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By Shaun Penner

AHS urging parents to get children their measles vaccinations

Feb 22, 2019 | 11:14 AM

With recent measles outbreaks in Vancouver and Washington State hitting a little too close to home, Alberta Health Services is reminding people of the importance of getting children vaccinated.

“There is no real other way to protect yourself against measles,” says Medical Officer for Health in the North Zone Dr. Albert de Villiers. “If you get the disease, yes you do get immunity. But when you get the disease there is always a chance you could have complications (short and long-term), and actually die from it as well.”

Immunization rates have fluctuated in the North Zone since 2008. Vaccination rates by the age of two in the area fell from 86% in 2008, to just over 81% in 2012. That number rose to nearly 85% in 2014, before going back down the next two years. As of the latest release of data from AHS, 82% of kids by the age of two had their first dose of the MMR vaccine (Mumps, Measles and Rubella). De Villiers does note that the data doesn’t tell the whole story, as more kids do get their first dose of the vaccine after their second birthday.  He also says that the goal to realistically have the general public fully protected from the disease is 93-95%.

One other area of concern is that the booster vaccine, which is supposed to happen by the age of seven, can only be found in 75% of kids in the North Zone. De Villiers states that vaccines are not 100% effective, so getting the booster shot helps keep the possibility of someone picking up the disease to one or two percent.

Measles is also unlike other diseases and illnesses, in that it can be contracted through the air, not necessarily by exchange of bodily fluids.

“For example (with influenza), I need to be relatively close to you and sneeze and cough and the droplets actually need to fall on you and then you can get the disease,” states de Villiers. “With measles, it’s airborne, so that means I can be on the same plane as you, not even necessarily next to you, and I can spread it that way. It spreads way easier than some of the other diseases we do vaccinate against.”

De Villiers also says that it is never too late to get vaccinated if you are not already. Reports from Vancouver show an uptick in millennials and young adults deciding to get the vaccination as the outbreak started to unfold.

He also advises parents against trying to expose their children to the disease at a young age in order to get them immune to the disease. Unlike chicken pox, measles carries much more serious possible complications such as pneumonia, ear infections and hearing loss.

“I don’t think it’s a very bright idea to go willfully expose your kids to a disease that can actually kill them,” said de Villiers. “It’s not something you should play lightly with.”

For more information on immunization, visit the AHS website.

by Shaun Penner