Resurgence of old diseases on agenda for global nursing conference in Calgary

As Alberta endures its worst year for measles since the 1970s, public health nurses from around the world are gathered in Calgary to discuss how to curb the resurgence of old diseases, among other global public health issues.

"The nursing population — 30 million strong globally — makes up about half of health systems everywhere," said Howard Catton, CEO of the International Council of Nurses.

"They bring the solutions to addressing the challenges that you're facing in Canada, but the countries are facing right the way around the world."

Catton is a keynote speaker at the seventh International Global Network of Public Health Nursing Conference, being held July 28 to 30. The event is co-hosted by the University of Calgary's Faculty of Nursing and Mount Royal University's School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Zahra Shajani, associate dean with the Faculty of Nursing at the U of C, is co-chairing of the conference.

"We are noticing, especially here in Alberta, an increase in our infectious diseases," she said. "There's been a lot of conversations around health promotion, prevention, vaccination, for sure."

Those issues aren't limited to Alberta, Catton said.

"Many of the indicators of global health are heading in the wrong direction: increasing numbers of people who can't access health care, who can't afford health care even if it is available, aging populations, mental health conditions, but also infectious diseases — diseases in many places we thought we were close to eradicating," he said.

"And that's as a result of a decline in vaccination rates to levels that are worse than they were before the [COVID-19] pandemic."

In order to curb diseases like measles, Catton said it will be critical to reverse those declining vaccination trends and nurses are "ideally placed" to help on that front.

"Nobody wants to be sick or unwell, but they need to get that help and advice from those who they trust," he said. "And nurses are consistently the most trusted profession in surveys that are done right the way around the world. So, that trust brings power to heal and to improve public health."

"Vaccination is the best public health buy there is," Catton added. "In terms of bang for buck, the cost is miniscule in terms of the return in good health."

New measles exposure alert issued

As the conference got underway in Calgary, Alberta Health Services (AHS) issued another measles exposure warning for the city.

It said an individual with a confirmed case of measles was in several public settings while infectious, including:

• South Block Barbecue & Brewing Co. (2437 Fourth St. S.W.) on July 21 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Pinnacle Medical Centres Crowfoot (31 Crowfoot Way N.W.) on July 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

Anyone who was at these locations at these times may have been exposed, as measles is an extremely contagious disease and the virus spreads easily through the air.

If you were exposed and born after 1969 and have fewer than two documented doses of measles-containing vaccine, you may be at risk for developing measles and should self-monitor for symptoms, AHS said.

Symptoms include a fever of 38.3 C or higher, cough, runny nose and/or red eyes and a rash that appears three to seven days after the fever starts, usually beginning behind the ears and on the face, before spreading down to the body and then to the arms and legs.

"Complications of measles can include ear infections, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, premature delivery, and rarely death," AHS said in the alert. "Persons who are pregnant, less than five years of age, or have weakened immune systems are at greatest risk."