Students asked to stay home during measles outbreak

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Despite a measles outbreak hitting two French Language schools in Vancouver, some students that go there still aren’t getting vaccinated.

Dr. Althea Hayden with Vancouver Coastal Health says 33 students have been told to stay home until they can prove they’re vaccinated.

“Many of those students may still be able to come up with documentation and we hope that they will be able to return to school as soon as possible,” she says.

While some are refusing, others are looking for proof of vaccination or getting blood work to prove immunity to the disease, Hayden says.

“I spoke to a young man whose grandmother is currently trying to rifle through boxes in West Africa to try to find his immunization record,” she says. “So this is not exclusively folks who object, but there are certainly folks who are choosing not to vaccinate their children.”

Before the outbreak, the two schools had a vaccination rate around 70 per cent, but since then, it’s risen to 95 per cent.

There have been eight confirmed cases of the measles at the two French schools, with no new cases since Friday.

Doctors of BC President Eric Cadesky says there is a silver lining to this otherwise scary outbreak: more parents are realizing the realities of not vaccinating their kids.

But he says when a parent changes their mind, a doctor should be understanding and welcoming.

“I think what’s important is to provide them with support, information, a relationship that is free of judgement,” he says. “And to let them know that the decision that they’re making now is the right one.”

Meanwhile, he says more kids, some as young as 12, are taking it upon themselves to get vaccinated. In B.C., a minor can make health decisions for themselves, as long as a doctor thinks they’re competent.

“They’re coming into contact with newer and better sources of information and realizing that the decisions their parents made for them were not, in the end, in their best interest,” Cadesky says.