Parents in Manitoba are increasingly concerned as measles cases increase, and for the first time, officials have called for what is happening in the province an outbreak.
On Wednesday, the province announced 16 new cases of highly contagious infection since last week, which raised the total of the year to 60 confirmed cases and four probable cases. Of these, 42 cases have been confirmed only in May, according to provincial health data until May 17.
“We are experiencing an outbreak,” said a Health Provincial Medical Officer on Wednesday, Dr. Santina Lee.
“We are seeing higher cases of the usual, and we are seeing some ongoing community transmission”, which means cases that had no known contact in a case, either during the trip or in Manitoba.
Most cases involve children who are not vaccinated, said Lee, who is also a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases.
Both Alberta and OntarioThey are experiencing larger outbreaks, they have reported hospitalizations due to measles.
When asked how many of the infections in Manitoba have led to hospitalization, Lee cited privacy concerns and pointed out the relatively low case count of the province.
“We have been fortunate so far that most cases have not really required a higher level of medical care,” he said.
However, he warned that Manitoba will probably experience more severe cases as the infection number increases. The province can change the way in which it provides information and what that includes, since it monitors the situation, said Lee.
‘I’m really scared’: Mom
When Samantha Joyce left on Tuesday to buy edible, he left without his three -month -old baby. He is concerned to expose his daughter to diseases, including measles, he said.
“I don’t want you to get sick. I’m very afraid of that,” Lockport’s first mother said outside a supermarket on Winnipeg Avenue.
Canada immunization guide It recommends that children obtain their first dose of a vaccine containing sarampos when they are between 12 and 15 months, unless they travel to an area that experiences outbreaks, in which case they can immunize themselves as soon as six months.
At three months, Joyce’s baby is not greater enough to be vaccinated.
“I’m a little anxious,” he said.
“I really want to do it as soon as possible, and it gives me a little captivity when taking it out and being close to other people.”
Joyce, who lives in the Interlake-Eastern health region, has found the list of exhibition sites in the province useful, but plans to avoid certain social meetings and keep his daughter at home until he is eligible for a vaccine.
From last week, the province expanded the eligibility of the vaccine against babies from six to 12 months in the Interlake-Easter and Southern health regions, where most cases and exhibitions have been located.
Chelsey Winston’s nine month old daughter cannot be immunized yet, because she lives in the Winnipeg health region. However, he plans to speak with his pediatrician next week about an early vaccination.
“It’s just a concern, because you never know how you’re going to be exposed,” said Winston, who is also a nurse.
“It’s just another fear of that, I would have? Who does not have it? Are they showing symptoms?”
She hopes to see the changes in eligibility throughout the province soon.
“It’s scary, because … only in May, we have had an increase so much. So how will it be seen next month?” Winston said.
“I feel that we could be a little more isolated for only certain different game groups or go … to the lake, just to separate it from that, so that I can still enjoy the summer.”
Province not expanding eligibility, still
Dr. Lee recognized the concern and fear that new parents can feel during the measles outbreak.
Babies under about 12 months may have some immunity through their mothers if they were previously infected with measles or were completely vaccinated against it, he said.
Parents who choose to have their immunized children from six to 12 months against measles must still make sure they are vaccinated with the two routine vaccines at 12 to 15 months, already four and six years, said Lee. The first and second dose should be separated in at least four weeks.
She said that obtaining a vaccine against early measles for babies from six to 12 months is routine, because waiting until the child’s first birthday offers a more durable immunity.
For now, the province is not expanding the eligibility of the vaccine to other health regions.
“We are observing the situation really carefully,” said Lee. “At this time, we are not planning to expand that throughout the province, but that could be the situation later along the way, so it really depends on where the cases are and how they feel the propagation.”
There are also considerations about the supply and absorption of vaccines, “then, at this time, we are focusing where the highest risk and the highest needs are,” he said.
The province expects to see more new cases as the propagation of the community continues, and because the absorption of vaccines in some communities “is not as high as necessary,” Lee wrote in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
As the number of measles cases in Manitoba Sube, the province says that most infections involve children who are not vaccinated. Most cases have not required intensive medical attention, authorities say.
