Letter from Alberta daycare incorrectly warns of measles
Posted January 18, 2023 4:30 pm.
Last Updated January 18, 2023 6:22 pm.
A Sherwood Park daycare spent Wednesday correcting an email sent out to parents that wrongly warned of measles exposure.
Alberta Health Services confirmed with CityNews that there are no known cases of measles in the province and that they are working with the daycare to rescind the notice they sent out to parents.
CityNews has confirmed with the daycare that what was initially reported to parents as measles was roseola, sometimes called baby measles. Because there is no active case of measles or risk to the public, we are not naming the daycare.
Most cases of roseola occur in childhood and are not serious, and is a different virus than the highly contagious measles.
The measles virus, also known as rubeola, is considered eradicated in Canada through vaccination, but we still get the odd case through international travel. In 2022, Canada recorded three confirmed cases of measles.
Because of how easily the virus can spread and the high instances of long-term side effects, confirmed cases often come with strong public health responses.
The last reported case of measles in Alberta was in 2019, when an international traveler who with an extended layover near the Edmonton International Airport later tested positive.
READ MORE: Measles exposure in Alberta
At the time, Alberta Health Services was quick to let the public know where the traveler had been at what time, to warn of possible exposure.
The measles virus is covered in routine childhood vaccination, namely the MMR vaccine series that begins at 12 months.
