Vaccine skepticism a growing concern, virologist warns amid rising measles caseload

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: May 18, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Misinformation is making it hard for Canada to scope the vaccination levels needed to forestall the dispersed of measles, experts accidental arsenic the state deals with the largest outbreak of the illness successful astir 3 decades.

Nationally, the state is dealing with the largest outbreak since the highly infectious illness was eradicated in 1998. Canada has recorded 1,593 confirmed and 253 probable cases this year, according to the national government's latest monitoring study Friday — the immense bulk of which are successful Ontario.

Dr. Peter Hotez, an American virologist who was co-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his enactment processing a low-cost, patent-free COVID-19 vaccine, said the existent question of measles cases successful North America highlights the value of educating the nationalist astir vaccine safety.

"It's go rather a important anti-public-health force," Hotez told CBC's Information Radio during a sojourn to Winnipeg earlier this month.

"Where I americium successful Texas, we've had a batch of radical needlessly suffer their lives due to the fact that they garbage COVID vaccines," helium said.

"We're seeing present a precise ample measles epidemic successful the aforesaid places wherever radical needlessly died."

There person been 3 measles-related deaths successful the U.S. truthful acold this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hotez said vaccine skepticism has go the caller mean successful the States, with vaccine critics specified arsenic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. present successful apical authorities positions. 

"I bash interest that a akin question could beryllium underway successful Alberta," and perchance Manitoba, helium said.

This week, the Manitoba government expanded eligibility for the measles vaccine in parts of the province, aft cases doubled successful the province. Manitoba had seen 44 confirmed measles cases and 4 probable cases arsenic of May 10 — the astir caller information available. That includes 26 confirmed cases successful May alone.

A 2022 study by the Canadian Immunization Research Network recovered the country's vaccination rates were astir five per cent beneath the 95 per cent required to scope herd immunity. 

Last year, an unvaccinated kid died successful Ontario — the archetypal measles decease successful the state since 1989.

Anti-vaccine attitudes getting stronger: historian

The latest national measles monitoring study says 83 per cent of measles cases progressive radical who were unvaccinated, and 12 per cent had an chartless vaccination status.

Kathryn Hughes, a researcher astatine the University of Guelph who has looked into the past of anti-vaccine sentiment, says declining vaccination rates are down this latest outbreak.

"It's decidedly the dispersed of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and accusation during COVID," she said. "Pre-existing anti-vaccine attitudes person conscionable gotten stronger."

Hughes outlined in a caller survey however anti-vaccine sentiment successful Canada started successful the aboriginal 1980s, aft immoderate jurisdictions passed laws requiring children attending schools to beryllium afloat vaccinated successful the aftermath of a measles outbreak.

"This was benignant of built retired of aggregate factors, but 1 of them was … intensive parenting practices that [arose] in the '70s," she said, on with biology and alternate wellness movements that "emphasized this mistrust of aesculapian doctors and nationalist wellness officials and modern subject arsenic a whole."

Then successful the 1990s, a wide discredited study linking vaccines to autism led to a displacement successful the anti-vaccine movement.

"People had children who possibly had intelligence oregon learning disabilities that arose aft they were vaccinated. And it wasn't due to the fact that of the vaccine. It conscionable happened close astatine that time," she said.

"A batch of them talked astir the information that doctors didn't perceive to them. And I deliberation this is simply a communal thread nowadays.… The number 1 mode to woody with anti-vaccine attitudes is to instrumentality clip and to perceive to them."

Hughes said she recovered a batch of the radical acrophobic astir vaccines are not anti-science, but are not trained arsenic scientists and so don't cognize how research really works.

"You don't request to promote the attitudes, but I deliberation listening to them and benignant of reassuring them and being, like, 'OK, I recognize wherever you're coming from' … [is] astir apt the champion approach," she said.

Texas virologist Hotez said countering an assertive anti-vaccine question by reaching retired to radical who person been "walled off" by misinformation will prevention lives.

"One of the large challenges is, you know, [in] North America … we're seeing benignant of 2 abstracted societies arise," helium said.

"Reaching those individuals is truly complicated, arsenic evidenced by this horrific measles epidemic that's present taken the lives of 2 different steadfast kids successful West Texas, and present successful the Panhandle."