Measles cases climb past 100 in Windsor-Essex, but hospital sees fewer admissions

Windsor Regional Hospital says it’s continuing to see lower volumes of measles-related visits – but the virus is still circulating in the community.

“As of yesterday, we had one rule out case admitted on pediatrics and that’s it,” Acting President and CEO Karen Riddell told media Thursday, following the hospital’s Board of Directors meeting.

A “rule out” case means the child was admitted for observation while doctors worked to determine whether or not they had measles.

The latest numbers from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit show just over 100 reported measles cases in the region, though not all of them are currently active.

“Those are total cases from the first of the outbreak,” Riddell explained.

“So, we’re hoping things will start to slow down over the coming weeks… but we still expect a few more weeks of transmission.”

She also noted the hospital is only treating patients in the emergency department who require urgent medical attention and not offering routine testing or vaccinations.

“We’re only seeing cases that had associated signs and symptoms that needed treatment,” said Riddell.

“For example, respiratory symptoms, dehydration, nausea, vomiting, things like that.”

New exposure sites continue to be released by the Windsor Essex County Health Unit as officials urge the public to stay up to date on vaccinations.