New Brunswick health officials say there are three confirmed and five probable cases of measles in the south-central region of the province.
Dr. Kimberley Barker, regional medical officer of health for Sussex, N.B., said the situation is evolving and there could be more cases of measles, including people with symptoms who are staying home and not seeking medical care.
She did not give the ages of those infected with measles, citing privacy.
She called the rising number of measles cases in the country “concerning.” Health Canada said as of July 5 there were 3,822 measles cases reported across the country this year.
There are a number of factors causing the increase in measles cases, she noted.
These could include people having fears about whether the vaccines are safe, she said, but it’s not the only factor.
“I think we all like to blame… vaccine hesitancy, and I actually think that it goes beyond just families who are not particularly comfortable with vaccinating their kids.”
There could also be cases where people assume they don’t need the vaccine or instances when people get too busy, she added.
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For example, she said some parents might have busy schedules, with both working full time, making it a challenge to set up appointments to get their children vaccinated.
“The other important component that we find is that measles is a bit of an old disease that a lot of people thought was gone,” Barker said. “We figure, if everyone else has got vaccinated, then ’I don’t really need to, because I’m not going to get it.’”
She added that it may have been harder for people to get vaccines for diseases such as the measles at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a number of services were reduced or restricted. She said this also led to a decrease in vaccination rates.
The province recently confirmed that measles vaccination rates among children were below 95 per cent – a threshold that scientists say can stop the disease from spreading.
The Health Department has said its most recent numbers from 2023-24 show that at least 10 per cent of children in New Brunswick were not vaccinated for measles, mumps and German measles.
Barker said it was difficult to get an estimate on the vaccination rate in the Sussex region.
“I will say that every jurisdiction has noticed a decline in vaccine coverage rates,” she said.
