Alberta’s measles wave seems to be decelerated, but with children at school this week, health experts warn that another rapid increase could be around the corner.
The magnitude of the outbreaks of the province has caused a generalized concern for months, eclipsando the total case has for the entire United States In July.
Alberta continues to inform more cases, weekly, than any other province of the country, according to the Canada Public Health Agency.
However, the number of new measles cases confirmed every week has been Trend down From its maximum point in July.
Seven more cases were reported during the long weekend, all in the northern zone, which brought the total number identified since the shoots began in March 1,826 at noon on Wednesday.
“There are still measles cases around the province, but the number of new cases is decreasing, which is a good sign,” said Dr. Karina Top, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital.
“We saw an increase in people who receive their [measles] Vaccines in early summer, so I think it is thanks to these people and the efforts of public health to help people empty that we are beginning to see a negative trend in the amount of new cases. “
A person is currently in the hospital due to the disease. As of August 23, 152 Albertans have been hospitalized since the outbreaks began, including 15 income of the Intensive Care Unit. No deaths have been reported this year.
“We are not seeing so many sick children with him, which is a good thing,” said Dr. Sidd Thakore, a pediatrician of Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.
Classroom risk
Thakore has treated children who are very sick with measles, which can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling and even death.
He is looking to see what happens when children return to school and spend more time inside, in close contact
“We will see another peak for that? Time will say it. But it is such a contagious virus for those who have symptoms that will be close to people who are not vaccinated, there is definitely a much higher risk so we can see those numbers going up again.”
Infectious diseases tend to spread more easily as people move inside. To make things worse, measles is a highly contagious air virus that can hang in the air for up to two hours after a person leaves a place.
“If a child is in a classroom with measles, in a couple of hours he will expose all other children in that classroom that is not protected against measles … and anyone who goes to the classroom for two hours after that child has also gone could also get measles,” said Top, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta.
Both doctors urge Alberta to make sure that their family is updated with immunizations and keep children at home when they are sick.
The latest publicly available data in 2024 vaccination rates against measles among young children were well below the threshold of 95 percent that infectious diseases experts, as required for the immunity of the flock.
According to the province, two doses of the measles vaccine offer a protection of almost 100 percent.
The vast majority of confirmed cases continue to be among those who are not immunized.
