A student who attends classes in the western city of Burnaby has measles, causing school officials to ask some students to stay home to try to stop the spread of the virus. Measles spreads by touch or through the air and is highly contagious. Burnaby is the third largest city in the province of British Columbia and is just east of the city of Vancouver.
Risk of brain damage, death
Canadians don’t take the disease seriously enough, say public health officials, noting children under five are most at risk of serious complications such as brain damage, pneumonia and death.
Measles had been virtually eradicated from Canada through vaccination programs. But immunization rates have fallen in some pockets of Canada as they have in other industrialized countries. Some parents refuse to vaccinate their children for religious reason, others because of misconceptions about the risks.
Small outbreaks could spread
Five cases of measles have been confirmed in the Fraser Valley in the western province of British Columbia where immunization rates are low. It’s believed that is where the Burnaby student may have picked up the disease. Six cases have cropped up in the province of Prince Edward Island at the other end of the country, and a few others were reported in Ottawa and the western province of Alberta.
‘Get vaccinated,” urge health officials
Public health officials cannot force Canadians to have their children vaccinated, but they are urging them to do so. They are also asking students at Burnaby’s British Columbia Institute of Technology to stay home if they have not been vaccinated against measles or if they have not already had the disease.
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