HPPH annual report highlights local challenges

Representatives from Huron Perth Public Health say the organization's 2025 annual report highlights efforts in infectious disease control, vaccination, health promotion and community health initiatives across Huron and Perth counties.

Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) has released its 2025 annual report, highlighting programs and services delivered throughout the year to prevent disease, protect health and promote well-being across Huron and Perth.

The report highlights efforts in infectious disease control, vaccination, health promotion, health equity and community engagement.

Key achievements include managing Ontario's largest measles outbreak, which included 297 probable or confirmed cases in the region, the highest number seen in three decades.

“For most of my public health career, I haven't seen one case of measles; there would be a handful across all of Ontario every year, so this was a considerably large outbreak,” said Dr. Miriam Klassen, HPPH's medical officer of health. “There were 35 hospitalizations, and one of those was in the ICU. Fortunately, there were no deaths.”

As measles cases increased, HPPH expanded measles vaccine eligibility to individuals six months of age and older who live, work, play, travel to or worship within the Huron Perth Public Health region.

HPPH distributed 10,532 doses of measles-containing vaccine (MMR/MMRV) to primary-care providers in 2025, compared to 4,800 doses in 2024 and administered 1,251 doses in 2025, compared to 549 in 2024.

“The biggest challenges were misinformation, both about measles and misinformation about the vaccine,” said Klassen. “Rumours say that measles is a very minor illness and a routine childhood illness, and that it's better to acquire immunity by becoming infected. That's absolutely not true. If you develop a measles infection, you have a much higher risk of severe illness, including hospitalization or death, or even a complication that can happen years later called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, which is a fatal brain illness. Measles is not a minor illness; it's a very serious one.”

Klassen said HPPH saw a decrease in vaccination rates following the pandemic, which she believes contributed to the rise in measles throughout the region.

“Because vaccination rates dropped, that's why measles was able to spread so effectively,” she said. “Although rates are still generally high in Ontario and Huron-Perth, there are communities whose vaccination rates are not high enough to stop transmission. If the infection enters that community, it can spread very effectively.

“We repeated it over and over: measles is one of the most infectious pathogens that we know about. It spreads very easily through the air.”

HPPH continues to educate families about the importance of vaccines, and the number of vaccinated children has risen since 2020.

“Collective trauma and the challenge of the pandemic impacted all of us, and certainly during that time, a lot of misinformation about vaccination spread, as well as people's responses to public health measures that were intended to break chains of transmission, keep people safe and help support health-care systems,” said Klassen. “It was a difficult time, and because of that, people's attitudes did change. However, we've seen an improvement and continue to find that if we can talk to people about their specific concerns, the majority of people vaccinate.”

Aside from the measles outbreak, Klassen said global challenges and technology have affected how HPPH operates on a daily basis.

“The global context has never been as important,” she said. “Normally, what the president of the United States is doing, or what's happening in other countries, doesn't really impact us on this large a scale, but right now the uncertainty due to everything happening globally does impact budgets and plans in Canada and Ontario.

“There's a lot of uncertainty, and that impacts our organization,” she continued. “And, again, misinformation. Misinformation is nothing new; it's always been a challenge for medicine and public health, but now technology has enabled it to spread. It's a different challenge, and we have to respond differently.”

Klassen said that in 2026, HPPH will continue to focus on education and building public trust through outreach and technology. She said ongoing challenges related to global politics and climate change will continue to affect communities across Ontario.

“Emergency preparedness with climate change – we're going to see more heat events, winter storms and poor air quality,” she said. “We're going to see new infectious disease risks. You're hearing in the news about Ebola virus. I've mentioned vector-borne diseases like anaplasmosis, Powassan virus and babesiosis. These are new and emerging.

“Tuberculosis around the world is still continuing and rising in some areas. We need to keep doing our core public health functions. I think some of what we need to do is leverage technology, leverage partnerships and focus on health equity because a lot of people aren't seeing these things because they are very well-resourced and privileged. But some people are being left behind, and we want to make sure that everyone benefits from public health work.”

The report also highlights HPPH's continued focus on health equity, accessibility and inclusion, including efforts to strengthen social connections, advance anti-racism initiatives and support community partnerships.

The 2025 report marks the fifth anniversary of Huron Perth Public Health, which was formed in 2020. HPPH said it continues to build on its work through community partnerships, evidence-informed programs and services aimed at improving population health across Huron and Perth counties.