WATCH ABOVE: Pediatrician John Yaremko explains how to keep kids safe from the measles
MONTREAL – With more than a hundred confirmed cases of the measles across the US and eight suspected cases in the Lanaudière region, doctors in Quebec are keeping a close eye on the viral infection.
Measles was declared officially eradicated in 2000, but it is seeing a resurgence because many parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children.
BY THE NUMBERS: The last measles outbreak in Quebec
“There are some parents who feel the vaccine isn’t safe for their children and they don’t get vaccinated,” said Montreal-based pediatrician John Yaremko.
“In Europe — Belgium, Switzerland, France — the vaccine rate is low, so when the measles occur in Canada, it’s because somebody visited one of those countries and came back to Canada and started infecting people who are not vaccinated.”
In Quebec, about 10 per cent of residents are not vaccinated.
Experts are suggesting this could be a problem, especially since measles is a disease that spreads so easily.
The infection lives in mucus in the nose and mouth and can survive on surfaces for up to two hours.
“You can expect you’re going to see more cases,” said Montreal doctor, Mitch Shulman, Global News’ health expert.
“It’s a very contagious disease.”
“In fact up to 90 per cent of people if they haven’t been vaccinated and they’re exposed, they’re going to get sick,” he said.
“So 90 per cent effective is a very high rate.”
To vaccinate, or not to vaccinate
Since the measles outbreak in 2011, the Quebec government has started keeping track of the children who have or have not been vaccinated as they register for school.
Nevertheless, unlike in some other Canadian provinces, Quebec does not force parents to vaccinate their kids.
According to Canada’s Public Health Agency, it’s up to the provinces to decide which immunizations will be publicly paid for and how they will be made available to the public.
“Some parents don’t want to do the vaccine because they say ‘We don’t see the vaccine any more,’ but the reason we don’t see them any more is because of the vaccine,” said Yaremko.
FACT FILE: Are students required to get vaccinated in Canada?
“People who refuse to vaccinate frustrate me because they’re putting their children at risk and also they put people in our community who can’t be vaccinated at risk.”
There are some provinces that are stricter about vaccination norms.
New Brunswick and Ontario
New Brunswick and Ontario require parents to show a record of vaccination before they register for school. If their children are not vaccinated they are not allowed to attend.
Other diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, polio, mumps, and rubella are mandatory illnesses that children need to be vaccinated against.
Manitoba
In Manitoba, vaccinations aren’t mandatory to get into school, but kids who are not vaccinated are sent home once an outbreak occurs.
Quebec
In Quebec, there is no such policy but the province’s health minister said vaccinations are strongly encouraged because they can save lives.
“It is extremely important,” said Gaetan Barrette.
“To be affected by measles is always a sad story.
“Measles is not a disease that might not have consequences. It might have serious consequences on a baby, even death.”
“Vaccination immunization is the absolute weapon. It works.”
Barrette, a former doctor, admitted there’s nothing the province can do legally to force parents to immunize their children.
But there are programs in place so that parents can safety have their children vaccinated.
Are you protected?
The measles vaccine is not just for children.
Adults born between 1970 and 1996 should revisit their doctor because the measles vaccine was given in one shot.
Now children are required to have two shots.
For adults born before 1970, it is likely they’ve been exposed to the disease and are probably immune to the virus.
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