (Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis). The risk of SSPE is significantly higher in infants who were infected before receiving a vaccine. The Texas health department said on Tuesday it was "cautiously optimistic" about the spread of measles in the state after it saw only one additional case since its last update. The state recorded 729 cases of measles on Tuesday, one more since its last update on Friday. The spread of measles in the state has shown signs of slowing down over the past two weeks. The number of infections in Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak in the state, remained unchanged at 408 since the last update, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. "We're cautiously optimistic this trend will continue, but all it takes is the virus getting into a new pocket of people without immunity to see that change," Chris Van Deusen, director of media relations at the Texas health department, told Reuters in an email. The United States is battling one of the worst measles outbreaks it has seen, with cases crossing 1,000 for the first time in five years and three confirmed deaths. Experts have urged public health officials to provide urgent endorsement for highly effective vaccines. The measles vaccine is 97% effective after two doses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak in Texas has spread to neighboring states, including New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas. New Mexico's health department reported 79 cases on Tuesday, one additional case from its last update on Friday. Sign up for the Health & Wellness newsletter >>
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
7-yr-old girl suffering from rare brain disorder dies in Kolhapur
Kolhapur: Seven-year-old Ovi Pujari passed away on Sunday evening from subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) — a rare and devastating brain disorder stemming from complications of a measles virus infection. Her father, 36-year-old Sagar Pujari, exhausted every possible avenue, even importing costly injections from China, in a desperate, but ultimately futile, battle to save his daughter. Ovi had been a vibrant and normal child until convulsions began when she was in Class I. Tests revealed the grim diagnosis of SSPE, a condition so rare it affects only one or two children per lakh. Medical professionals informed Sagar that despite his efforts, no guaranteed treatment existed. Sagar, a small hotel proprietor, sold his property and borrowed money from a local society in Hatkanangle tehsil of Kolhapur district to facilitate treatment at a specialist neurological hospital. India faces a scarcity of the Ribavirin vaccine. Upon learning about its availability in China, Sagar invested substantial money to import 30 doses. Currently, no govt assistance exists for such cases. Earlier, in April, approximately 25 parents demonstrated outside Mantralaya seeking financial support for their children's treatment. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Health minister Prakash Abitkar acknowledged the presence of 80-90 such cases across Maharashtra. Recently, deputy CM Eknath Shinde provided Rs 10 lakh to Sagar Pujari for Ovi's treatment after learning about her condition during his Ichalkaranji visit. "She was on ventilator in the last two days. The disease progressed to stage four. There is a zero survival rate in such patients. The condition develops if the virus gets to the brain and starts eating it slowly. The symptoms start with convulsions, then the brain activity declines, leading to an inability to eat and walk. Ovi passed away on Sunday evening," said the doctor treating Ovi at a private hospital.
CBC
09-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
With measles outbreaks growing in Canada, this mother pleads with parents to vaccinate
Rebecca Archer lovingly places a pair of small glasses on a shelf filled with memorabilia like trinkets and photos. They belonged to her 10-year-old daughter, Renae, who suddenly died after a measles infection. "She was just really intelligent. Just a really happy child, always smiling," she remembers. Renae was just five months old when she got the measles – too young to be vaccinated, but unable to avoid being exposed during an outbreak in Manchester, England, in 2013. The infant was hospitalized, but recovered. For the next 10 years, Renae had no other medical issues, her mom says. But the measles virus was sitting dormant in her brain for years. When it woke up, Renae started having seizures. Then, she couldn't speak, or eat, or even stay conscious. "The fact that it was measles, I just couldn't get my head around it," Archer said. With measles cases on the rise in Canada at rates unseen in almost three decades — and vaccination coverage for childhood vaccines like the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot falling since the pandemic — Archer and others who have suffered from measles complications are pleading that those who can get vaccinated do. 'You never think it's going to happen to you' When Renae's seizures began, she was suffering from a rare complication of measles called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE. Out of 100,000 measles cases, it happens to less than a dozen people. But for kids like Renae who get measles before they're 15 months old, the risk level rises significantly – to one in 609. It is almost always fatal, and there's little doctors can do to help — a hard truth for Archer to accept. "I always had it in my mind, once we found out what was actually wrong, Renae, we'll get her back to herself again," she said. Instead, doctors told Archer her first-born daughter had no brain activity. There was nothing to do – except decide when to turn off her life-support machines. The mother says she didn't imagine measles could do this much damage. Now, her grief is tinged with rage: she says that Renae would still be alive if others were immunized against measles. "You never think it's going to happen to you," she said. "It does make me really angry, and make me want to help people understand how serious it is." Fears of a death this year in Canada Dr. Michelle Barton has seen a case of SSPE once in her career – not in Canada, but in a developing country. "It's a sad picture to watch, because there is really not much you can do." It's not a complication physicians would normally consider in countries like Canada, where