Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced the province had 29 new confirmed measles cases as of noon on Tuesday.
This brings the total number of cases in Alberta to 118, up from the 89 cases last reported on April 17.
The new cases are spread out over four of the five provincial health zones:
- North - 7
- Edmonton - 1
- Central - 11
- South - 10
According to AHS, 12 of the cases in the province are still active, meaning the patients can still infect others.
The announcement comes after AHS issued a warning about three more potential measles exposures in the Edmonton zone.
The health authority says a person visited three locations while infected:
- April 10
- Kinder Care Medical Clinic
- Unit 205, 11125 107 Ave. NW, Edmonton
- Exposure time period: Approx. 1:45 p.m. – 4:38 p.m. (MST)
- April 11
- Ross Creek Medical Imaging
- #103 10101 86 Ave., Fort Saskatchewan
- Exposure time period: Approx. 7:50 a.m.– 11:00 a.m. (MST)
- April 14
- ROKband Pediatric Headshape Clinic
- #402 9945 50 St. NW, Edmonton
- Exposure time period: Approx. 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MST)
Anyone who visited any of these locations during these times who was born in or after 1970 and has fewer than two documented doses of measles-containing vaccines is at risk for developing measles.
These individuals should self-monitor for symptoms, which include a fever of 38.3 C, cough, runny nose or red eyes and a rash that appears three to seven days after the fever starts.
Complications of measles can include ear infections, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, premature delivery and death.
People who are pregnant, less than one year of age or have weakened immune systems are at the greatest risk.
A preventable disease and a safe vaccine
Public health experts say the growing number of measles cases in the province is concerning.
“Measles is highly contagious, and of course, in certain populations, it can be fatal. There can be very serious side effects. This is a concern,” public health expert Lorian Hardcastle told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.
“Alberta’s vaccination rates are not where they would need to be for us to achieve herd immunity. So really, we are at quite a bit of risk here.”
Hardcastle says there has been a lack of leadership from the provincial government since the outbreak.
“If you compare, for example, to what the situation was like during COVID, there’s not a lot of leadership being shown from the provincial government with respect to measles,” she commented.
“We aren’t hearing regular comments from the premier or the minister of health. We aren’t hearing them encouraging people to go out and get vaccinated if they aren’t vaccinated. There isn’t that public health messaging that I think we need.”
Hardcastle says the premier is walking a line between pro and anti-vaccine voters, but says there are still options for public health messaging.
“What are the signs and symptoms of measles? What should you do to avoid catching measles? Even apart from the vaccine messaging, all of that other public health messaging, we’re just not hearing a lot from the government on any of that.”
Dr. Shelley Duggan, the president of the Alberta Medical Association, agrees.
“I think that we really need a substantial campaign out there about the importance of vaccination, otherwise we are not going to get this under control,” she told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.
“We need 95 per cent of the population vaccinated in order to really get measles out of the community. We’re basically around 70 per cent in most of the urban areas, Edmonton and Calgary, but in some areas of the province, we are at 50 per cent or less.
“It is time for a massive campaign to promote vaccination, so that people understand where to go, how to get it.”
She’s also calling for regular updates from the province’s interim chief medical officer of health, Dr. Sunil Sookram.
“We probably need to see the medical officer of health on a regular basis, coming out and sharing that data and going over and over and over again about the risks of measles and what we can do to prevent it,” Duggan added.
“While we perhaps don’t need quite the daily intervention that we had during COVID, we probably could do with fairly regular updates.”
Physician and University of Alberta professor Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti says the measles vaccine is safe, and encourages anyone who hasn’t been immunized to do so.
“The vaccine is safe. There’s all sorts of conspiracy theories out there, and you can’t reason with folks that think that way. So the best I try and do is just point out to patients, ‘Listen, this is a preventable disease, and are you willing to take the chance of somebody dying in your family as a result of this preventable disease?’”
Francescutti says the lowest vaccination rates are in children, and worries Alberta will see the death of a child like in the United States.
“It’s just a matter of time before you’ll be reporting the death of the child as a result of measles, and it’s not because the healthcare system failed that child. They’ll do everything they can to try and save that child. But unfortunately, measles has consequences.”
Albertans can call 811 to book a measles vaccine.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nav Sangha
