Chatham-Kent’s hospital is urging area residents to ensure they are up to date on their measles vaccinations to avoid additional pressure on local health care.
According to officials with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, around 200 individuals have attended the hospital to receive an assessment, testing, or advice for the measles virus over the last several months.
“That’s obviously 200 patients and families that we otherwise wouldn’t have had so it’s increased our ambulatory [care] volumes for sure. But we’ve been working closely with public health to give out as much information as we can,” said CKHA President and CEO Adam Topp.
Topp emphasized that 95 per cent of Chatham-Kent’s population has been vaccinated for the virus.
“But that doesn’t mean there aren’t groups who are vulnerable,” he said. “We do treat this very seriously, it’s a very contagious disease.”
Topp said those who are pregnant or immune compromised are the most at risk if exposed to the measles virus.
Despite the high level of vaccination in the community, Caen Suni, CKHA’s vice president of clinical programs and operations, said more individuals need to get the vaccine.
“We need people to get vaccinated. If they’re not vaccinated, you start to put health services at risk,” said Suni. “While the volumes haven’t been overwhelming, it is still a pressure on the [emergency department]. It disrupts care and puts staff and other patients at risk.”
According to the most recent update from Public Health Ontario, another eight cases of the measles virus were identified in Chatham-Kent between May 27 and June 3.
A total of 175 cases have now been reported in the municipality since January 1, which accounts for 8.7 per cent of all cases detected across the province.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, announced on Thursday that an infant, born prematurely and infected with measles, has passed away in southwestern Ontario. The infant contracted the virus before birth from their mother, who had not received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
Since October 28, 2024, a total of 2,009 measles cases have been identified in Ontario. Of those individuals, 88.9 per cent were unimmunized.