measles was declared eliminated in 1998, said Barton, who heads the pediatric infectious diseases division at the Children's Hospital in London, Ont. With the virus continuing to spread in Canada, with cases in every province, Barton fears physicians may need to start thinking about measles complications like SSPE more frequently. "In this outbreak, there have been no deaths. And we are grateful for that," said Barton, who has been seeing some of the sickest patients in the province — and doing everything possible to prevent a death. WATCH | A mother's plea to vaccinate against measles: Mother urges parents to vaccinate kids after daughter's measles death 13 hours ago Duration 2:07 Measles may start like a bad cold — with symptoms like a high fever and cough — but in rare cases, it turns deadly. For one child, complications emerged about a decade later, robbing her of speech, movement and, eventually, her life. Alberta has been seeing a sharp increase in the past few weeks — on Thursday, the province reported 313 cases since the outbreaks began in March. Saskatchewan, too, is seeing a rapid increase in cases. Cases there have more than doubled in the past week, and the province's top doctor says he's expecting daily increases for the next weeks, or even months. But the heart of the spread continues to be Ontario, which is reporting 1,453 cases so far this year, the vast majority in those not fully vaccinated against the highly-contagious virus. Dr. Upton Allen, the head of the division of infectious diseases at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) says those numbers are troubling. For children with a healthy immune system, he says, there is a risk of complications like pneumonia, or a bad ear infection, in about one in every 10 cases. Measles can also cause encephalitis – inflammation of the brain at a rate of one per 1,000, he said. The risk level is much higher for those whose immune systems are compromised, Allen said. "They need to be protected," he said, "we protect them by vaccinating those around them." Lifelong complications Those who do survive measles, may be left with lifelong complications — like 73-year old Barbara Leonhard, who lives in Columbia, Mo. It was the late 1950s, before a measles vaccine was available. Leonhard, who was six at the time, remembers her legs giving out, losing the ability to speak, before everything went black. The measles virus had caused her brain to swell, and she fell into a 30-day coma. When she woke up, she was told she would never walk again. "It felt like I was condemned, like a sentence was passed," she remembers. Leonhard says she didn't accept that. She spent months, pulling herself out of the wheelchair, dragging her feet in the living room, teaching herself to walk again. She was successful — but she remains deeply scarred. "It was traumatic and scary," she said. Today, she struggles with muscle weakness — something her neurologist attributes as a lasting effect of her encephalitis, all those years ago. She's pleading with parents to vaccinate their kids against measles, if they haven't done so already. "You have to think about the life of your child, what you're risking." Rebecca Archer, still grieving her daughter, hopes by sharing her family's story, more people will decide to get vaccinated: enough to reach herd immunity — 95 per cent — which she says could have saved her daughter.
Hindustan Times
23-04-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
State assures policy for rare disorder after parents protest outside Mantralaya
MUMBAI: A protest by parents outside Mantralaya, the state secretariat, forced health minister Prakash Abitkar out of the seven-storey building, before he escorted them inside to confront a life-or-death issue – a treatment protocol that could potentially save their children's lives. The parents on Tuesday told the minister that hospitals were neglecting children afflicted with Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare, progressive and usually fatal brain disorder caused by a defective measles virus. They wanted the government to establish a treatment protocol for their children as hospitals are currently refusing to attend on these children as there is no known cure for the condition. The parents had brought 25 patients with them, to make an impression on the minister. SSPE is a rare but devastating neurological disorder that typically develops years after an initial measles infection, often in children and adolescents. The disease is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, behavioral changes, and neurological symptoms, ultimately leading to death. There are 60 to 90 patients of SSPE in the state, Abitkar later said. Sagar Pujari, 36, was among the group of parents at Mantralaya. He said he had visited Shenzhen in China to procure 30 doses of Ribauirin vaccine for his seven-year-old daughter Ovi, an SSPE patient. 'It started with measles. The virus went to her brain and also damaged her muscles. In the beginning, there were seizures. In the second stage, the patient stops eating, and by the third stage, they remain in a recumbent position on a bed and die,' said Pujari. He said procuring the vaccine for SSPE is very difficult. 'I sold whatever I could to get these injections from China. They have inserted a pipe into my daughter's brain to inject the vaccine, and she seems to be responding to the treatment. But not everyone can afford it,' he said. 'Our demand is to make the vaccine as well as monetary assistance available to us, as the treatment is really expensive. It could cost as much as ₹4-5 million,' he added. State health minister Prakash Abitkar told the protesting parents that the state government would draft a policy comprising a proper treatment protocol, which would also ensure availability of the vaccine for the condition. 'It is a rare disease and requires a different protocol for treatment just like Covid-19. They also want the vaccines for the disease to be made available. All these issues can be addressed by bringing out a proper policy, for which I will hold a meeting today itself,' Abitkar said. The minister told the media, 'The shortage of the vaccine is a nation-wide issue. The state government will see if we can procure them directly from a foreign country.' Abitkar He also escorted the families to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who assured them he would look into the matter.
