Toronto – As the school year is coming to an end, Ontario public health officials focus on the prevention of measles in the summer camps.
The number of new cases of this highly contagious disease decreased in Ontario in last week, the province having reported 33 additional infections, against 96 the previous week and 74 on June 12.
The data published Thursday bear the total number of infections in Ontario to 2212 since the start of the hatch in October, most of them in non -vaccinated children.
Teachers now pass the torch of children’s safety to camp instructors.
Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said on Monday that the chief hygienist doctor From the province had held an in-depth meeting with Ontario Camps Association (OCA) in mid-May to discuss the measures to be taken in the event of hatching.
The ministry said in a statement Thursday that in the event of a case in a camp, the local public health office would identify campers and non -vaccinated staff and ask them to isolate themselves for 21 days.
An orientation document of public health in the Southwest recommends that campers and staff receive two doses of the measles vaccine.
“Although the law does not require it, the camps are strongly encouraged to collect official vaccination notebooks,” said the orientation document, which also suggests establishing daily screening controls, anticipating staff shortages and forming personnel in identifying the symptoms of measles.
He also recommends bringing together campers into small groups, stagging up meal and showering hours and maximizing outdoor activities.
However, the Public Health Office said that each camp is free to make its own operational decisions.
For Jack Goodman, owner and co -director of the New Moon camp in Baysville, Ontario, this involved requiring evidence of vaccination by creating an electronic registration system allowing parents to download their children’s vaccination books.
He obtained a compliance rate of 100 % from campers and staff.
“We manage the camp with confidence, because everyone is vaccinated,” said Mr. Goodman on Thursday, while campers unpack their luggage on the first day of the camp.
As a former president of the OCA COVVI-19 working group, Mr. Goodman was called upon to collaborate with public health officials in order to harmonize the screening, communication and vaccination protocols against measles.
Compared to the pandemic, “it is much more like a pebble in our shoe than a landslide,” he said.
In addition, most new cases in Ontario are in a northern region for the fourth consecutive week.
The Algoma Public Health Service, which includes Sault Ste. Marie, signals 22 new cases. Comparative, a new case has been registered in the Southwest Public Health Service, which was the epicenter of the epidemic for months.
And if the number of new cases has decreased in Ontario, it is up in Alberta, which recorded 109 new infections in last week. This brings the province’s total to 1105 since the start of hatching in the province in March, according to the latest data published Thursday.
Most cases of measles in the two provinces have touched non -vaccinated children, including 107 infants, children and adolescents hospitalized in Ontario. An Ontarian infant born prematurely and infected in utero died.
– With information from Allison Jones
