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Half of those ordered to stay home from two Vancouver schools not immunized for measles

Nine cases of the measles reported this month
measles
More than half of the people ordered to stay home from school during the recent measles outbreak at two local schools had not previously been immunized, says Vancouver Coastal Health. Photo iStock

Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed Wednesday that more than half of the people ordered to stay home during the recent measles outbreak at two local schools had not previously been immunized.

Thirty-six students and staff members from two Vancouver Francophone schools, École Rose-Des-Vents and École Jules-Verne, had been ordered to stay home because they either haven’t been immunized against measles, or don’t have documented proof of immunity. VCH spokesperson Tiffany Akins confirmed Wednesday that 19 had not been vaccinated.

The outbreak, however, seems to have changed the minds of some. While concrete numbers are not yet available, Akins said that “quite a few” have since been immunized.

“We are hoping to encourage more to become immunized,” she said in an email.

There have been a total of nine reported cases of measles in Vancouver this month, eight of which are connected to the two schools. Staff and students at the schools were asked to provide proof of immunity. The 36 students and staff, who couldn’t provide proof they had either been vaccinated or previously had the measles, were asked to stay home until the risk of infection passes.

Medical health officer Dr. Althea Hayden said Tuesday that the last day anyone at the schools could have been exposed to the virus was Feb. 14 and the latest anyone exposed could become sick is March 7. If no new cases of measles are reported by March 7, everyone will be allowed to return to school.

According to the health authority, the overall measles immunization rate for children starting kindergarten in Vancouver for the 2017/2018 school year, the last year the records are available, was 82 per cent. Akins pointed out that this number is a minimum.

“These numbers show the immunization records our nurses have been able to obtain from parents. It can be challenging to obtain them from everyone,” she said, adding that when staff directly called parents from the two affected schools to obtain records, the immunization rate was much higher.

Since the outbreak, VCH staff was able to confirm that 95.5 per cent of students at École Jules-Verne and 94 per cent at École Rose-Des-Vents had received at least one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The herd immunity level for measles is 92 per cent, Hayden said.

Akins said that since the outbreak, VCH has seen an increased demand for the MMR vaccine at public health units. In response, the health authority has been holding additional immunization clinics and held three at École Jules-Verne. She added that vaccination within three days of exposure can prevent measles.

Measles is considered highly contagious and can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Additionally you do not have to be in close contact with an infected individual to catch the virus.

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

Complications from the virus include pneumonia, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), seizures, deafness, brain damage and death.

The recent outbreak prompted a Lower Mainland mom to resurrect her online petition calling on the B.C. government to make vaccinations mandatory for public school enrollment, with exceptions for those who cannot receive vaccinations for medical reasons.

Ontario and New Brunswick have legislation in place requiring proof of immunization for children starting school. Katie Clunn originally started the change.org petition in 2016. She got it up and running again two weeks ago and it has since taken off, going from a couple hundred signatures a week ago to more than 33,600 as of Wednesday afternoon.

Hayden said that instituting a system where a child is excluded from school because they are not vaccinated is a big burden for the child considering it’s not their choice. She is, however, in favour of making parents provide proof of vaccination when registering a child for school — meaning that parents would have to either declare that they are choosing not to vaccinate, or provide their child’s vaccination record.

“I think if we took the step of having mandatory reporting we would be in a better position to more effectively manage situations like this without putting that burden on children,” Hayden said.

@JessicaEKerr

jkerr@vancourier.com