At the epicentre of Ontario’s measles outbreak, residents reel with concern

Outside the Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) building, St. Thomas resident Cemon Aswathi sighed with relief after booking her 17-month-old son Nathan for the second dose of a vaccine that protects against the measles.  

“We booked it in advance just to be protected more,” said Aswathi. “It’s difficult since he’s very young and it’s very easy to catch, so it’s a frightening situation when children are suffering.”

The region, spanning across St. Thomas and smaller townships and municipalities in Oxford and Elgin counties, has accounted for about 40 per cent of measles infections reported in Ontario over the last six months. Thirty-two new cases were recorded this past week.

The current measles outbreak, which began last fall, has been the largest Canada has seen in more than a decade. Health officials in Ontario said they’ve now seen 816 people with measles, the majority unvaccinated children.

Public health units overseeing Ontario’s southwest region account for roughly 88 per cent of the reported cases since October. A regional breakdown can be found here.

“Majority of the people I know want to get vaccinated because they’re afraid and don’t want to get [the measles]. People are also afraid to go to the emergency now because it’s a huge breakout,” said Aswathi. 

Measles usually begins with a fever, cough, runny nose and red watery eyes, followed by a red blotchy rash that starts on the face and spreads to the body and limbs. it is extremely contagious and the virus can stay in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room.

Working to get message to Mennonites 

In March, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore linked the current outbreak to a Mennonite gathering in New Brunswick. “Over 90 per cent of cases in Ontario linked to this outbreak are among unimmunized individuals. Cases could spread in any unvaccinated community or population but are disproportionately affecting some Mennonite, Amish, and other Anabaptist communities due to a combination of under-immunization and exposure to measles in certain areas.,” Moore wrote. 

The town of Aylmer in Elgin County is home to a large Mennonite community and a local organization is working with the health unit to ensure residents are receiving public health messages. Mennonite Community Services (MCS) of Southern Ontario translates the health unit’s ads to the Low German language and airs them on its 24/7 local radio station.  

“People come in for various information at all times, so our doors are always open because we want to make sure the newcomers get the support they need and we can refer them to where they need to go,” said executive director Anna Bergen, adding the ads aren’t specific to measles. 

“We assume they are getting the message and that allows them to reach out to their choice of health-care provider.”

There’s also worry that people from the Mennonite, Amish and other anabaptist communities will be shunned or discriminated against because of the outbreak. “Our community is diverse and we have different views so nobody wants to be put in one pocket as one or the other. Aylmer is a great town and I’d like for it to be seen as that,” Bergen said. 

The outbreak is extremely worrisome for Aylmer resident Jodi Nesbitt, whose daughter has a two-year-old child and is pregnant with her second.

“Every time your child gets a cough, cold or a little tiny spot, you’re always thinking ‘Is it measles, should we stay home, should we isolate?’ There’s so many questions for people,” said Nesbitt, who works as a nurse at a retirement home in Oxford County’s Tillsonburg.

“We’re very concerned about it because the two-year-old hasn’t been fully immunized yet so hopefully he can get his second one soon because they did open it up.” 

Children can receive one dose of the vaccine at 12 months old. Due to the unprecedented measles outbreak, they can now get a second dosage as early as four weeks after the first one, according to SPWH’s website.

Infants aged 6 to 11 months are also now eligible to receive a dose of measles-containing vaccine for earlier protection against measles, the health unit said.

Health officials are expecting the outbreak could last up to two years by the time it spreads through unvaccinated communities, Dr. Asmaa Hussain, a pediatrician at St. Thomas General Hospital told CBC’s Afternoon Drive on Thursday. 

“I’m very concerned, it does not take a lot to bring some of these infections here and it will spread really quickly,” said Hussain, adding it will add more strain to an already struggling health-care system. “We are in this for the long haul.”

Across the province, 61 people have gone to hospital for treatment, three of which have resulted in ICU stays. No deaths have been reported.