News

Supporting Families through the Annual Assessment of Immunization Records

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has started the annual process of assessing students’ immunization records for compliance with the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA).

To attend school in Ontario, students need to be immunized against nine vaccine preventable diseases or have a medical or religious/philosophical exemption:

• diphtheria, measles, meningococcal diseases, mumps, pertussis, polio, rubella, tetanus, and varicella (required for children born in 2010 or after).

For the 2025/2026 school year...

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Annual Assessment of Student Immunization Records 2025

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners  
Date: October 30, 2025
From: Dr. Laura Bourns, Deputy Medical Officer of Health  
Subject: Annual Assessment of Student Immunization Records  

Dear Colleagues,

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has started our annual process of assessing students’ immunization records for compliance with the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA).

To attend school in Ontario, students need to be immunized against nine vaccine preventable diseases or have a medical or...

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NEW measles exposures table and update October 29, 2025

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners  
Date: October 29, 2025
From: Dr. Michelle Foote, Associate Medical Officer of Health
Subject: NEW measles exposures table and update October 29, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has confirmed an additional two measles infections with epidemiological links to the recent cluster of five infections. The risk to the general population remains low.

A new temporary measles exposures table is available to assist individuals regarding exposure to the...

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Measles update October 23, 2025

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners  
Date: October 23, 2025
From: Dr. Michelle Foote, Associate Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Measles update October 23, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has recently confirmed five measles infections among related individuals. At this time, there is no evidence of transmission in the general community, and the risk to the general population remains low.

Contacts in the community who could be identified and contacted were notified directly of...

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ACTION REQUIRED: PHYSICIANS OPT-IN to keep receiving OPH Alerts

If you are a physician and have not yet registered, please take a moment to fill out the short, new physician sign-up form to continue receiving Public Health Alerts from Ottawa Public Health (OPH). These alerts are reserved for time-sensitive public health topics, and OPH does not share email addresses with any third parties.

OPH will no longer have access to physician email addresses from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. As a result, physicians must now register individually to...

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