Alberta baby recovering from measles faces ‘long, painful road’

Baby Kimie was just four months old when she spiked a dangerously high fever this spring.

Neither her mother, health nurses nor even her pediatrician initially suspected a long-forgotten disease was causing it — even after a tell-tale rash appeared.

“Her whole stomach and back was full of red dots,” recalled Kimie’s mother Morgan Birch.

“My grandmother actually, when I showed her, right away was like, ‘That looks like measles.'”

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A week after the onset of symptoms, Kimie tested positive for measles in hospital.

As of Tuesday, she is among the 1,065 confirmed measles cases in Alberta this year. Nearly three-quarters of them are children.

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And despite the fact that most of them are from communities south of Calgary, many of those kids are winding up at Alberta Children’s Hospital.

“We’ve seen a wide range of cases,” said ACH pediatrician Dr. Sidd Thakore. “I’ve had a few cases now that are under a year of age coming in with measles, requiring oxygen, having difficulty feeding.”

Thakore said he’s treated a number of children that have ended up in the hospitals’ intensive care unit.

Baby Kimie’s recovery took over a month in and out of hospital. For now, the painful symptoms have subsided.

But she and other children may still be facing a long uncertain recovery.

“She was never sick before she got measles — ever. Even when she had got her immunization. She didn’t get a fever or anything.” said Birch.

“And now she’s constantly been sick since then.”

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Thakore suggests the long-term impacts may not even be realized for many years to come.

“Whether it’s a depressed immune system, whether it is hearing issues, blindness… And there’s a rare form of brain inflammation that’s progressive and fatal. And that can happen seven to ten years after you have a measles infection.”

Measles vaccinations are usually only on offer once kids are a year old. In high-risk areas in Alberta, that can now be pushed up to six months.

Any younger than that, immunity depends on the greater population.