Public health reports cases of measles in Laval and Montreal, urges people to get vaccinated

Measles might be spread‐ ing through community transmission in Quebec, the province's public health director, Dr. Luc Boileau, is warning.

There are currently four confirmed cases in Quebec. Dr. Boileau says four more cases might be confirmed in the next few hours.

The most recent con‐ firmed case was reported by Laval Public Health.

The infected person was unvaccinated, did not travel and was not in contact with a known case of measles, the health agency said in a Thursday news release, adding that community transmission therefore possible.

"That worries us," said Dr. Boileau.

While the person was is highly contagious, they vis‐ ited a school in Laval, a corner store, a medical clinic and hospital. The infected person has been isolated at home since Feb. 26.

Laval public health offi‐ cials say they're doing con‐ tact tracing at the locations frequented by the infected person. They're also asking medical professionals to flag likely cases of measles imme‐ diately without waiting for positive lab results.

Two other cases were re‐ cently reported in Montreal by the city's public health de‐ partment. They were in the same family.

There have also been cases of measles reported in other parts of Canada, no‐ tably in York Region, Ont., where the person affected hadn't travelled recently or been in contact with another case of measles.

The specific locations fre‐ quented by the infected per‐ son in Laval are:

École internationale des Aventuriers in Laval from Feb. 19 to Feb. 20. The

Couche-Tard at 800 Chome‐ day Blvd., in Laval from Feb. 19 to Feb. 20. The person was there for 10 minutes sometime between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The waiting room at the Centre Médical Mieux-Être on Henri

Bourassa Boulevard on Feb. 25. The person was there be‐ tween 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The second floor of the CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital on Feb. 21 between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The emergency room of that same hospital on Feb. 26 between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Vaccines key part of the solution

With March break around the corner, Quebec's Ministry of Health and Social Services is urging people to get vacci‐ nated to limit the spread of the virus.

"We have information that leads us to believe that there's a resistance to vac‐ cines that has slowly estab‐ lished itself in the popula‐ tion," says Dr. Boileau.

There are certain commu‐ nities that have lower vacci‐ nation rates than others which puts several people at risk, he adds - Montreal being one of them.

The measles vaccine is covered by Quebec's immu‐ nization program. The Min‐ istry of Health and Social Ser‐ vices' goal is to see every re‐ gion reach a 95 per cent vac‐ cination rate.

"We're worried by Mon‐ treal but it's not the only re‐ gion that falls short of the 95 per cent," says Dr. Boileau.

He said that because vac‐ cination rates of children at schools in some parts of Montreal are very low - he told Radio-Canada below 80 per cent - it's important to keep an eye on the city as the situation evolves.

Measles is highly conta‐ gious, the virus can remain active and contagious for up to two hours in a room even after an infected person has left, and it has a long incuba‐ tion period - usually between 10 and 14 days. Its symp‐ toms include fever, cough and a bumpy, red rash.

Common complications are ear infections and diar‐ rhea. In rare cases, measles can be fatal.

The two-dose vaccine against measles is more than 95 per cent effective at pre‐ venting infection, according to Montreal Public Health.