Despite an increase in summer vaccinations, health officials say the measles outbreak in northeastern British Columbia shows no signs of slowing.
Dr. Rakel Kling, medical officer for Northern Health, says the spread of the virus continues to be concentrated around Fort St. John.
“Cases are spreading quite quickly within families,” Kling said. “So if one sibling has it, they’re very likely to pass it on to the next. We’re seeing almost entire families where all the siblings get measles.”
The province’s worst outbreak since 2014 began at an elementary school north of the city in May and spread quickly through exposures in stores and businesses, as well as the local hospital.
As of Oct. 23, the BC Center for Disease Control reported a total of 245 cases in northern BC, with 232 in the northeast.
“These are worrying numbers, and we know that this is an underreporting of cases because they are only laboratory-confirmed cases and linked cases within families,” Kling said. “There are certainly many other cases that go unreported.”
The spring outbreak led to a surge in vaccinations over the summer. Uptake increased 45 percent year-over-year in May, 117 percent in June and 221 percent in July, according to data from Northern Health. Those rates slowed between August and September, but still remained well above average.
“It’s great to see,” Kling said. “We want more people to get vaccinated, but what this tells me is that probably the majority of people who do want to get vaccinated have probably already accessed the vaccine.”
Kling said a community needs 95 percent vaccination coverage to reach herd immunity, and no northern region meets that mark. In the Northeast, many communities have between 60 and 70 percent coverage, he said.
Northern Health modeling suggests Fort St. John could continue to see five or more new cases per day for the foreseeable future as transmission remains high. Other areas of northern British Columbia are showing minimal to no transmission.
“It’s certainly helping us predict maybe what the worst-case scenario would look like,” Kling said. “It’s certainly not a clear idea of what will happen in the future.”
Kling encourages families to talk to their doctor or pharmacist if they have questions or concerns about getting vaccinated.
“We know that measles has serious consequences and we want to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.”
