Epidemiological portrait of the measles outbreak
Spread of the disease and regions affected
As of March 21, 2012 (12:00 p.m.), 776 cases of measles had been reported to Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux monitoring authorities at Bureau de surveillance et de vigie since January 1st, 2011.
Since the previous update, no cases have been reported. The current outbreak has been primarily fueled by individuals who contracted the disease in Québec. Several regions have reported at least one case (see table 1).
Table 1 – Number of new measles cases reported since March 7, 2012, and total number of cases reported by region of residence, province of Québec, for the January 1st to March 21, 2012 period
Region of residence |
New cases |
Total cases reported - number |
Total cases reported - % |
|---|---|---|---|
01 - Bas-Saint-Laurent |
0 | 1 | 0,1 |
02 - Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean |
0 | 2 | 0,3 |
03 - Capitale-Nationale |
0 | 31 | 4,0 |
04 - Mauricie et Centre-du-Québec |
0 | 538 | 69,3 |
05 - Estrie |
0 | 26 | 3,4 |
06 - Montréal |
0 | 15 | 1,9 |
07 - Outaouais |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
08 - Abitibi-Témiscamingue |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
09 - Côte-Nord |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
10 - Nord-du-Québec |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
11 - Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
12 - Chaudière-Appalaches |
0 | 5 | 0,6 |
13 - Laval |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
14 - Lanaudière |
0 | 3 | 0,4 |
15 - Laurentides |
0 | 9 | 1,2 |
16 - Montérégie |
0 | 145 | 18,7 |
17 - Nunavik |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
18 - Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James |
0 | 0 | 0,0 |
Québec's non residents |
0 | 1 | 0,1 |
| Total | 0 | 776 | 100 |
Source : Bureau de surveillance et de vigie, DPSP, MSSS, as of March 21, 2012 (12 noon).
The majority of the 776 cases were young people between age 10 and 19; 1 case out of every 9 (11%) required hospitalization. Complications were reported in 64 cases (8%), principally respiratory (27 cases of pneumonia).
Vaccination history of cases
It is estimated that in 615 cases (79%), the patient could not be considered protected (immune) for one of a variety of reasons:
- Had never received the vaccine
- Had no proof of vaccination
- Was not eligible to be vaccinated
- Did not know whether he or she had ever been vaccinated or contracted the disease
Of these, 29 were infants under age one, the minimum age to receive the first dose of the vaccine.
Measles vaccination in Québec
The regular vaccination schedule recommends that the first dose of MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine be administered at 12 months and the second at 18 months. The effectiveness of the MMR vaccine is over 95% after two doses and protection against the disease is lifelong.
To protect the public, a school-based vaccination campaign is currently underway. To find out more, see the school-based measles vaccination campaign page.
To find out more about measles, see the measles questions and answers section.
Bureau de surveillance et de vigie
Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux
March 23, 2012 (12 a.m.)
