Measles, April 2025 Update:

What Families in Our Community Need to Know

We know that many families in our community are feeling concerned about the recent measles outbreaks in parts of Canada. We’re hearing questions, especially from parents of children who are on medications that may affect their immune systems and/or have caused them to miss regularly scheduled childhood vaccinations.

Given the complexity and potential for misinformation, we worked with our Medical Advisory Committee to put together some guidance and information for you to know:

• Measles is highly contagious, but preventable with routine childhood vaccination (MMR). Two doses are usually considered to offer lifelong protection.
• If your child is taking immunosuppressant medications (such as methotrexate or biologics), decisions about vaccination, boosters, or what to do after a possible exposure should always be made in consultation with your child’s healthcare team.
• If you believe your child may have been exposed to measles, contact your child’s pediatric rheumatology team or local Public Health for next steps.
• Your child’s healthcare team is best equipped to assess risk, determine next steps (like additional protection through antibodies), and provide tailored guidance based on your child’s specific treatment plan.

In the meantime, making sure that other household members are fully vaccinated is one of the best ways to protect vulnerable family members who may not be eligible for live vaccines.

We’ll continue to monitor updates from pediatric rheumatologists and infectious disease specialists, and we’ll share any relevant updates with our community.

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for being part of this caring and proactive community.

With care,

The Cassie + Friends Team, with input from our Medical Advisory Committee