Parents calm as Ottawa deals with 3rd measles case of 2019
Parents whose children may have been exposed to measles at a school and a recreation centre west of Ottawa's core say they're remaining calm as health officials deal with the third case of the contagious virus this year.
On Wednesday, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) issued a warning that people may have come in contact with the measles carrier at a handful of spots across the city between May 14 and May 19.
It was issued the same day that parents and staff at Turnbull School, a private school for students from junior kindergarten to Grade 8, received a similar letter from OPH.
The letter said they or their children may have been exposed to the virus between May 13 and 16 and urged them to check their vaccination records and keep an eye out for symptoms.
"There was concern at the beginning, but everybody who I've spoken to since seems very satisfied with how it's been managed," said Craig Dunn, Turnbull's senior school principal.
Dunn said OPH's swift, thorough response helped ease parents' concerns.
"They walked us through everything to ensure that those who were potentially at risk were screened and made sure that proper steps were taken to ensure their safety — as well as the safety of everybody else," he said.
'Pretty confident'
Parents waiting to pick up their children at the Carlington neighbourhood school Thursday afternoon generally echoed that sentiment.
"I was pretty confident [since] my child is vaccinated. I know the vaccination rates of protection are pretty good," said Shadi Nahas, whose six-year-old son attends the school.
"[OPH] were handling it and were very prompt to react and let us know and have been keeping us in the loop."
List of symptoms
OPH has said the patient is an adult, and that — like the two previous unconnected cases reported in Ottawa in 2019 — may have contacted measles through international travel.
Symptoms generally appear seven to 21 days after exposure, and include a high fever, runny nose, coughing, irritability and red eyes.
Small white spots can appear in the mouth and throat and three to seven days after the first symptoms appear, sufferers may develop the disease's telltale red blotchy rash.
The patient also visited the Dovercourt Recreation Centre, where a number of parents Thursday were learning about the measles case for the first time.
Maureen Kelly, whose daughter swims at Dovercourt, said she wasn't too worried because they both have up-to-date immunizations.
Still, she said the case speaks to "a whole problem with people not getting vaccinated."
"There's always little outbreaks of measles. I think there's more right now because people are reluctant sometimes to get vaccinated," she said.
"Hopefully, this will kind of make people realize why we need to get vaccinated — to help stop the spread of these types of diseases."
Cameron Read said he and his two children were also vaccinated, and hoped others would take that step to ensure "herd immunity" — the rate of vaccination required to stop the disease's spread — would be maintained.
As of 2017, 94.4 per cent of seven-year-olds in Ottawa had been vaccinated against measles, just shy of the national standard of 95 per cent.
