Q&A: Pediatrician shares lessons from a measles outbreak that hit SW Ontario hard
Most of those infected were unvaccinated children, including an infant who died
A measles outbreak in Ontario that began in October and led to more than 2,200 infections, including the death of one infant, appears to be slowing down.
At its peak in April and May, the outbreak of the highly contagious disease was generating more than 200 new cases weekly. The case numbers have dropped sharply over the past few weeks.
On July 10, Southwestern Public Health reported only one new case.
The outbreak hit southwestern Ontario particularly hard with 33 per cent of all cases in the province reported in the area covered by Southwestern Public Health. The health unit's area includes Oxford and Elgin counties and the communities of Woodstock, Tillsonburg and St. Thomas. Of those infected during the outbreak, 89 per cent were not immunized for measles and 73 per cent of the total cases were people 19 years old younger.
More than 150 people were hospitalized during the outbreak.
Dr. Asmaa Hussain, a pediatrician at the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, spoke to host Andrew Brown on CBC's London Morning this week about the lessons learned during the outbreak of a disease once considered to be all but eradicated in North America.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Andrew Brown: The numbers suggest a drop in measles cases, does that line up with what you're seeing on the front lines?
SH: Yes, in the hospital we have not admitted another patient with measles for the past few weeks, which is a really good sign. Most of the patients in my community have had measles if they are not immunized. I haven't seen any new cases in the past couple of weeks.
AB: Is that the main reason why it's easing, because the disease has worked its way through the unvaccinated population?
SH: Yes, most likely this is exactly what happened. It just burned through all the people that are vulnerable and unvaccinated. Obviously we live in a [community] where there are more unvaccinated people together so there was more chance for passing the infection at the height of it.
AB: I wonder if because of the outbreak, more people have been vaccinated. Have you seen anything like that?
SH: Not really, I wish. I think I had an extra four families that decided to get vaccinated, but definitely nowhere near what we needed to have.
AB: So what are you telling parents and families about the measles situation right now?
SH: The problem with these situations is that people will go through the experience and make of it what they want to make of it. A lot of families that decided not to vaccinate will come out of it thinking, 'Well, our children had measles and they are totally fine and they made it, so I don't think that vaccines are important.' It's not as easy as you would think to change these people's minds. A lot of people have already made a decision.
AB: If someone has been through this outbreak, they've had measles and they've recovered, what kind of protection do they have now?
SH: Once you've had measles, unless you have some immune condition, then you are protected.
AB: Any concern about kids who are heading off to camp or other summer activities?
SH: Most of the time, people who listen to your precautions are people who vaccinate their children. I think these are people who are protected. We have not seen any severe infection in the vaccinated population. The most important precaution is to vaccinate your children.
AB: What have you learned from this?
SH: That we're not invincible. Bad infections will make their way back again to us ... if we continue to have this vaccine hesitancy, there will be more outbreaks in the future.
LISTEN: Takeaways from the measles outbreak
