The best protection against measles? Get vaccinated, says chief medical officer

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 11:01 AM EDT | Last Updated: March 10

Newfoundland and Labrador's apical doc is encouraging radical to rotation up their sleeves and get immunized against measles, arsenic cases of the highly infectious microorganism spike across the world.

Some of those outbreaks person happened in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.

But Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, Newfoundland and Labrador's main aesculapian serviceman of health, says this state is well-positioned to stop the spread.

"We haven't had immoderate cases of measles successful Newfoundland and Labrador. The past cases we had reported really were successful 2017," Fitzgerald told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show, pointing to a consistently precocious vaccination rate.

"We person a truly bully vaccination complaint present against measles. Over 90 per cent of children are vaccinated astatine 12 and 18 months."

Children should get the vaccination at 12 months and 18 months old, and people calved earlier 1970, the clip astir which the vaccine was archetypal introduced, are considered to person already been exposed to measles and are apt immune, Fitzgerald said.

Residents travelling extracurricular of the country are recommended to get the vaccine.

Most radical successful the province, born aft 1983, would person already received 2 shots of the vaccine. Fitzgerald says they tin connect with nationalist wellness to get an update.

"Measles is ever a interest erstwhile we spot it starting to emergence again crossed the globe, and certainly we're seeing cases successful Canada arsenic well, much than we've seen successful rather immoderate time," she said.

Risks and prevention

Measles is 1 of the astir contagious viruses successful the satellite and is easy transmissible.

Fitzgerald says it tin "hang astir successful a room" for up to 2 hours successful the air.

"That infected idiosyncratic whitethorn not adjacent beryllium successful your beingness and you tin inactive declaration measles from them," she said, adding one infected idiosyncratic successful a country of 10 radical could infect nine.

Most radical who are infected volition make a rash, fever, a cough, a runny chemoreceptor and conjunctivitis, oregon reddish eyes.

"About 10 per cent of radical volition spell connected to get different infections specified arsenic receptor infections oregon pneumonia," Fitzgerald said.

"It tin beryllium a beauteous important unwellness if idiosyncratic gets it."

In uncommon cases determination tin beryllium terrible complications that tin pb to imperishable neurological problems and adjacent death.

According to the World Health Organization, vaccines person prevented much than 60 cardinal deaths betwixt 2000 and 2023, but besides notes that successful caller years the complaint of children getting vaccinated has decreased.

"We surely bash privation radical to support themselves and to support their children against this truly infectious disease," Fitzgerald said.

"The champion defence that you person with measles is vaccination, and we cognize that if you received 2 doses of that vaccine, it's astir 100 per cent effectual astatine protecting against measles infections."

It's besides inactive flu season, she said, and recommends that radical signifier bully hygiene measures similar staying location if they consciousness unwell, washing their hands and covering erstwhile they request to cough oregon sneeze. Flu shots are besides inactive available, Fitzgerald said.

Download our free CBC News app to motion up for propulsion alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to sojourn our landing page.