Latest news with #Anabaptist
RTÉ News
7 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
In rural Canadian town, new risk of measles deepens vaccine tensions
In the Canadian town of Aylmer, where Mennonites in traditional dress walk down the main street alongside secular locals, bitter divisions over vaccine scepticism that arose during Covid have intensified with the re-emergence of measles. Canada, which officially eradicated measles in 1998, has registered over 3,500 cases this year and the United States is confronting its worst measles epidemic in 30 years, with the UN warning of the global risk as misinformation and lack of funding impact vaccination rates. Different communities in Canada have been hit, but experts link the brunt of the outbreak to anti-vaccine Anabaptist groups in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. Growing up in Aylmer, a bucolic town surrounded by farmland in southwestern Ontario, Brett Hueston said he didn't give much thought to the differing world views among the town's religious and secular residents. That changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. "I grew up, perhaps naively, thinking that we were all sort of on the same page as a community," said Hueston, 40, whose family publishes the 145-year-old local paper, the Aylmer Express. "Covid really exploited whatever differences there were," he said. Aylmer was a pandemic flashpoint. The town has 13 churches, a substantial number given its roughly 8,000 population. A major congregation - the Aylmer Church of God that sits on an expansive, well-manicured grounds - enthusiastically defied some lockdown restrictions. The church's pastor, Henry Hildebrandt, tried to challenge the rules in the supreme court, before agreeing in 2022 to pay a CAN$65,000 fine for gathering people to worship. Hildebrandt said he admitted "to one count of obeying God rather than man," asserting that he had knowingly broken the law. Hueston said "when measles came up, I thought, I know where this is going." "Everybody thinks... Mennonites are (all) anti-vaxers. It certainly isn't the case, but there's certainly a conservative part of this end of the county that is strongly anti-vaxer, and I don't quite understand it," he said. 'Difficult to watch' Michelle Barton-Forbes heads the infectious diseases division at the Children's Hospital at the London Health Sciences Center, southwestern Ontario's main referral hospital. She's seen some of the most serious paediatric measles cases this year and said observing the recurrence of a once eradicated virus has been "difficult to watch." She noted that not every case can be tied to unvaccinated Mennonites. Infections have also occurred among new immigrants from the developing world who, for various reasons, did not keep up with immunisations after settling in Canada, including due to an acute family doctor shortage. Barton said it was long clear "pockets of unvaccinated people" made the region vulnerable to measles. She recounted a range of attitudes towards vaccines among Mennonite families. Some mothers, when confronted with how sick their children had become, voiced openness to vaccinating their other children, only to back away, fearing consequences from their husband or pastor, Barton said. "They don't want to go against the grain of their culture, and they don't want to go against the (church) elders," she said. She also voiced sympathy for a Mennonite community that faced "resentment" from some healthcare workers, who at times displayed frustration over having to respond to an entirely preventable outbreak. Barton said she hoped the relationships forged between medical staff and vaccine-sceptical families could improve acceptance, and she encouraged public health officials to persist in trying to bring church leaders on board. 'Wall of lies For Alon Vaisman, an infectious diseases doctor at Ontario's University Health Network, officials must keep trying, regardless of opposition. "From a public health perspective we ought not to accept anything to be insurmountable when it comes to vaccine campaigns." Child vaccination rates remain below where they need to be, making another viral outbreak, including measles, possible, Vaisman said. "There really needs to be more of an effort," he told AFP, conceding the difficulty of finding a successful path forward.
