Theme 5. Advancing manageable meaningful measurement
Presentation Materials (members only)
Presentation Slides: Measlesgate
Learning Objectives
Review the clinical signs and symptoms associated with Measles and the appropriate tests to confirm the diagnosis. Outline the infection control steps to prevent measles exposure as well as other airborne infections to patients and staff present in the office setting. Emphasize the importance of collaboration with local public health for contact tracing after an office measles exposure. Discuss the recommendations by the Markham FHT Occupational Health & Safety Committee to collect immunity data on staff and providers with respect to vaccine preventable diseases (e.g. MMR, varicella, Hep B) and institute baseline TB skin testing.
Summary
Measles is a viral infection that classically presents with fever, rash and the 3 “Cs” - cough, coryza and conjunctivitis. While most people with measles are sick for a few days and recover completely, it can lead to complications and even death. In Canada, due to high immunization rates, measles is rare. However, several factors have contributed to recent outbreaks including patients who only received one immunization against measles, those who refuse to be immunized due to a discredited claim that there is a link to developing autism, and unintended exposures in countries endemic to measles. Given the virus spreads through respiratory droplets, multiple exposures can occur when an infected patient presents to a primary care practitioner’s office. Providers need to be comfortable responding to such a scenario and this session will provide a practical approach on how to manage a measles exposure based on our FHT’s experience from earlier this year. Consistent with the theme of “Advancing manageable meaningful measurement”, we will highlight the importance of leveraging one’s EMR system to access patient health records for contact tracing. Topics including collaboration with public health, and the importance of transparent messaging to patients and staff will be reviewed. Providers will also be imparted with valuable lessons learned such as the importance of infection control practices to prevent spread, and knowing the immunization status of office staff/providers to ensure protection in the event of a measles outbreak. A review of the diagnostic tests for measles will also be provided.
Presenters
- Markham FHT
- Dr. Allan Grill, MD, CCFP, MPH, Lead Physician
- Lisa Ruddy, RN, Clinical Program Manager
Authors and Contributors
- Anthony Pallaria, Clinical/IT Manager, Markham Family Health Team