Health minister ‘deeply concerned’ about rise of measles cases in Canada
Global News
As measles continues its slow spread across communities in the country, health officials are urging Canadians to stay vigilant and keep their vaccinations up-to-date.
As measles continues its slow spread across communities in the country, health officials are urging Canadians to stay vigilant and keep their vaccinations up-to-date.
Speaking at a media conference on Monday, Health MinIster Mark Holland said he is “deeply concerned” with the global measles outbreak and its potential impact on Canada.
“We’re seeing a lot of a lot of illness that was almost rendered non-existent, starting to come back because of vaccine hesitancy,” Holland told reporters. “We have to depoliticize health information. We have to be a society that follows science. … There should be no partisanship in following the best health advice that’s rooted in science and evidence.”
As of Feb. 17, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) had recorded six domestic measles cases this year. Since the data was recorded, there have been more reported cases in Ontario and Quebec.
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection. Symptoms include a rash, fever, cough and fatigue. It can also lead to serious complications, such as deafness and brain damage, and in some cases can be fatal, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
“The measles virus spreads through the air when a person who is infected breathes, coughs sneezes or talks,” a Health Canada spokesperson told Global News in an email on Friday.
“It may also spread through direct contact with secretions from the nose and throat of a person who is infected or from touching objects with these secretions. Measles is one of the most highly communicable infectious diseases, and can very easily spread to other people if they are susceptible.”
The best protection against measles is vaccination with two doses of a measles-containing vaccine, which are almost 100 per cent effective at preventing infection.
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