Public health asking people who may have been at Confederation Central School to watch for symptoms

The Independent

A second person in Lambton has tested positive for measles and public health officials are asking people who may have been exposed to monitor for symptoms of the highly contagious virus.

Friday, Lambton Public Health announced its first case of measles in the area as the province deals with a major outbreak of the virus which was once virtually eradicated in Ontario. Sunday, officials said via a news release that another person had tested positive for measles.

In a news release, officials asked that anyone who has a weakened immune system, is pregnant or who hasn’t been vaccinated to see if they have been in the areas below.

Anyone who may have been exposed at the above locations should follow these steps:
Contact LPH at 519-383-8331 if you have a severely weakened immune system are pregnant without vaccination or if you are born in or after 1970 and have only one dose of the measles shot.

If you have been exposed, public health says you should watch for symptoms of measles including a fever rash or red eyes for 21 days.

If you develop symptoms, avoid contact with others and do not attend public places like schools or child care.

Call your health care provider before you head to their location, to tell them of the symptoms so they can take precautions.

Southern Ontario is the middle of a measles outbreak. Public Health Ontario reported 440 cases across the province from Jan. 1 to March 19. “The sharp increase in the number of outbreak cases and the geographic spread in recent weeks is due to continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized,” PHO said in a news release.

The Ontario outbreaks began in Norfolk County and have rapidly increased across the province with about 120 more cases in the last week. Most of the measles cases have been in the Norfolk and Oxford county area. Nearby Chatham-Kent has had 20 this year.

About 75 per cent of the cases were in children. PHO says 96 percent of those children were not vaccinated.

Vaccines had basically eradicated measles in Canada. Between 2013 and 2023, there were 101 confirmed cases of the virus which mostly occurred in people who had been travelling.

Normally, toddlers are vaccinated around 12 to 15 months. There is also a booster given between the ages of 4 and 6 years old

Public Health Ontario data shows only 70 per cent of the the province’s school children were fully vaccinated during the last school year.