eNCA
7 days ago
- Health
- eNCA
In rural Canadian town, new risk of measles deepens vaccine tensions
AYLMER - In the Canadian town of Aylmer, where Mennonites in traditional dress walk down the main street alongside secular locals, bitter divisions over vaccine skepticism that arose during Covid have intensified with the reemergence of measles. Canada, which officially eradicated measles in 1998, has registered over 3,500 cases this year and the United States is confronting its worst measles epidemic in 30 years, with the UN warning of the global risk as misinformation and lack of funding impact vaccination rates. Different communities in Canada have been hit, but experts link the brunt of the outbreak to anti-vaccine Anabaptist groups in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. Growing up in Aylmer, a bucolic town surrounded by farmland in southwestern Ontario, Brett Hueston said he didn't give much thought to the differing world views among the town's religious and secular residents. That changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. "I grew up, perhaps naively, thinking that we were all sort of on the same page as a community," said Hueston, whose family publishes the 145-year-old local paper, the Aylmer Express. "Covid really exploited whatever differences there were," he told AFP. Aylmer was a pandemic flashpoint. The town has 13 churches, a substantial number given its roughly 8,000 population. A major congregation -- the Aylmer Church of God that sits on an expansive, well-manicured grounds -- enthusiastically defied some lockdown restrictions. The church's pastor, Henry Hildebrandt, tried to challenge the rules in the supreme court, before agreeing in 2022 to pay a CAN$65,000 ($47,400) fine for gathering people to worship. Hildebrandt said he admitted "to one count of obeying God rather than man," asserting that he had knowingly broken the law. Hueston said "when measles came up, I thought, I know where this is going." AFP | Geoff Robins "Everybody thinks... Mennonites are (all) anti-vaxers. It certainly isn't the case, but there's certainly a conservative part of this end of the county that is strongly anti-vaxer, and I don't quite understand it," he told AFP. - 'Difficult to watch' - Michelle Barton heads the infectious diseases division at the Children's Hospital at the London Health Sciences Center, southwestern Ontario's main referral hospital. She's seen some of the most serious pediatric measles cases this year and told AFP observing the recurrence of a once eradicated virus has been "difficult to watch." She noted that not every case can be tied to unvaccinated Mennonites. Infections have also occurred among new immigrants from the developing world who, for various reasons, did not keep up with immunisations after settling in Canada, including due to an acute family doctor shortage. Barton said it was long clear "pockets of unvaccinated people" made the region vulnerable to measles. She recounted a range of attitudes towards vaccines among Mennonite families. Some mothers, when confronted with how sick their children had become, voiced openness to vaccinating their other children, only to back away, fearing consequences from their husband or pastor, Barton told AFP. "They don't want to go against the grain of their culture, and they don't want to go against the (church) elders," she said. She also voiced sympathy for a Mennonite community that faced "resentment" from some healthcare workers, who at times displayed frustration over having to respond to an entirely preventable outbreak. Barton said she hoped the relationships forged between medical staff and vaccine-skeptical families could improve acceptance, and she encouraged public health officials to persist in trying to bring church leaders on board. - 'Wall of lies' - AFP | Geoff Robins For Alon Vaisman, an infectious diseases doctor at Ontario's University Health Network, officials must keep trying, regardless of opposition. "From a public health perspective, we ought not to accept anything to be insurmountable when it comes to vaccine campaigns." Child vaccination rates remain below where they need to be, making another viral outbreak, including measles, possible, Vaisman said. "There really needs to be more of an effort," he told AFP, conceding the difficulty of finding a successful path forward. "You're fighting against the wall of disinformation and lies," he said. by Ben Simon
Int'l Business Times
7 days ago
- Health
- Int'l Business Times
In Rural Canadian Town, New Risk Of Measles Deepens Vaccine Tensions
In the Canadian town of Aylmer, where Mennonites in traditional dress walk down the main street alongside secular locals, bitter divisions over vaccine skepticism that arose during Covid have intensified with the reemergence of measles. Canada, which officially eradicated measles in 1998, has registered over 3,500 cases this year and the United States is confronting its worst measles epidemic in 30 years, with the UN warning of the global risk as misinformation and lack of funding impact vaccination rates. Different communities in Canada have been hit, but experts link the brunt of the outbreak to anti-vaccine Anabaptist groups in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. Growing up in Aylmer, a bucolic town surrounded by farmland in southwestern Ontario, Brett Hueston said he didn't give much thought to the differing world views among the town's religious and secular residents. That changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. "I grew up, perhaps naively, thinking that we were all sort of on the same page as a community," said Hueston, 40, whose family publishes the 145-year-old local paper, the Aylmer Express. "Covid really exploited whatever differences there were," he told AFP. Aylmer was a pandemic flashpoint. The town has 13 churches, a substantial number given its roughly 8,000 population. A major congregation -- the Aylmer Church of God that sits on an expansive, well-manicured grounds -- enthusiastically defied some lockdown restrictions. The church's pastor, Henry Hildebrandt, tried to challenge the rules in the supreme court, before agreeing in 2022 to pay a CAN$65,000 ($47,400) fine for gathering people to worship. Hildebrandt said he admitted "to one count of obeying God rather than man," asserting that he had knowingly broken the law. Hueston said "when measles came up, I thought, I know where this is going." "Everybody thinks... Mennonites are (all) anti-vaxers. It certainly isn't the case, but there's certainly a conservative part of this end of the county that is strongly anti-vaxer, and I don't quite understand it," he told AFP. Michelle Barton heads the infectious diseases division at the Children's Hospital at the London Health Sciences Center, southwestern Ontario's main referral hospital. She's seen some of the most serious pediatric measles cases this year and told AFP observing the recurrence of a once eradicated