Region of Waterloo Public Health has reported its first confirmed case of measles since 2019.
“We were expecting this was going to happen at some time, given the fairly significant provincial outbreak that’s going on right now, especially since most of the cases are concentrated in southwestern Ontario, including health units that are neighbouring to us,” said Dr. Rabia Bana, Region of Waterloo Public Health’s associate medical officer of health, in an interview with CTV News on Friday.
She also confirmed the person was not fully immunized.
In a media release on Friday, the health unit said it is trying to identify people who may have been exposed to the highly contagious virus.
Anyone who was at 51 Benton Street in Kitchener on March 18, between 4:15 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., are at risk.
Public health did not give a specific location, but the building includes the Benton Medical Clinic, Monarch Dentistry, a pharmacy and physiotherapy office.
“Because of the way measles is transmitted, because the virus particles do become airborne and can be transmitted to the air we do have to consider the entire location as the site of the exposure,” Bana said.
What happens after a confirmed case of measles is identified?
After public health receives word of a confirmed measles case, contact tracing begins.
“The investigation starts out by gathering information from the case and trying to identify individuals that may have been in contact with the case during the period they were infectious for, and then reaching out to those individuals, assessing their health status, their immunization status, their susceptibility to measles and any risk factors that might make them high risk for complications,” Bana explained.
Once public health identifies someone who has been potentially exposed, they will help them navigate the appropriate next steps. For some people who are not fully vaccinated, that may mean getting the appropriate shots.
“Generally, for people who are exposed, the recommendation is to have post-exposure vaccine treatment within three days of the exposure, 72 hours, and for younger children, specifically infants under six months of age who cannot receive the vaccine, there are other treatments for them for post-exposure and those are recommended to be received within six days of the exposure,” Bana explained.
She said, generally speaking, people who are fully vaccinated against measles are not considered to be at risk.
“Vaccination remains our absolute best defence against measles. People should check their vaccine records, make sure that they’re up to date based on their age and health status, and if they’re not, make sure they get up to date with their vaccinations.”
What to watch out for
Symptoms of measles can include fever, cough, runny nose, white spots in the mouth or red water eyes. Symptoms may not show up until 21 days after exposure. A rash usually develops once other symptoms start.
Anyone who thinks they have measles is urged to contact a health care provider before seeking in-person assessment so proper containment procedures can be put in place to protect other patients.
“I absolutely think this is the first of many cases, most likely, given the trajectory of the provincial outbreak as well as how impressively transmissible measles is as a disease,” Bana said. “We do expect to see increasing cases and increasing exposures over the next weeks and months.”
