70 cases of measles now reported in Waterloo region as health officials urge vaccination

With measles cases on the rise in Ontario, especially in Waterloo region, a local doctor is warning people to stay vigilant when it comes to exposure. 

Dr. Rabia Bana, the Region of Waterloo's associate medical officer of health, said on Tuesday morning that there are 70 cases locally "and we continue to receive more reports of confirmed cases of measles in our region." 

Late last week, two Kitchener high schools shut down because of measles cases. Bana told CBC News the decision to close the schools was not taken lightly.

"When we have a case in a school setting, in order to ensure that there isn't further exposure and further spread, we need to assess and verify vaccination records for all the students and all the staff," she said. 

At Eastwood Collegiate Institute, the exposures happened May 7 and May 8 while at St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School, the exposure was on May 8.

Full protection against the measles requires two doses of the vaccine, typically given in intervals as a child.

Bana said those who are not fully protected against measles will not be allowed to attend school for 21 days from the time of exposure. That's the period of time it can take for someone to develop signs and symptoms of measles and potentially be infectious to other people. 

"The safest thing to do to ensure that the infection doesn't spread in the school community is to have those individuals be excluded from the school setting for that period of time," Bana said. 

Unvaccinated people face higher risk

Bana says public health is working with both of the school boards, staff and students to provide instructions on next steps if they're not vaccinated. Students will also be given the opportunity to update their vaccination records if needed. 

For those who are fully vaccinated against measles, the risk is "extremely, extremely low," she said.

"In the current outbreak in Ontario, the vast majority of cases remain in unvaccinated individuals," she said. 

There have been a total of 1,622 reported cases in Ontario and 182 new cases as of Thursday. 

Bana warns that everyone who believes they've been exposed to measles and are staying home should monitor closely for symptoms in the next 21 days. 

Those symptoms are similar to cold and flu ones – fever, cough, runny nose – and can develop into white spots in the mouth and a blotchy red rash that spreads from the face downwards throughout the body. 

Individuals with weakened immune systems, children under one year old and those who are pregnant are at a higher risk of complications from measles. 

In the meantime, Bana said the goal is to avoid more school closures. 

Through the Immunization of School Pupils Act, student records are verified "fairly quickly," but Bana said large schools will also need to check the immunization records of staff, many of whom do not have vaccination records on file, and therefore that will take "a little bit of time."

'It's become kind of like politics or religion'

Kimia Eslah and Andrew Cant are local parents of a son preparing to attend Eastwood Collegiate Institute in the fall. They said they're not worried about exposure for themselves, although said the exposures could impact things like high school orientation events for incoming students.

Eslah and Cant say they're open about their own vaccination status, but they don't find they really talk about it with other people.

"The pandemic made an impression on our relationships and how we talked about things like vaccines with family members and friends," said Eslah. "It's become kind of like politics and religion. We don't approach the topic ... and we certainly don't tell them in any way how to govern their lives."

Cant said he's not hearing much of a discussion among parents for high school aged kids. 

"Our kid is old enough that we're out of the heavy childhood vaccine schedule," he said. "I guess it's not as much for anybody to talk about because you either did it on the schedule or you didn't."

Raven Grant is finishing up a final year at a local high school and said there's been some talk among students. 

"It's kind of hard because a bunch of our friends go to those schools. I know a few people in Eastwood who are kind of freaked out because it happened in the class next to them, or happened in their class, or one of their friends have it," Grant said. 

"It's just kind of frustrating because if you don't get your vaccinations, stuff like this happens and it's just going to continue to spread throughout schools."

Bana said public health is working with school boards to take "as many proactive steps as we can to ensure that schools can stay open."