Doctors are urging parents to make sure their kids are up to date on their shots as measles continues spreading in Manitoba.
Measles has sent 13 people in the province to hospital this year, two needing intensive care, said Dr. Davinder Singh, a medical officer of health with Southern Health, which has expanded vaccine access due to its high number of cases.
“All those that I’m aware of have been children, and the vast majority under the age of 10. And as far as I’m aware of, they were all not immunized,” said Singh.
School divisions have shared emails and posted messages from health authorities, urging people to make sure they are up to date with their MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccinations.
Pop-up clinics at the end of last school year in areas with high spread worked to increase vaccination uptake, Singh said.
For example, Southwood School in Schanzenfeld, five kilometres south of Winkler and 110 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, had several measles cases and hosted one of those clinics after school hours.
Measles cases spike
The clinics helped 1,500 more people than usual get vaccinated against measles in Southern Health in the last couple of months of the school year, Singh said.
There were some weeks last school year with more reported measles cases than in the previous 25 years combined, he said.
Public Health has reported 198 confirmed and 16 probable cases of measles in Manitoba this year.
The actual infection rate could be 10 times as high, because some don’t know their illness is measles and some don’t seek medical help, Singh said.
“I would for sure categorize it as more than a small outbreak.”
Southern Health is not planning extra clinics now but could bring them back if vaccine demand and reported infections go back up with students and teachers back breathing the same air in close spaces.
“We may see that again, now that school’s going on and maybe there’s more kind of reminders for families to update their immunizations if they haven’t already,” Singh said.
The measles virus is highly contagious and spreads before its associated rash appears.
“People might be contagious before they even know they have measles because they might just have more general symptoms, like a fever or cough, runny nose, red watery eyes, but haven’t had the rash yet. But they could still be spreading measles to others,” Singh said.
Collège Lorette Collegiate, just southeast of Winnipeg, had an exposure in May. Seine River School Division provided Public Health with a list of students and staff who might have been exposed to measles.
“Then public health makes those phone calls out to families to check in regards to the vaccination, and then their recommendations to isolate for those that would require that,” said Seine River Supt. Colin Campbell.
These outbreaks used to be a thing of the past, he said.
“When you talk about measles, it’s something that historically might bring back some feelings of various times in history where outbreaks like this could happen,” said Campbell.
Vaccine eligibility expanded
Immunization records are available on the Manitoba public health website and from family doctors, pharmacists and public health offices. Doctors and public health offices can also book vaccination appointments.
All children overdue for their shots at one year and four or five years old should receive a letter from the province.
MMR vaccine eligibility has expanded to babies as young as six months in Southern Health and Interlake Eastern Regional Health Authority, and for people who travel in those regions. Most children are eligible at age one.
Anyone exposed to measles who is pregnant, under six months old or immunocompromised can receive an antibody medication that provides a short-term boost to the immune system.
