'Herd immunity' guarding Ottawa against measles outbreak

The vast majority of parents in Ottawa are doing a good job vaccinating their kids, saving the city from a measles outbreak, local health officials say.

"We have a good base immunization rate here in Ottawa, and people understand the importance of immunization," said Dr. Robin Taylor, the city's associatemedical officer of health.

Taylor's reassurance came onthe same day Ottawa Public Health (OPH) confirmed a man contracted measles while travelling abroad.

The highly contagious virus can be spread when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, and can can remain infectious in the air for up to two hours.

Infected patients can experience flu-like symptoms before developing thetelltale rash.

Herd immunity keeping Ottawa safe from measles outbreak: OPH

6 years ago

Duration 0:21

Ottawans are doing a good job at vaccinating their kids.

The disease was all but eradicated in Canada bythe late 90s, but cases still occur.

Most confirmed cases are contracted overseas, like the most recent case in Ottawa, Taylorsaid.

'Herd immunity'

At 94.4 per cent among seven-year-olds in 2017 the latest statistics available Ottawa's measles vaccination rate isjust shy of the national standard of 95 per cent, also known as "herd immunity," the rate required to stop the spread of the disease.

It's also an improvement over the 91.9 per cent local vaccination rate logged just two years earlier.

Ottawa had just two confirmed cases of measles in 2016 and four in 2014.

"So we have to have a good base level of immunity," Taylor said.

Still, Ottawa's vaccination rate laggedbehind the province-wide rate of 96.2 per cent among seven-year-oldsin 2017.

Despite the relatively positive picture, health officials recommend people protect themselves.

They warn that some may think they're adequatelyvaccinated, but in fact never received the recommended booster shot of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

OPH encourages people to check their medical records to make sure.