Quebec successfully pushes back against rise in measles cases

Quebec appears to be win‐ ning its battle against the rising tide of measles after 45 cases were confirmed province-wide this year.

"We've had no locally transmitted measles cases since March 25. So that's good news," said Dr. Paul Le Guerrier, responsible for im‐ munization for Montreal Public Health.

There are 17 patients with measles in Quebec currently, and the most recent case is somebody who was infected while abroad, he said.

But it was no small task to get to this point.

Le Guerrier said once lo‐ cal transmission was de‐ tected, news was spread fast among health centres to en‐ sure proper protocols were followed - such as not letting potentially infected people sit in waiting rooms for hours on end.

Then about 90 staffers were put to work, tracking down those who were in con‐ tact with positive cases and are not properly vaccinated. They were given post-expo‐ sure prophylaxis, which pre‐ vents disease, said Le Guerri‐ er.

From there, a vaccination campaign was launched, es‐ pecially in daycares, schools and neighbourhoods with low inoculation rates. There was an effort to convince parents to get their children vaccinated.

Vaccination in schools boosted

Some schools, mostly in Montreal, had vaccination rates as low as 30 or 40 per cent.

"Vaccination was well ac‐ cepted and parents respon‐ ded well," said Le Guerrier. "Some schools went from very low to as high as 85 to 90 per cent vaccination cov‐ erage."

But it's not only children who aren't properly vacci‐ nated. Le Guerrier said peo‐ ple need two doses after age one to be fully inoculated, and he encouraged people to check their status.

There are all kinds of rea‐ sons why people aren't vacci‐ nated, but it's only about five per cent who are against im‐ munization, he said. So far, some 10,000 people have been vaccinated against measles province-wide dur‐ ing this campaign, Le Guerri‐ er said.

The next step is to contin‐ ue pushing for further vacci‐ nation, but he said, small outbreaks are likely in the fu‐ ture as measles is spreading abroad and travellers are likely to bring it back with them.

Need to improve vacci‐ nation rate, expert says

Dr. Donald Vinh, an infec‐ tious diseases specialist from the McGill University Health Centre, said it's not time to rest on our laurels, but this is a good indication that public health is able to take action quickly and that people are

willing to listen to health rec‐ ommendations.

"We are not seeing new cases or at least the new cases are not exceeding the number of cases that we can handle," said Vinh.

"So these are all reassur‐ ing signs, but I don't think it's a sign that we need to be‐ come complacent."

Vinh said there are also signs that the public is lag‐ ging in vaccine coverage and it's important to respond to this with improved education and access. Otherwise, mi‐ crobes capitalize on our weaknesses, he said.

Getting vaccination cover‐ age up to an adequate level is necessary, Vinh said, or more small outbreaks like this will continue to happen.

"And it's very possible that we may not be able to get one under control if we don't react quickly enough," he said.