Grand Erie Public Health appoints new acting officer of health amidst measles outbreak

As the region faces a measles outbreak, Dr. Adelle Chang On has stepped in as the Grand Erie Public Health's (GEPH) new acting medical officer of health.

The health unit, which encompasses the counties of Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk as well as the city of Brantford, is reporting 112 cases of measles as of Wednesday.

Chang On said she expects the numbers to change on an "ongoing basis."

GEPH is the health unit with the second-largest number of cases in Ontario, surpassed only by Southwestern Public Health with 223 cases as of Thursday.

Public Health Ontario has reported 470 measles cases since an outbreak began in October. That's an increase of 120 cases since March 14.

Chang On stepped into the role as a temporary assignment, following the death of the previous GEPH acting medical officer of health, Dr. Malcolm Lock, in late February. 

Lock was the medical officer of health for the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) for several years before it merged with the Brant County Health Unit to form the GEPH late last year.

Chang On is also one of the associate medical officers of health for the Region of Waterloo. She completed specialist training in public health and preventive medicine at McMaster University, where she is also a faculty member. She previously worked as a medical officer of health and physician in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago, according to a press release from Grand Erie Public Health.

Chang On said stepping into the role at this time is "certainly very exciting."

She said the main focus of her being assigned to the GEPH was the measles outbreak while helping other sections of the health unit stay afloat.

"I really welcome the opportunity to work with a team that has already had a lot of on-the-ground experience with [measles]," she told CBC Hamilton on Thursday. She joined the team on Monday.

Anyone not 'protected against measles is at risk'

Chang On said measles is highly contagious "and it can still cause serious health complications, particularly in our younger children."

She said less severe complications include frequent diarrhea or air infections, but more severe ones could include lung infections or pneumonia.

"Even like swelling of the brain or infection of the brain, which would be what we would call an encephalitis and can, of course, even lead to death," she said.

Chang On said anyone who is "not protected against measles is at risk."

That's why the GEPH's primary role right now is promoting vaccinations.

"We know that vaccination is the most effective way to protect against measles," she said. "It's a very safe and effective vaccine."

As to factors that are at play in the outbreak specific to the region, she said vaccination rates dipped in the pandemic. 

The measles vaccine is close to 100 per cent effective in preventing the disease, according to Shelly Bolotin, director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases at the University of Toronto.

The measles vaccine contains small amounts of live virus, making it one of the most protective shots available, she said.

"It's actually a mini infection in your body. And so it creates something very, very similar to what you would see if you're infected."

Chang On added early identification of cases is also important to prevent further spread.

"The bulk" of their work is, once cases are identified, working to see "who are the people around them who would be at highest risk of severe disease and trying to prevent that onward spread to the extent that we can," she added.