2024-03-12 23:31:25
MONTREAL — Toddlers under the age of one are currently the most vulnerable to measles in a context where there is community transmission of this highly contagious disease. The Committee on Immunization of Quebec (CIQ) is studying whether six to eleven month olds should be vaccinated.
As of Monday, 17 cases of measles have been reported in Quebec, 13 of which are in the Montreal region. The best way to protect yourself once morest this disease is to get vaccinated.
According to the Quebec vaccination schedule, children are vaccinated once morest measles at the ages of 12 and 18 months and they are 95% protected from this disease throughout their life. However, we observe uneven vaccination rates and sometimes particularly low ones in schools, which has worried public health for several weeks.
According to public health data, 87% of elementary school students are adequately vaccinated and 88.8% for secondary school students. The authorities are aiming to protect 95% of the population, either through a history of illness or through vaccination.
Because children under one year of age have generally not received a vaccine, they are more vulnerable to measles, which can cause serious complications such as blindness, encephalitis, pneumonia, and in one in 3,000 cases, the death.
As part of a webinar organized Tuesday by the College of Physicians in which more than 11,000 health professionals participated, Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, microbiologist-infectious disease specialist at CHU Sainte-Justine, declared that those who are vaccinated before the age of 12 months have a much lesser response and in the long term.
“When we look at it from a population point of view, these people risk reducing collective protection and therefore we might find ourselves in a situation where there is much more susceptibility to measles,” she explained.
She said that the current recommendation is to vaccinate six to eleven month olds who go to countries where the risk of measles is high.
This age group can also receive the vaccine in contexts of post-exposure to measles. “For example, if there was a case in the daycare or care setting that the toddler attended. If the case is caught early enough, he will be able to receive the vaccine,” mentioned Dr. Quach-Thanh.
She said the vaccine can be given to a person three days following first contact with a case of measles. “In theory, we would have seven to ten days. The Quebec Immunization Committee is considering whether we might extend this interval beyond three days,” said Dr. Quach-Thanh.
The CIQ should look into the issue on Thursday and Friday, according to Dr. Quach-Thanh. An official provincial response is expected followingwards.
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