Measles case reported in province
Health officials urge vaccination before travelling abroad
Measles outbreaks internationally have health officials in British Columbia joining Canada’s top doctor in encouraging people to get vaccinated before travelling abroad during spring break.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday that one case of measles related to travel was confirmed over the weekend in a child under age 10 in the Vancouver Coastal health region.
About a dozen cases elsewhere in Canada have been reported this year compared with that many in all of 2023.
“It is concerning that in many countries where the public health systems are not very strong that the measles vaccinations have lagged,” Henry said. “We’ve been doing quite a lot of work in Canada and here in B.C. to try to make up for the immunization that children might have missed in 2020 and 2021.”
However, unvaccinated communities are at high risk of outbreaks, as was the case in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver in 2014, said Henry, adding that undervaccination is also a concern
“Measles is so infectious that in school settings in particular it can spread so quickly. The challenge is it spreads before people know they’re sick with it. Four days before the rash starts to four days after the rash starts you can be infectious,” she said.
The virus starts with symptoms similar to a cold or flu before the rash appears.
“We forget that measles can cause such severe illness in children,” Henry said. “It can lead to encephalitis, or swelling of the lining of brain and the brain itself. It can lead to really severe pneumonia and very sick kids. And it’s so easily preventable.”
In B.C., the measles vaccine is given in two doses — first as the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at about 12 months, and then around the time school starts as the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine.
Some provinces provide the vaccine for varicella, or chickenpox, separately.
The first dose provides between 90 to 93 per cent protection against measles and the second dose gives a lifelong boost, Henry said.
The largest immunization campaign across the country before the COVID-19 pandemic involved a catchup one for the measles vaccine in 1997, she added.
Babies as young as six months should be vaccinated against measles before travelling to countries where the disease is spreading, a joint bulletin issued Monday by Henry’s office, the provincial government and the BC Centre for Disease says.
Children between the ages of 12 months and four years can also get their second dose before travelling outside the country, it says.
Kids aged four and older can be vaccinated by a pharmacist, and if it’s their first dose, immunization is best at least two weeks before travel to give their body enough time to build immunity, it adds.
Vaccine appointments can be booked through local public health units, community health centres or nursing stations as well as some primary care providers, but it’s recommended that people call first to check if the measles vaccine is available.
Adults can also be vaccinated by a pharmacist but may already have protection from childhood vaccination or from having had measles, but they should ensure they have received two doses of a measles-containing vaccine if they were born in 1970 or later.
People born before 1970 do not need to be vaccinated because they have immunity to measles from a prior infection, before vaccination was widely available, Henry said.
“I was getting calls from people in their 80s saying, ‘Do I need to get a vaccine?’ The answer is no.”
Students in Quebec started spring break this week while those in B.C. and Ontario will be off as of March 18. Schools elsewhere are closed for spring break in March or April.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, has strongly advised Canadians to be vaccinated with two doses of the measles vaccine, especially before travelling.
“As we head into the spring break travel season, I am concerned that the global surge in measles activity, combined with the decline in measles vaccine coverage among school-aged children in Canada, could lead to an increase in imported measles cases,” she said in a statement issued Feb. 23.
“Although measles has been eliminated in Canada, cases can still occur here when an individual who is not fully vaccinated has travelled to or from a country where measles is circulating,” the statement says.
The World Health Organization reported a 79 per cent increase in the number of global measles cases in 2023 compared with the previous year.