General News

Separate facts from falsehoods: Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit dispels misinformation surrounding measles

May 1, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

A confirmed case of measles was reported in Simcoe-Muskoka on March 19.

The case resulted in a total of three cases connected to that same household.

Another confirmed case of measles in an unvaccinated resident who recently travelled was reported on April 2.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit noticed that comments on social media about measles are inaccurate and contrary to well-established scientific evidence.

As a result, the Health Unit has provided information to separate facts from fiction regarding measles.

Listed are the following claims made on social media that they’d like to correct or clarify.

• False claims: No one dies from measles – measles is as minor as a cold.
• Fact: Measles is one of the world’s most contagious viruses. If one person has it, up to nine out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected. There is no specific antiviral treatment for measles and many people will recover without special treatment or hospitalization. However, some people may suffer from severe complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis. They may need to be hospitalized and could die. 
• False claim: We have measles cases every year.
• Fact: Measles was declared eliminated in Canada in 1998. This was achieved with high rates of people being immunized. However, falsehoods about vaccines and the disruptions caused by the pandemic have led to declining immunization rates and the resurgence of measles.
• False claim: Most people who get measles are those who are vaccinated.
• Fact: In Ontario, 92.6 per cent of affected infants, children and adolescents, and 64.3 per cent of affected adults were unimmunized when they got sick.
• False claims: The vaccination includes live measles so they are infecting you and making you sick with the disease and measles vaccination causes autism.
• Fact: Similar to other routine vaccines, the MMR and MMRV are live attenuated (weakened) vaccines that have a minute amount of the measles virus. After injection, the viruses cause a harmless infection in the vaccinated person with very few, if any, symptoms before they are eliminated from the body. This allows the body to form a long-lasting immune memory that can prevent a future measles infection. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that the MMR vaccine causes autism.

Readers Comments (0)