Young child dies from measles, Public Health Ontario reports

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A measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is seen on a countertop at a pediatrics clinic in Greenbrae, Calif. on Feb. 6, 2015.Eric Risberg/The Associated Press

An unvaccinated child under 5 from Hamilton has died after contracting measles, underscoring the danger of the highly contagious virus and why so many health professionals have been calling for action to improve immunization rates.

A new report from Public Health Ontario published this week revealed that five children have been admitted to hospital because of measles complications so far this year, including the one who died. The agency did not reveal the ages of the other children and did not provide a spokesperson to answer questions on Friday.

"This is a profoundly tragic situation where a young child has left us too soon with their whole life ahead of them," Brendan Lew, Hamilton's associate medical officer of health, said in a statement. "There have been six confirmed cases of measles in Hamilton thus far in 2024, all of whom have not previously received a measles-containing vaccine."

Dr. Lew's statement added that health officials will not be releasing any further details about the child, including his or her age or when the child contracted measles.

Canada is experiencing a resurgence of measles cases since the pandemic. As of May 4, the Public Health Agency of Canada reports that there have been 75 cases nationally so far this year, the highest number since 2019. That year, there were a total of 113 cases.

Ontario has had 22 cases so far, with 13 in children and nine in adults. Of those, 12 children had not been vaccinated and immunization status was unknown for one.

"It's critical that we recognize that measles is not a benign illness. It's something we need to take seriously," said Alex Summers, medical officer of health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit. "We take it seriously by getting vaccinated."

Children are supposed to receive two doses of vaccine to be protected against measles, with the first administered when a child is 12 months old. The second dose is often given when the child is 4 to 6. Unvaccinated children, especially those under 5, are at heightened risk for measles complications, which can include pneumonia, brain swelling, blindness and respiratory failure.

Of the individuals infected with measles in the province this year, 9 per cent were under 1 and too young for their first routine dose; 32 per cent were 1-4; and 18 per cent were 5-9.

All nine of the infected adults were born after 1970. Typically, people born before this date are presumed to have acquired measles immunity from infections, given how common the virus was before the introduction of routine vaccination programs. Four of the adults had at least two doses of a measles vaccine, two had not been immunized and three had unknown vaccination status.

Experts say people who acquire measles after being vaccinated are likely to experience mild symptoms.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to major disruptions in childhood vaccination programs, causing a decrease in the number of children immunized against measles and other serious illnesses. At the same time, there has been a rise in disinformation about vaccines, often promoted on social-media channels and sometimes repeated by influential individuals, such as U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in existence, but it no longer spreads in Canada, thanks to decades of work to ensure enough children are vaccinated. But that measles-free status could be put at risk if there is a continued rise in cases and the virus gets a foothold in communities that have large pockets of unvaccinated individuals.