An outbreak of measles in Toronto has prompted the city to make a limited number of young children inoculated against the infection mandatory.
Public health officials in Toronto announced Wednesday that some 1,000 people infected with measles were served with a letter this week asking their parents to contact them about immunization, and offered to run a program to encourage people to protect themselves.
The letter told parents about the risk of having measles in the city after the outbreak, which involves at least 42 cases and infected five people whose birthdays fall within the 10 years covered by Toronto’s childhood vaccination law. The letter said the city’s vaccination requirements, which have evolved over the years, apply to babies who are not yet one and will be the focus of the program. The letter said people of any age, but especially those in their teens and early 20s, should consider obtaining a vaccination.
Public health officials in Toronto announced Wednesday that some 1,000 people infected with measles were served with a letter this week asking their parents to contact them about immunization, and offered to run a program to encourage people to protect themselves.
“We want every Torontonian to receive the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine,” Dr. Erika Evans, the medical officer of health for Toronto, said in a statement. “But we must protect our young ones at this time.”
Although the school-based program will focus on those born between Jan. 1, 1994, and Dec. 31, 1996, public health officials will also contact parents whose children are not under age 19 to encourage them to get a vaccine for those vaccinated before the rule was changed.
Public health officials have been investigating the outbreak since the beginning of the year, after seeing an increase in suspected cases of measles in the area. That number has since increased, from 3 to 40 confirmed cases as of Tuesday.
The outbreak was first identified in October, when about 20 people were sent home from a church retreat for the “follow-up” of a measles exposure. The outbreak then proceeded to spread throughout the city.
The outbreak was first identified in October, when about 20 people were sent home from a church retreat for the “follow-up” of a measles exposure.
For now, public health officials in Toronto are asking that those found to have been exposed to measles be quarantined for a month to six weeks at home. Those found to have been in close contact with an infected person have been advised to contact their healthcare provider to seek protective measures. Parents whose children are unvaccinated may have to talk to their doctors, and may need to stay at home, for up to 21 days.
Officials said that those plans were likely to change and that they would work with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to find a more permanent solution.
Several provinces have ruled against requiring mandatory vaccinations of children in public health settings, a stance that has some in Canada’s science community worried that older vaccines in particular might not be as effective.
“Most of the side effects for vaccinated children, even severe ones, are similar to those that they would get from the vaccine itself,” Mark Schuster, a professor of microbiology at the University of Guelph, told The Atlantic last week.
Mr. Schuster suggested that newer vaccines, such as vaccines against influenza and Hepatitis B, deliver better protection, even if they cause less illness in children.
Vaccination against the measles is a relatively straightforward procedure. To prevent measles-like symptoms, persons can be immunized with the first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, known as MMR, or rubella, in either oral or in a single dose.
There have been confirmed cases of measles in Germany, England, Italy, France, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Armenia, Romania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Croatia, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Serbia, India, and Hong Kong.