Medical experts urge vaccination after more than 100 measles cases confirmed in Ontario this year

Desmond Brown · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 04, 2025 3:29 PM EST | Last Updated: March 4

Two Hamilton-area aesculapian experts are reminding Canadians that being vaccinated is the champion mode to forestall getting sick with measles oregon spreading it to different people.

Dr. Sarah Khan, infectious diseases doc astatine McMaster Children's Hospital, and Dawn Bowdish, a prof successful the Department of Medicine astatine McMaster University, spoke with CBC as measles cases successful Ontario proceed soar.

In 2025 so far, the fig of cases has already surpassed the fig from each of past year. The caller cases bring this year's total to 119 that were confirmed successful a laboratory and 23 that are probable, according to Public Health Ontario information arsenic of Feb. 26. 

The Grand Erie portion has much than fractional of Ontario's cases — that includes the City of Brantford arsenic good arsenic Haldimand-Norfolk and and Brant counties.

Of the full cases successful Ontario, 18 children were hospitalized, nary of whom were immunized.

Highlighting the value of vaccination, Khan said measles is 1 of the astir infectious diseases known to humans.

LISTEN | Dr. Sarah Khan talks astir the value of vaccination to combat measles: 

"If you were successful the aforesaid country arsenic idiosyncratic adjacent for a precise abbreviated play of time, there's similar a 90 per cent accidental you volition get this corruption if you don't person immunity," Khan said connected CBC Radio's Fresh Air. 

"This is the important portion astir however bash we get our colonisation immune? Because of however infectious measles is, we request a herd immunity of much than 95 per cent to forestall outbreaks similar these.

"Unfortunately we've fallen beneath that fig and this is wherefore we're seeing a much accelerated dispersed and these larger outbreaks occurring," Khan added.

The infectious diseases doc said herd immunity occurs erstwhile the bulk of the colonisation person received 2 doses of vaccine oregon person had measles previously, which whitethorn person happened successful young puerility for the older members of the population.

"The important constituent is for radical to cognize their immunity status, find retired if they are vaccinated oregon not, and if they are not, they request to spell and get their booster oregon get their 2 doses in," Khan said.

"[In 1998] we were capable to eradicate this microorganism successful … Canada. Unfortunately, we are seeing a resurgence simply due to the fact that of decreased vaccine uptake. We had this nether power and we hazard getting retired of power if we cannot bring that vaccine presumption oregon getting that herd immunity backmost up."

Access to vaccines portion of the situation successful Canada: expert

Like Khan, Bowdish said fixed the "highly contagious" quality of measles, much than 95 per cent of the colonisation has to beryllium vaccinated successful bid to support the presumption of not having measles endemic successful Canada.

"What we're seeing, particularly successful the state of Ontario, is that there's pockets of radical who person very, precise debased immunization rates, and that means it tin dispersed similar wildfire successful those communities," Bowdish said connected The Current. 

LISTEN | Prof. Dawn Bowdish talks astir the resurgence of measles successful Canada: 

But the debased vaccination complaint whitethorn beryllium partially due to the fact that of access, not needfully vaccine hesitancy, Bowdish said. "Even if radical person concerns implicit COVID vaccines or influenza vaccines, Canadians mostly bash spot puerility vaccines," she said. 

"It's availability, it's the household doc crisis, it's the not being capable to get vaccines astatine a clip that works with their enactment schedule... The Canadian concern is 1 successful which outright refusal is really comparatively rare. It's entree and availability and convenience that thin to beryllium the drivers of this fallen vaccination rates."

Bowdish said measles has "a truly long" asymptomatic play of astir 5 to 21 days, and that means "a idiosyncratic tin beryllium walking astir breathing retired the microorganism and idiosyncratic could prime it up earlier they adjacent cognize they're sick."

Cases of measles person besides been reported this twelvemonth successful B.C., Manitoba and Quebec.

A kid who wasn't vaccinated died successful a measles outbreak successful agrarian West Texas, state officials said connected Feb. 26, the archetypal U.S. decease from the highly contagious — but preventable — respiratory illness since 2015.