Alberta's measles case count surges above 200

Alberta's total number of reported measles cases, since outbreaks began in March, has passed 200, and it's prepping a media campaign in response.

On Friday, Alberta reported 13 new cases in the south zone, four in the central zone and two in the Calgary zone. The province also found that two previously reported cases in the north zone came from outside the province, bringing the net total change to 17.

Overall, Alberta has seen 210 reported cases of measles this year. Of that total, 26 are known to be active. The province's south zone has seen the bulk of the cases, with 106.

The province also reports that the majority of cases, 121, have been recorded in Albertans between five and 17 years old. The tally is 58 for patients under five years old.

Provincial data, which was last updated on April 26, shows 11 people have been hospitalized in Alberta due to confirmed measles cases since outbreaks began this spring.

The province is preparing to launch a media campaign in May that will include radio, print and expanded social media advertising about measles. The campaign will include a toolkit for daycare providers.

The campaign will also be translated into over 14 languages. Online ads will be in French, Chinese, Punjabi, Spanish, Ukrainian, Urdu and Tagalog, with radio ads also translated to Arabic, Hindi, Korean, Farsi, Somali and Vietnamese.

Confirmed cases in public settings

On Thursday, Alberta Health Services released details about a confirmed measles patient in southern Alberta who was in public settings while infectious last week. The patient was at the ATB Financial branch in the Village of Foremost on April 21 between approximately 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on April 22, they were at the ATB branch in Bow Island between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and the Rexall Pharmacy at 73 Seventh St. S.E. in Medicine Hat between 4:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, AHS also issued an advisory notifying the public about a confirmed measles case in a public setting in Calgary.

AHS identified potential exposure areas at Lucky Supermarket at 4527 8th Ave. S.E. between 8:00 and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 27, as well as on Tuesday, April 29 in the city's northeast at SantiMed Family and Walk-In Clinic between 11:50 a.m. and 2:15 p.m., and Alberta Precision Laboratory's Sunridge location between 12:20 and 2:55 p.m.

Another AHS advisory issued Friday reported a confirmed measles case was in public in the province's south zone at the Coaldale Health Centre Ambulatory Clinic between 5:30 and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 20, at the Taber Walmart between 3 and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, and at The Movie Mill on Mayor Magrath Dr. S. in Lethbridge between 6:50 and 10 p.m. on Sunday, April 27.

On Saturday, AHS issued a revised advisory, adding that the confirmed measles case in Alberta's south zone was also at the Coaldale Health Centre Ambulatory Clinic between 6:05 and 9:07 p.m. on Friday, April 25, and at the Hudson's Bay in Lethbridge's Centre Mall between 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29.

Earlier this week, AHS also informed the public a confirmed measles patient was at the Two Hills Health Centre Emergency Department, Lab and Diagnostic Imaging between 8:09 p.m. and 10:14 p.m. on April 24, and at St. Joseph's General Hospital in Vegreville between 8:20 p.m. that same night and 3:50 a.m. the following morning.

And in Alberta's north zone, a confirmed measles patient was reported on the weekend in a public setting in Whitecourt. The person was reported to be in the Whitecourt Emergency Department on Sunday, April 27, between 4:43 a.m. and 8:36 p.m., and again on Monday from 8:43 p.m. and 3:35 a.m. the following morning.

Alberta's former chief medical officer of health, Dr. Mark Joffe, said last week the recent surge in cases "should concern us all." Joffe left the interim CMOH position in April when his contract ended. The premier noted at the time that the government wanted him to stay on as chief medical officer of health.

Alberta at Noon52:39Your questions about measles

As the number of measles cases grows in Alberta, how concerned are you? Is there something you want to know about the disease or the vaccine?

"We are now in a search for a CMOH," Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said Thursday. "I would love to see a permanent CMOH as soon as possible, but we will have to go out to market … there's a process for that as well."

LaGrange added that Alberta is seeing a higher number of immunizations compared to last year.

Concerning growth in case count

Craig Jenne, a University of Calgary professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious disease, said Alberta's growing case count is concerning.

"Unfortunately, right now, we're not seeing any evidence of it slowing, so we will anticipate seeing more and more cases for the next several weeks," Jenne said.

He noted that Alberta's case count is growing at a more rapid rate than the outbreak in Ontario, which has 1,200 cases since October.

Alberta's vaccine rate is still below what's needed to bring the outbreak under control, Jenne said.

Infectious disease experts say an overall 95 per cent coverage is needed for population-level protection against measles.

"We know the best way to do that is to be very clear and upfront about the messaging. We need to make the vaccines accessible and easy to obtain," Jenne said.

Albertans with questions about the measles vaccine shouldn't hesitate to talk to a health care provider or pharmacist, Jenne said.

According to the provincial government's website, between one and three out of every 1,000 people with measles will die.

Measles symptoms include:

• High fever.
• Cough.
• Runny nose.
• Red eyes.
• Blotchy, red rash that appears three to seven days after the fever starts.