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Four cases of measles reported in Vancouver in the last week

Three of the four cases are linked to local schools
measles
There have been four cases of the measles reported in Vancouver since Feb. 9. Photo Wikicommons

There have been four reported cases of the measles in Vancouver in the last week, three linked to local schools.

The first case was reported by Vancouver Coastal Health on Feb. 9. In that case, the infected person picked up the virus while traveling outside North America, said spokesperson Tiffany Akins. She added that the local cases are not linked to the recent measles outbreaks in Washington state and Europe.

Three more cases have been reported since then, on Feb. 11, 13 and 14. Those three cases are not connected to the first one, Akins said, and have been linked to three local French-language schools — elementary schools École Anna-Hébert and École Rose-Des-Vents, and high school École Jules-Verne. Akins could not comment on the ages of the infected individuals, or whether or not they had been vaccinated.

“Many families have children in two of the schools (high school and elementary),” Akins said in an email, adding that the schools share a bus company.

“This is a developing situation and for VCH as we are collecting information from people including parents and kids from the affected schools,” she said.

The measles virus is highly infectious and can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes and you do not have to be in close contact with an infected individual to catch the virus. According to VCH, “You could spend just a few minutes in the same room as someone and get it, though, the closer the contact, the higher the risk.”

The virus can survive in a closed area, like a bathroom, for up to two hours after an infected person was there. It can also be spread through sharing food, drinks or cigarettes, and kissing. Someone infected with measles is contagious for four days before they even start showing symptoms and for four days after the onset of the rash.

Symptoms include: fever, red eyes, which may be sensitive to light, cough, a runny nose and rash.

If you think you might have the measles, or have a fever and rash, Vancouver Coastal Health recommends isolating yourself by staying home and seeing a doctor. But call ahead so the doctor’s office can take precautions to protect other patients.

The measles vaccine is 99 per cent effective in preventing the virus when two doses have been administered. Children born in B.C. in or after 1994 routinely get two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine — one at 12 months old and a second dose before starting kindergarten.

Vancouver Coastal Health warns that anyone born after 1970 and before 1994, or grew up outside of B.C., may have received only one dose of the vaccine.

The vaccine is available free of charge at public health units.

@JessicaEKerr

jkerr@vancourier.com