Maintaining measles elimination in Canada: Moving forward

Abstract

Due to the success of immunization and timely surveillance, Canada has not reported any cases of endemic measles since 1998. However, recent large outbreaks of imported-related measles have highlighted the risks of reintroduction of disease through travel and immunization coverage gaps in sub-populations.Building on its 2011 Elimination Report and in collaboration with provincial and territorial partners, the Public Health Agency of Canada has been promoting immunization, expanding the information gathered in immunization coverage surveys, piloting enhanced surveillance with real-time notifications of suspected and confirmed cases to enable early detection of outbreaks and strengthening its laboratory capacity. As these efforts are consolidated, this approach may become a model for other countries around the world as they seek to achieve measles elimination goals.

User-driven comments on a Facebook advertisement recruiting Canadian parents in a study on immunization: Content Analysis (Preprint)

“…This has been evident in Canada and other developed nations such as the United States and countries in Europe who have reported an increase in the number of outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases [VPDs] [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

Mantenimiento del estatus de eliminación del sarampión en Colombia durante el control de brotes, 2019

“…La calidad del sistema de vigilancia en salud pública y del laboratorio en Colombia, mediante el uso de pruebas confirmatorias, la identificación de los genotipos circulantes, el alto porcentaje de investigación de casos sospechosos, el bajo porcentaje de casos con fuente de infección desconocida (menor al 10%), la ausencia de casos endémicos, la duración menor a 12 semanas de cada cadena de transmisión, la verificación del antecedente vacunal de los casos confirmados y el rastreo de contactos estrechos, permitió la documentación del mantenimiento de la eliminación del sarampión y la rubéola validado por la Comisión Regional de Verificación en 2021. Estos hechos son similares a los descritos en la respuesta de los sistemas de salud pública en Estados Unidos, Australia y Canadá que afrontaron brotes localizados entre población no inmunizada y lograron detener todas las cadenas de transmisión (33)(34)(35).…”

Evaluation of Diagnostic Accuracy of Eight Commercial Assays for the Detection of Measles Virus-Specific IgM Antibodies

“…It is expected that some of the measles cases were confirmed by RT-PCR, but that information was also unavailable. Overall vaccination coverage rates are high in Canada ( 25 ), and most cases of measles occur in inadequately vaccinated individuals ( 26 – 32 ). Of the reported measles cases occurring between 2002 and 2013, the years in which these sera were collected, nearly two-thirds of measles cases were unvaccinated (63% of reported cases) and only 17% had received at least one dose of measles vaccine ( 26 ).…”