As Ontario tops 1,200 measles cases, experts warn under-immunized B.C. communities at risk

Child with measles rash lies in a bed (File)

With Canada experiencing its worst year for measles in decades, there are growing concerns for B.C. children living in under-immunized communities.

While there have only been eight confirmed measles infections across the province so far this year, neighbouring Alberta has recorded 287 – and Ontario has seen more than 1,243, including 84 that resulted in hospitalization, since October.

There is no reason similar outbreaks couldn’t happen locally, according to Dr. Jia Hu of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

“What’s really driving the outbreaks in Alberta, Ontario is that you have measles entering into very unimmunized communities,” said Hu. “In Ontario, they have communities where the immunization rates are close to zero.”

B.C. has its own “pockets” of low vaccination uptake, Hu noted, including in the Fraser Valley and Interior regions.

“I wouldn’t say that our rates are generally higher than Ontario’s,” he added.

Provincially, the vaccination rate among seven-year-olds was 72.4 per cent in 2023, the latest year for which data is available. That’s down from a rate of 90.9 per cent a decade earlier, before the anti-vaccine movement grew in popularity, including on social media.

Worst year since 1998

Just a few days into May, Canada has already recorded more measles cases nationwide than it has since 1998, when the disease was declared eliminated in the country.

A measles death in Ontario last year also marked Canada’s first in 34 years.

Hu said the best thing parents can do if they’re concerned about their children being exposed to measles is to get them vaccinated.

“Vaccination is both very effective and offers life-long protection,” he said. “Two doses are close to 100 per cent effective in protecting against measles – even one dose is about 85 to 95 per cent effective.”

According to the B.C. Center for Disease Control, it can take up to three weeks post-exposure for a patient to show measles symptoms.

Those can include fever, dry cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed days later by a rash that begins at the hairline and spreads rapidly down the body.

Officials have asked that anyone suspected to be suffering from measles inform their health-care provider before heading into a clinic, so precautions can be taken to prevent further spread.

“Measles is a serious infectious disease,” Hu said. “It doesn’t just cause the rash and the fever and the cough – it can lead to complications like pneumonia and hospitalization and brain swelling.”

Parents unsure of their children’s immunization status can check through B.C.’s Health Gateway, or by contacting their family doctor.