Waning measles immunization rates means risk of virus's return to Canada: experts
CTV
With infections and deaths linked to measles soaring abroad, medical experts warn that waning immunization rates are increasing risks of the virus's return to Canada.
With infections and deaths linked to measles soaring abroad, medical experts warn that waning immunization rates are increasing risks of the virus’s return to Canada.
Recently released international data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that in 2022, rates of measles infection rose by 18 per cent globally over the year prior, with deaths attributed to the disease rising 43 per cent in that time and 37 different countries reporting large or disruptive outbreaks.
Last updated in August of last year, the Canadian government currently maintains a global health notice for measles, warning would-be travellers of the mounting risk of outbreaks around the world and encouraging they make sure they are protected from infection well before they leave Canada.
Domestically, the measles virus has been both infrequently encountered and tightly monitored for years, with just 12 cases nationally in all of 2023, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). But amid fears of Canada’s immunization rates dipping during the COVID-19 pandemic, risks have grown that measles, another potentially life-threatening virus, could make a return.
“So far, we’ve been lucky in Canada,” said Joan Robinson, a physician and specialist in pediatric infectious disease at Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, in an interview with CTVNews.ca.
“I think there’s lots of reason to think the chance is really high that over the next five years, we’ll start to see more and bigger outbreaks.”
Measles typically cause a rash, fever, cough and runny nose, and, in North America, is most commonly found among younger people. In rare, serious cases, complications of infection can trigger respiratory failure and inflammation in the brain, which can in turn lead to hearing and vision loss, as well as neurological damage. Among pregnant patients, measles can also increase risks of miscarriage, premature labour and low birth weight, according to the PHAC.
