Some Alberta hospitals triaging probable measles patients in vehicles

Some Alberta hospitals are triaging probable measles patients in their vehicles, as the province's outbreak continues to grow. 

Harkening back to the COVID-19 days, patients showing up at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in south Edmonton with measles symptoms are now being triaged in the ambulance bay rather than waiting for isolation rooms. 

Janet Laurie, a spokesperson for Covenant Health, said in an email that it expedites the process and ensures patients receive the care they need. She added that the process was in place in many other sites in Alberta.

Dr. Stephanie Smith, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta Hospital, said the triage system being used adds an "extra layer of caution" that also protects other patients in the emergency department.

She said the system has been in place for at least the past couple of months, especially in facilities like the Stollery Children's Hospital, where young children cannot be fully vaccinated.

Of Edmonton's total 12 measles cases since March, three were detected at the Grey Nuns.

"This is of great concern given how contagious measles is and the risk to children under five and patients who are immunocompromised," Laurie said. 

"An outbreak on a unit would close it down to further admissions and place additional stress on the system."

A spokesperson for Alberta Health Services said the process is used at health-care facilities but it is not used often.

"It is used as needed and has been in place intermittently since March, so it is not a new measure," said Kristi Bland in an email. "It is not a response to a significant increase in cases, nor does it reflect an unreported or emerging number of cases."

'Dangerous territory'

Former Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. James Talbot weighed in as the province's caseload hit 1,246 Wednesday.

"It says we're in dangerous territory," said Talbot, an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta's School of Public Health.

"What physicians and public health experts have been saying for months now is that the province has been very slow to react to this."

"We now have the worst record in North America."

Talbot said he is worried growing outbreaks could lead to the country losing its measles-free status. 

Being stripped of the status achieved in 1998 could have both reputational and economic impacts for Canada, he said.

"If the control measures are in place and used properly and properly resourced, we didn't have to get there and we still have the ability to get back to where there aren't any measles," Talbot said.

"But the longer it lasts, the more people affected, the more costly it's going to be, the longer it's going to take to get back to zero."

Vaccination rates up: province

Maddison McKee, press Secretary to Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange, said vaccination efforts are making a difference, including the addition of clinics and extended hours.

She said during an ongoing multi-lingual immunization campaign launched in May, Alberta saw immunizations increase by more than 65 per cent compared to the same time last year.

"Between March 16 and June 28, more than 75,000 measles vaccines were administered across Alberta—an increase of more than 57 per cent compared with the same period last year. In the South Zone alone, vaccine uptake rose by 126 per cent," McKee wrote.

She pointed out that there have been no new cases in Edmonton since March and none that are currently active.

Talbot said he wants to see regular updates from Alberta's chief medical officer of health alongside a more robust marketing campaign because of the possibility of exposures over the summer at events like baseball tournaments, summer camps and family gatherings.

"That's potential for spread to other provinces," Talbot said. "And then come the fall, we'll see those kids return and go into school. And so then we'll have another wave that we have to worry about."