Measles outbreak not expected in NWT
However, territory is 'not immune' to negative impacts of vaccine myths, says chief medical officer
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Updated Monday, May 5, 2014
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
As more and more Canadians are opting out of vaccines, illnesses that were once thought to be eradicated from the developed world are coming back, warns the NWT's chief medical officer.
Dr. Andre Corriveau, the NWT's chief medical officer, held a press conference in Yellowknife April 30 that aimed to debunk common myths about the dangers of vaccinating children. While there are a couple of complications for every million vaccines administered, most of them are allergy related and the most popular myth that vaccines can lead to autism is false. In fact, former doctor Mark Geier had his medical licence revoked in 2011 for faking a report linking autism to vaccinations. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo |
On April 29, Alberta Health Services declared a measles outbreak in the province, with 22 confirmed cases of the illness as of May 1.
However, Dr. Andre Corriveau was skeptical that the viral infection would make its way north of the border during a press conference held in Yellowknife April 30, saying that there has not been a case of the measles in the NWT since 1992. As long as immunization rates stay high, residents should continue to be protected by what is called "herd immunity," he said.
"We're on heightened vigilance but at this point there is no reason to think that (the Alberta outbreak) changes our situation dramatically," he said.
With more than 3.6 million Albertans, the virus is not yet widespread enough to cause a serious concern, he explained.
"On a relative perspective, it's still a low risk for us. If you have children and you go to spend your weekend in Edmonton and are at the West Edmonton Mall, the chance of being exposed is still fairly low," said Corriveau.
Measles is a viral infection that affects the respiratory and immune systems as well as the skin. Symptoms tend to begin with a fever, cough, red eyes and general fatigue. A few days later, a spotty rash develops.
"If you're up to date in your vaccines and your kids are, there is no real concern," said Corriveau.
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is normally first administered to children when they are about 12 months old, and a second booster is needed before children reach school age in order to protect them into their adult life.
However, he warned of the dangers if NWT residents start buying into misinformation on the Internet and stop vaccinating their children, pointing to another current example of whooping cough spreading in P.E.I.
"It becomes more of a challenge over time, I think, when people haven't seen illness," said Corriveau on why people may not think vaccines are as urgent today as they once were. "When our parents were seeing kids with polio and whooping cough, they had grown (up) in that kind of an environment so it wasn't hard to convince them to get a vaccine.
"But if you have a new generation that's never seen any of that, the challenge is making sure people are aware and are reminded."
Further complicating the matter is the amount of false and misleading information available on the Internet that claims vaccines cause autism and myriad of other health problems that have been thoroughly debunked by the scientific community.
Vaccines are not always effective, and in the NWT Corriveau said the biggest challenge is transporting vaccines to isolated communities without exposing them to heat, freezing temperatures, or anything else that might affect their potency. Also, some people cannot be vaccinated due to an allergy or other medical issue. Those people rely on the immunization coverage - or the percentage of the population that has been immunized - to keep them safe from exposure to preventable diseases.
Coincidentally, Alberta's measles outbreak came during National Immunization Awareness Week, which took place April 26 to May 3.
The main goal of Immunization Awareness Week is to provide people with information on vaccines, their risks and benefits, and to debunk as many of the current myths out there as possible, said Corriveau.
While immunization rates in the NWT remain fairly high, with 90 per cent of eligible residents believed to have received their core vaccines, the overall trend across Canada to refuse immunizations puts the population at risk of contracting a preventable disease.
According to a UNICEF report released in 2014, the average rate of routine vaccinations is close to 95 per cent and out of developed countries, only Canada, Austria and Denmark had immunization rates below 90 per cent.
In Alberta, 84 per cent of children had received their first dose of the MMR vaccine in 2012, down from 88 per cent in 2008, according to Alberta Health.
"I don't think that in the current context of the Northwest Territories that it has a significant impact, but we collectively - and I've spoken with my colleagues and we do discuss this - we have a sense that it is becoming a problem across the country," said Corriveau. "Not just here, but Europe has had major drops in immunization rates for things like measles and rubella, and that's where the outbreaks started to occur five, six, seven years ago.
"We're starting to see that in some parts of Canada now and I think we're not immune, if I can use that pun, to those kinds of secular influences, and we have to be ready to counter it."
For parents and others looking for an easy was to keep track of immunizations, a new Canada-wide smart-phone app called ImmunizeCA is available to download. The app records family vaccine information, can be used to book appointments and provides information on vaccines and disease outbreaks in your region.
