Public urged to update vaccines
Mumps, measles cases reported
Public health officials and infectious disease experts are urging Canadians to check that their vaccinations are up to date as clusters of mumps are investigated in Ontario and Alberta, and measles cases are probed in Nova Scotia.
The viral infections are both covered by the measles-mumpsrubella or measles-mumpsrubella-varicella vaccines. But experts say people between the ages of 18 and 35 need to ensure they’ve had two doses of the shots to bolster their immunity.
“Mumps and measles are very contagious illnesses ... at the moment we have this particular issue with people who’ve only had one dose of vaccine. For this age group, it’s a good time to check and make sure they’ve had two doses,” said Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital.
McGeer explained that when the mumps and measles vaccine was introduced, only one dose was administered but it later became apparent that two doses were needed for it to be effective over the long term.
McGeer said there was nothing overly worrisome about the recent mumps and measles cases but noted they served as a reminder of the importance of immunization efforts.
“The fact that you can still get clusters of cases is a marker for just how important having those vaccination programs is. If they didn’t happen then everybody got sick.”
In Toronto, public health officials said Friday that there were 17 confirmed cases of mumps in the city, all involving people between 18 and 35 years of age who had frequented west-end bars.
A Toronto Public Health spokeswoman said 60 per cent of those cases were not immunized or under-immunized. Lenore Bromley noted, however, that the risk to the general public was low.