HaltonParents

Dear Parent or Caregiver,

As I write this there have been six reported cases of measles in Halton Region. These six people, in the time they were infected to before they realized they had measles, have also been in contact with hundreds of other people in our community. Unfortunately, measles is very contagious and the virus can survive for 2 hours in the air and on surfaces. This is especially scary for those who cannot rely on vaccinations for immunity to measles. I’m talking about infants under the age of one, and children and adults whose immune systems are far too weak due to other illnesses or cancer treatments. For these people, and pregnant women, measles can be especially dangerous. But generally speaking, especially for those of us who are healthy, we don’t worry too much about these illnesses because we haven’t experienced first-hand the types of outbreaks that occurred before routine vaccinations were introduced. However, the illnesses we get immunized against still happen unexpectedly and can spread quickly.

If you decided not to immunize your baby, or at least not to give your toddler the MMR vaccine, no doubt you were trying to choose the best option for your child given the information you had at the time. There is no judgement here.  Continue reading →