Measles outbreak in Alberta: spike in cases after the Easter weekend

Alberta Health Services have reported 118 confirmed cases of measles, an increase of 29 cases since before the Easter weekend. They have also issued a public alert about potential exposure after an infectious individual visited three Edmonton-area clinics on an unrelated medical matter in recent days. Anyone at the clinics during the visits should check their immunization records and look for symptoms. Another critical situation is in Taber, where confirmed measles cases visited several public areas while infected. Again, people attending these places at the same time as infected individuals should self-monitor and review their immunization records.
The emergency in Alberta is happening amidst Canada’s worst measles outbreak in a quarter-century, with over 900 cases in Ontario alone. According to Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta, the current outbreak has surpassed the last big national one in 2011, with 752 cases reported during the entire year. Most years, there are less than 50 cases nationwide. Saxinger remarked that infants between six- and 12 months of age are particularly vulnerable to the disease because any natural immunity they may have gotten from their mother has waned, but they are too young to receive their first long-term measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) dose. Their safety relies on herd immunity, which occurs when 96% of the population is protected against the disease. However, herd immunity among young adults and small children in Alberta has dropped dramatically in recent years, reaching even less than 60% in some isolated communities. According to Saxinger, this is due to the pandemic and a growing distrust toward vaccines spread by social media. She added that the high rate of unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated individuals is going to affect the direction of the outbreak, creating more complications and allowing the further spread of the disease. Many people could develop encephalitis or respiratory complications and end up in hospital to receive supportive care. More than half the deaths from measles are from pneumonia, especially among kids under five.
Saxinger urged people to consider getting the MMR vaccine, emphasizing its safety and the need to have a high proportion of immune individuals to contain the spread of the disease.