First case of measles this year confirmed, public health says
Child who travelled to India contracted the infectious virus
Hamilton’s first measles case of the year was confirmed in a child who travelled to India, says the city’s public health unit, but there hasn’t been any known local spread of the highly contagious virus stemming from that case.
In a Wednesday afternoon news release, the health department said the child travelled on Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV 61 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Toronto on March 5. Passengers on the plane and people in Terminal 3 of Toronto Pearson International Airport on that day from 3:25 to 8:30 p.m. may have been exposed to the virus.
Public health has not disclosed the age of the child or if they were vaccinated against measles.
“Hamilton Public Health Services is not aware of any additional exposure locations in Hamilton at his time,” says the news release.
Although the child arrived in Toronto on March 5, the measles infection was not confirmed until Tuesday, said associate medical officer of health Dr. Brendan Lew.
“As soon as the case was confirmed, an investigation was initiated and a dedicated team of public health professionals quickly mobilized to reach any identified contacts,” Lew said in an emailed statement to The Spectator.
The case is the second one the local public health unit has investigated recently.
On Feb. 28, the health department said patients and families at McMaster Children’s Hospital were exposed to the virus. That case involved a child who lives in Brantford-Brant who was infected during a trip to Europe. As many as 200 people were potentially exposed in that case.
Measles is such a contagious virus that if an infected person was in a room and left anyone entering that room for up to two hours afterwards can still be infected.
The virus causes high fevers, white spots in the mouth and throat, and red blotchy rashes on the skin. Symptoms, which also include a cough, runny noise and red, watery eyes, start to appear seven to 21 days after infection. The rashes can start three to seven days after infection.
Measles infections are rising around the world due to low immunization rates, the World Health Organization has warned. The measles vaccine is highly effective, however, to prevent the spread of the virus in a community, more than 95 per cent of the population has to be immunized.
Children under the age of one cannot be immunized yet, while those who are pregnant or have compromised immune systems are at increased risk of severe complications from a measles infection, including death.
In Hamilton, school-aged immunization rates crashed during the COVID-19 as lockdowns disrupted normal vaccination clinics and public health resources were redirected to deal with the crisis.
To boost vaccination rates, the public health department said in a February it was going to suspend students whose immunization records were not up to date by the first week of March.
However, the ongoing cyberattack on municipal systems has cut off access to the department’s immunization database. Parents cannot upload their children’s status, and the health department cannot check those records. The suspension of students has been put on hold indefinitely, although the health department is urging the community to check their vaccination status and get their immunizations up to date.
Two doses of the MMR — measles, mumps, rubella — vaccine is recommended for anyone born on Jan. 1, 1970, or later. The health department says generally those born before 1970 are protected against measles.