KMHC Measles Measures
Written by Jeremy Zafran on 12 March 2024
Measles is on the uptick and locally, measures are being put into place. Guests on Tetewathá:ren, the Party Line talk show included the KMHC’s Dawn Montour Lazare, Manager of Outpatient Care & Public Health, Mendy Sananikone, Associate Executive Director of the KMHC and Juanita Belanger, infection, prevention and control nurse, with news on the outbreak. Montour-Lazare on the importance of getting the information out:
“All over the world there are cases of measles going on and for Canada up until 1998, they decided there was enough vaccination not to considerate it not endemic and to this point, it’s still not considered endemic, meaning that it’s not from within here or it doesn’t circulate freely but it comes in from another country, so from travelers, which is what happened in this case. So, it started off with 1 case that came in here and now we’re up to 17 confirmed cases in Quebec, thirteen of which are from Montreal and between Laval and the Mauricie/Quebec City area there are 4 more cases there but they won’t tell us the numbers because it’s too low.”
Measles is easily transmissible with so many in Kahnawake travelling, herd immunity is key, but Juanita Belanger the risk for those under the age of 1 is concerning:
“It’s very, very contagious, it spreads by the aerosol route so that means that it becomes tiny, tiny droplets that sit on those little dust particles in the air and they just kind of sit there, they float in the air. What makes it so contagious is the fact that it spreads by that route, it is one of the most contagious infections that exists on the planet, much more contagious than the flu, covid, it’s really one of the most contagious, so, when somebody is exposed, if they are not protected, they have a 90% chance of getting it, where you wouldn’t see that high percentage in other infections. You might have 20 people in a room and only 1 person might get the flu or cold, but with measles chances are that most of them will.”
Today the Lester B. Pearson School Board sent an email to all parents addressing the outbreak and ways to get vaccinated. There is no specific treatment for the disease. More information is available on the Clic-Sante website.
