A student receives a measles vaccine injection.VALENTIN FLAURAUD/Reuters
Five cases of measles have been confirmed in B.C.'s Fraser Valley – including a child who was taken to hospital. And that's not the only concern for Canadian health officials.
Prince Edward Island has six cases of the airborne disease. Calgary had four; southern Alberta had 42 going back to last fall. Ottawa has two, while Toronto issued a vaccination warning to anyone travelling to the Philippines, where as many as 24 children have reportedly died of the virus.
In Manitoba, health officials are warning that a man with the highly contagious disease is in hospital after attending several public places.
The return of the disease in Canada has health-care officials preparing for the worst. They're convinced the virus has been imported by those who have visited measles-infected countries such as the Philippines and Netherlands, and then returned to Canadian communities where immunization rates are low.
Canada has a vaccination rate of approximately 95 per cent, although there are regions where that number has fallen well below 50 per cent. Complacency, fear and religious beliefs have all played a role.
"This is a classic example of slipping behind the optimal immunization rate," said Dr. Glen Armstrong, head of the University of Calgary's department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases. "People who are not immunized travel and they're bringing the virus back to Canada with them … And this is what happens when you do. It spreads."
The Fraser Valley outbreak is a prime example of how the virus gains a foothold and circulates. Two students from the Mount Cheam Christian School in Chilliwack contracted the disease and were sent home – but not before exposing others. More than 100 students are suspected of having the disease. School officials shut the school a week early for March break. Chilliwack is located in the "Bible belt" of the valley, where members of the Reformed Congregation of North America do not believe in vaccinations.
"Members of our congregation do not believe vaccinations are safe," Rev. Adriaan Geuze told the CBC. "They are worried about administering vaccines to our children and vaccination does not automatically mean you are immune to the disease."
That same response was heard in Coaldale, the epicentre of the southern Alberta outbreak. A student at the Coaldale Christian School brought the virus home after visiting the Netherlands. Many in the area near Lethbridge went to the mobile vaccination stations to get immunized; others were afraid of the vaccine's side effects or declined because of religious convictions.
Unfortunately for those living in the Fraser Valley, this much is beyond debate: The virus has jumped from the religious community to Chilliwack's general population and to the nearby municipality of Agassiz. One child was admitted to hospital; there's no word on his or her condition. Vaccination clinics in Chilliwack and Agassiz will be established next week and there is also a plan to distribute more vaccines to doctors and pharmacies in other parts of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford, Mission, Hope and elsewhere).
Vaccinations are not mandatory in B.C. It's the same for most other provinces.
The Public Health Agency of Canada – which issued a call-out Friday to all Canadian parents to have their children vaccinated – noted measles is relatively rare in Canada because of the strong national immunization rate. Despite that, Canada continues to see measles cases related to travel to countries where the virus has spread unchecked. Most of the cases reported in Canada so far this year have been linked to travel to the Philippines.
Measles is an extremely contagious disease that can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis and even death.
— With a report from The Canadian Press