Editor’s Note: An earlier version of the story stated 33 children were quarantined. In fact, 33 children have been ordered to stay home from school.
At least 33 students and one staff member from two Vancouver schools are currently not attending classes due to a recent measles outbreak.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) said Tuesday that the students are either not vaccinated or don’t have proof of vaccination.
Globalnews.ca coverage of the measles outbreak
Some parents of children who are being kept home are refusing to get their children vaccinated.
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VCH went on to say between 400 and 500 children at BC Children’s Hospital were potentially exposed to the disease, though officials note many of those children were vaccinated and are immune.
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When asked if hospital staff could have detected cases of measles more quickly, VCH said it’s easy to question diagnoses in hindsight. It went on to say protocol will be reviewed at BC Children’s Hospital when it comes to handling potential measles cases.
The health authority says it has dealt with nine confirmed cases of measles in 2019, eight of them linked to a trio of Francophone schools in Vancouver.
On Saturday, Fraser Health also confirmed it had treated one case of measles in January, involving an adult that had contracted the virus overseas.
— With files from Simon Little
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