With a global rise in measles cases being reported, the Middlesex London Health Unit is stressing the importance for those planning March break getaways to make sure their immunizations are up-to-date.
In an advisory issued on Friday, the health unit urged people to check their vaccination status.
"The highest risk of measles transmission is among unvaccinated individuals who travel and return from countries where measles is circulating," the health unit advisory read. "Vaccination continues to be highly effective in preventing the spread of the measles virus."
The warning comes in the wake of an announcement earlier this week from the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore in which he said there has been a "dramatic rise” in measles cases in other parts of the world. He stated that while measles is no longer common in Canada, there are still four active cases in the country right now, two of them in Ontario. It has been noted that those four cases were related to travel.
Adults and children require two doses of the measles vaccine to be considered fully immunized. These shots are typically administered when people are children. Vaccination records can be checked online at Immunization Connect Ontario at mlhu.icon.ehealthontario.ca or by calling your family physician.
Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, irritated eyes, small light-coloured spots inside the mouth. The last symptom to appear is usually a skin rash that starts on the face and spreads down the rest of the body.
Anyone who exhibits these signs after recent travel should self-isolate and contact the health unit or their healthcare provider.
A case of measles previously popped up in the London-area in December. On Christmas Day the health unit warned a case had been confirmed in a seven-month-old London-area child who days prior had returned from a trip to Pakistan. In February of 2023, public health officials from both Middlesex-London and Oxford and Elgin issued a warning about another travel-related case of measles. An adult who lived in London and worked in Woodstock had contracted the virus while outside of Canada.