virus has been "difficult to watch." She noted that not every case can be tied to unvaccinated Mennonites. Infections have also occurred among new immigrants from the developing world who, for various reasons, did not keep up with immunizations after settling in Canada, including due to an acute family doctor shortage. Barton said it was long clear "pockets of unvaccinated people" made the region vulnerable to measles. She recounted a range of attitudes towards vaccines among Mennonite families. Some mothers, when confronted with how sick their children had become, voiced openness to vaccinating their other children, only to back away, fearing consequences from their husband or pastor, Barton told AFP. "They don't want to go against the grain of their culture, and they don't want to go against the (church) elders," she said. She also voiced sympathy for a Mennonite community that faced "resentment" from some healthcare workers, who at times displayed frustration over having to respond to an entirely preventable outbreak. Barton said she hoped the relationships forged between medical staff and vaccine-skeptical families could improve acceptance, and she encouraged public health officials to persist in trying to bring church leaders on board. For Alon Vaisman, an infectious diseases doctor at Ontario's University Health Network, officials must keep trying, regardless of opposition. "From a public health perspective we ought not to accept anything to be insurmountable when it comes to vaccine campaigns." Child vaccination rates remain below where they need to be, making another viral outbreak, including measles, possible, Vaisman said. "There really needs to be more of an effort," he told AFP, conceding the difficulty of finding a successful path forward. "You're fighting against the wall of disinformation and lies," he said. Brett Hueston, publisher of the Aylmer Express newspaper AFP Paediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Michelle Barton-Forbes at the London Health Sciences Centre in London, Canada AFP A sign outside of Southwestern Public Health in St. Thomas, Canada AFP
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Canadian infant born prematurely and with measles dies
A Canadian infant who was born prematurely and had measles has died, officials said on Thursday without confirming a cause of death, raising heightened concern about the virus's resurgence. Canada has recorded 2,755 measles cases – including 2,429 confirmed and 326 probable – according to federal health data updated on 2 June. The epicenter of the outbreak is the province of Ontario, where nearly 2,000 cases have been reported. Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Kieran Moore, said in a statement 'the infant contracted the virus before birth from their mother, who had not received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine'. 'While measles may have been a contributing factor in both the premature birth and death, the infant also faced other serious medical complications unrelated to the virus,' he added. In March, Moore said the outbreak was 'disproportionately affecting some Mennonite, Amish, and other Anabaptist communities', partly due to lower rates of vaccination among those populations. If measles is confirmed as the cause of the infant's death, it would mark the first fatality linked to the current outbreak. After Ontario, the next hardest hit area is the western province of Alberta, with 632 confirmed cases, according to the federal data. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or simply breathes. Known for its characteristic rash, it poses a serious risk to unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who are not ordinarily eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems. It can lead to severe complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling, premature birth and in rare cases, death. Before widespread immunization programs were introduced in the early 1970s, hundreds died each year from the virus in Canada. It was considered eradicated in 1998, but cases continue to occur due to spread from other countries. The US is also confronting a significant measles resurgence, with a vaccine-skeptical Mennonite Christian community straddling the Texas-New Mexico border hit particularly hard. Donald Trump's health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has undermined confidence in the MMR vaccine – a highly effective shot he has falsely claimed is dangerous and contains fetal debris.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Canada infant born with measles from unvaccinated mother dies
A Canadian infant who was born prematurely and had measles has died, officials said Thursday without confirming a cause of death, raising heightened concern about the virus's resurgence. Canada has recorded 2,755 measles cases -- including 2,429 confirmed and 326 probable -- according to federal health data updated on June 2. The epicenter of the outbreak is the province of Ontario, where nearly 2,000 cases have been reported. Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Kieran Moore, said in a statement "the infant contracted the virus before birth from their mother, who had not received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine." "While measles may have been a contributing factor in both the premature birth and death, the infant also faced other serious medical complications unrelated to the virus," he added. In March, Moore said the outbreak was "disproportionately affecting some Mennonite, Amish, and other Anabaptist communities," partly due to lower rates of vaccination among those populations. If measles is confirmed as the cause of the infant's death, it would mark the first fatality linked to the current outbreak. After Ontario, the next hardest hit area is the western province of Alberta, with 632 confirmed cases, according to the federal data. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or simply breathes. Known for its characteristic rash, it poses a serious risk to unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who are not ordinarily eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems. It can lead to severe complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling, premature birth and in rare cases, death. Hundreds died each year from the virus in Canada before widespread immunization programs were introduced in the early 1970s. It was considered eradicated in 1998 but cases continue to occur due to spread from other countries. The United States is also confronting a significant measles resurgence, with a vaccine-skeptical Mennonite Christian community straddling the Texas–New Mexico border hit particularly hard. President Donald Trump's Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has undermined confidence in the (MMR) vaccine -- a highly effective shot he has falsely claimed is dangerous and contains fetal debris. amc/bs/sms
