Re: Ottawa, ON: Two measles cases
Re: Ottawa, ON: Two measles cases
MEASLES - CANADA (06): (ONTARIO) ex PHILIPPINES
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Sat 17 Dec 2010
Source: Ottawa Sun [edited]
<
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2010/12/17/16592151.html>
Another measles case in Ottawa
------------------------------
Doctors have discovered Ottawa's 2nd case of measles in the last
month, but unlike the 1st, this one was transmitted locally. As the
Ottawa Sun 1st reported in early December 2010, Ottawa Public Health
alerted all local physicians about a middle-aged woman who had
contracted measles [while in] the Philippines. [See: 'Red alert by MOH
after woman develops measles', Ottawa Sun, 3 Dec 2010
<
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2010/12/03/16421526.html>. - Mod.CP]
The newest case is a young adult who had exposure to the 1st measles
case. Neither of the 2 measles cases had been vaccinated.
The city hadn't seen any cases [of measles] since 2002 and this is the
1st time measles has been transmitted locally in 15 years. Ottawa's
Medical Officer of Health has warned that measles is a very dangerous
and highly contagious infection. "Measles is very transmittable and
once it's in the community people can easily pick it up," Dr. Isra
Levy told the Sun in early December. "I wouldn't be surprised to see
secondary cases, but we're attacking this aggressively like all
unusual infections."
Measles is spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks. It
is more severe in adults and infants than in children, as most
children are immunized at their school. Measles can lead to ear
infections, pneumonia and swelling of the brain [encephalitis], and
sometimes even death.
Ottawa Public Health recommends all young children, teens and adults,
including health care workers born after 1970 keep their measles
vaccination up to date. Measles vaccination is also recommended for
many international travel destinations.
[Byline: Jamie Long]
--
Communicated by:
HealthMap alerts via
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[Measles is by no means absent from Canada as the archived ProMED-mail
reports below demonstrate. It is indicative of an efficient public
health service that the city of Ottawa has been free of locally
transmitted measles for a period of 15 years up to the present
incident. This new case of locally transmitted measles reveals the
vulnerability of any population where vaccination is less than
universal.
A map of Ontario showing the location of Ottawa can be accessed at:
<
http://www.canada-maps.org/ontario-map.htm>. The
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Canada is available at:
<
http://healthmap.org/r/007x>. - Mod.CP]
[see also:
Measles - Canada (04): (AB)
20100515.1596
Measles - Canada (03): (BC), USA (WA) alert
20100419.1275
Measles - Canada (02): (BC)
20100407.1121
Measles - Canada: (BC), imported
20100406.1102
2008
----
Measles - Canada (05): (Toronto)
20080509.1582
Measles - Canada (04): Toronto
20080418.1393
Measles - Canada (03): (Toronto)
20080417.1381
Measles - Canada (02): Toronto
20080413.1341
Measles - Canada: (Toronto)
20080411.1327
2007
----
Measles - Canada ex Japan: susp.
20070601.1766]
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