Canada officially lost its measles elimination status in November of this year, after nearly three decades. The loss of elimination status was due to outbreaks across the country, which led to 5,208 confirmed cases and two reported deaths.
Many people may be concerned and wondering what this means for Canadians. Healthing spoke with Dr. Christine Palmay, a family medicine specialist, to explain why measles is making a comeback and what Canadians can do to protect themselves and others from the spread of this highly contagious disease.
Q: What does elimination status actually mean?
Dr. Palmay: It is, in fact, a time-recognized control of any outbreaks. So starting in October 2024, we started seeing these massive outbreaks across Canada, especially among the under-vaccinated patient population, and because we couldn’t contain that for 12 months, our status was revoked, right? It’s more of a period where we haven’t been able to reduce the outbreaks or contain the outbreaks that have started.
Q: Why have vaccination rates dropped to the point of all these outbreaks?
Dr. Palmay: It’s a combination. Even before the pandemic, measles vaccination rates were already declining, which is a separate concept for outbreaks. And then, of course, the pandemic happened, with access becoming an issue. Childhood vaccination rates are limited simply because we didn’t have the same level of contact with doctors, and they actually did research, and it’s kind of funny when they surveyed Canadians. It’s actually not a lack of awareness, but rather a lack of access. You know, certainly, here we’re dealing with a dwindling primary care workforce. Pediatricians generally no longer become clinic-type pediatricians; primary care used to be the hub for vaccines. We are still trying to make up for lost time by involving pharmacists and broadening the scope of the definition of primary care. But we still haven’t necessarily caught up, so that trend started before the pandemic, and then of course the pandemic changed to some extent.
#loss #measles #elimination #status #Canadians