Vaccination rates have declined in recent years, B.C.’s deputy provincial health officer says
B.C.’s deputy provincial health officer wants people to know that vaccines are the best way to prevent the spread of measles – not a measles “party” or cod liver oil.
Dr. Martin Lavoie gave an update Thursday on measles cases in the province so far this year, with the majority of cases being in the Northern Health region. Seventy-three cases have been reported there, 10 in Fraser Health, eight in Interior Health, eight in Vancouver Coastal and three in Island Health.
According to the province, there is just one active case, but 10 people were still hospitalized due to the disease as of July 8.
Measles is an extremely contagious virus that can lead to pneumonia, inflammation of the brain and even death.
But what led to decline in people choosing to get vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella? Lavoie said it’s a few things: misinformation and myths that continue to negatively impact public health.
He first pointed to the Wakefield scandal in the late 1990s. In 1998, British doctor Andrew Wakefield published a paper falsely claiming that autism was linked to the MMR vaccine. The medical journal, more than a decade later, retracted the article.
Despite the claims being formally discredited, Lavoie said the myth continues on that vaccines cause all sorts of conditions, including autism.
“This has caused a lot of damage in people’s minds and has led to a reduction in vaccine coverage over the years, and so the last many years have seen that, and that’s very unfortunate.”
Lavoie said he’s also heard of a few more myths recently, including vitamin K or cod liver oil can prevent or or even cure the disease.
“That’s not true,” Lavoie said, adding vitamin A is also not a means for prevention and “definitely not a treatment” and neither are measles parties.
“Another thing we hear sometimes is, ‘Oh, measles party, so my kid is not immunized, we should ensure that they go to a party where a case of measles is.’ We hear that once in a while. It’s really not a good idea because, of course, you expose people to measles, and as I said earlier, this could lead to very significant disease complications, could be lifelong or even death.”
An information bulletin from the Health Ministry Thursday noted that the majority of measles cases in B.C. are with people who are not fully immunized.
In B.C., about 67.8 per cent of people have both doses of the vaccine, while 84 per cent have at least one dose. Vaccination rates are highest in Island Health, with 75.1 per cent with both doses and 89.1 per cent with at least one dose, but lowest in Northern Health where 61.1 per cent have both doses and 80.8 per cent have at least one dose.