Since the end of November, Hussain’s hospital has admitted 17 patients with measles, two adults and 15 children. Each measles patient must be isolated in their own negative-pressure room to ensure infection doesn’t spread throughout the building. Most hospitals have one negative-pressure room but St. Thomas now has three.
In a Q&A for Maclean’s,Hussain describes what it’s like to manage measles on the ground, her efforts to encourage vaccination and her anxiety about the future. She wonders: “What if polio is next? What if it’s a bacterial infection causing meningitis? There are many vaccine-preventable diseases that cause disabilities and deaths in children. The hardest part is worrying if this is a sign of what’s to come.”
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—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief, Maclean’s
