Hub Staff
Grey Bruce Public Health (GBPH) has received confirmation of a measles case in an unvaccinated child in Grey-Bruce.
The patient and other family members are isolating at home and a contact-tracing investigation hasn't identified any places in Grey-Bruce where members of the public could have been exposed to the virus nor has it revealed exposure risks in local schools.
In a March 21 press release from GBPH, the patient is the only member of the household who hadn't received a measles vaccine and no other family members have developed symptoms. The case isn't travel-related and is likely linked to the ongoing outbreak across multiple jurisdictions in southern Ontario.
GBPH said that the risk of contracting measles in Grey-Bruce remains low, particularly for those vaccinated against the virus.
Vaccination efficacy is estimated to be between 85 and 95 percent with the first dose, reaching nearly 100 percent with a second dose.
Measles is airborne, can live in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours, and spreads easily when an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes and another person breathes in the virus particles. Symptoms usually begin between one to three weeks after exposure and include fever, cough, runny nose, sore eyes, and light sensitivity. Red spots and blotchy patches generally start to show three to seven days after symptoms begin and start on the face, followed by body, arms, and legs. People infected with the virus are infectious four days prior and four days following the rash.
Areas currently experiencing measles outbreak are Huron-Perth, Haldimand-Norfolk, Brant County, Brantford, Oxford, Elgin, and St. Thomas.
Most people recover from measles without treatment in two to three weeks but the virus can be more severe for infants, pregnant people, and those with compromised immune symptoms and complications can include pneumonia, brain swelling, seizures, and in rare cases, death.
