Windsor Regional Hospital is keeping a close eye on the measles outbreak, especially now that a case has been confirmed locally.
The hospital's board of directors met Thursday afternoon, with one report being an update on measles, what people should do if they believe they've been exposed, and what those in the community can do to stay protected.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit confirmed a measles case in Ruthven on Tuesday evening, with the Windsor Regional Hospital Met Campus listed as one of two points of exposure.
In a statement on Thursday, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, said many of the cases around the country have required hospitalization - with the majority of the cases being in unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children.
Canada' public health agency says the country has recorded 227 measles cases for this year alone - more than in all of 2024.
Dr. Wassim Saad, Chief of Staff at Windsor Regional Hospital, says health unit's, including locally, are working on vaccination efforts.
"A lot of the outbreak cases were in older people, but as of this past week we've had paediatric cases of measles unfortunately, and those paediatric cases were in unvaccinated children. Our public health unit, and other public health unit's, have started to report measles and are working on getting to the source."
He says due to the exposure the hospital assessed the risk associated with the infection.
"We do take extra precautions in terms of contact tracing and isolation, and following up to make sure that people were potentially exposed are either vaccinated, or offered post-exposure prophylaxis. And to continue to monitor their symptoms for an appropriate duration in case new symptoms do pop up."
Saad says unless you develop symptoms, you do not need to visit the hospital.
"The best thing you can do if your vaccination status is up to date, and you have potentially been exposed, and you're not in a high-risk category, there's really nothing you need to do. You can monitor for symptoms, and if you develop any symptoms then you can bring that to medical attention, but again that is not necessarily a reason to present to the hospital."
From 1998 to 2024, there have been an average of 91 measles cases reported in Canada annually.
The exposure at the hospital's Met Campus was between Sunday, March 2, between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., in the main entrance, elevators, and 3rd floor paediatric hallway.
The other point of exposure was at the TMC Kingsville Walk-in/Urgent Care in Kingsville, on March 1 between 9:20 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
Measles is a respiratory disease caused by one of the world's most contagious viruses. It spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes, or coughs. It most commonly affects kids.
Symptoms can include a fever, runny nose, cough, drowsiness, irritability, and red eyes. A red rash appears on the face three to seven days after the start of the above symptoms.