Immunity rate up at two schools

Immunization at two Vancouver schools where a measles outbreak originated has gone up, according to the latest update from Vancouver Coastal Health.

At École Secondaire Jules Verne and École Rose-DesVents, both francophone schools, the measles immunization rate is now 95.5 and 94 per cent, respectively, said medical health officer Althea Hayden at a news conference Tuesday.

“Before this outbreak started, we had documentation for only about 70 per cent of students having immunity,” said Hayden, adding the rise in immunity isn’t just due to new vaccinations but also the result of those who have now reported their vaccination records, when their status was previously undeclared. Herd immunity requires a threshold of about 92 per cent.

To date, VCH has confirmed nine cases of the disease, most of whom are children at the two schools.

The outbreak began after an unvaccinated Canadian child contracted the disease on a family trip to Vietnam.

None of the children were hospitalized, but at least one visited the emergency room at B.C. Children’s Hospital.

As of Tuesday, a total of 33 students and one staff member between the two schools are either unvaccinated and waiting out the incubation period or working to track down immunization records.

Once records can be made available, a student will be allowed back to school.

Hayden wouldn’t say much about criticisms against B.C. Children’s Hospital levelled by the father whose child sparked the outbreak.

The parent said doctors missed the measles diagnosis when the family first visited the hospital.

“What I will tell you is that we take incidents like this very seriously and we are working with our colleagues at Children’s Hospital to do a review of what happened to see if we could have done something differently...”