MEASLES OUTBREAK
119 cases in Lanaudière
The measles outbreak in the Lanaudière region has 119 confirmed cases, all of them within families that were not vaccinated, health officials confirmed Wednesday.
This is up from the 18 cases first confirmed by the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Lanaudière on Feb. 21. The first case was discovered on Feb. 10.
The infected families, as well as classmates and school staff that came into contact with the child who contracted the virus during a trip to Disneyland in California, have been ordered to stay at home for 14 days.
This child attended class for one day at École Integrée St- Pierre in Joliette before symptoms began to manifest. The health agency expects the number of confirmed cases to increase due to the potential for infection during this time frame.
The children and school staff who are identified as non- immunized will be given the option of receiving the measles vaccine as of Thursday, officials with the health agency said. Those who refuse will not be allowed inside the school for 14 days after the last case of measles has been dealt with.
Parents will receive an information kit about the vaccine and consent forms to allow children to be inoculated.
“The school is collaborating with health authorities to prevent further spread,” said Dr. Muriel Lafarge, director of public health for Lanaudière. “And so far, we’ve had good enough collaboration from the infected families.”
The disease’s quick spread probably happened because of the high number of people in large families who had not received immunization in the small community. “They all developed the disease,” Lafarge said.
Caroline Quach, a pediatric infectious diseases doctor at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, said in a past interview that in this particular secluded area of Lanaudière, apparently no one is vaccinated for religious and philosophical reasons, which explains the exponential rise in the number of cases there.
Several of those infected have already recovered, but 12 were hospitalized. Officials also said two patients developed complications like pneumonia, but are recovering.
In all, about 60 people are in quarantine.
The regional health agency has set up a website where the confirmed number of cases will be published twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Immunization of measles is not mandatory in Quebec. However, this outbreak has prompted officials to put together a registry so schools can better know who had not been vaccinated.