by Marty Brown
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 14/97) - There's plenty of reasons for the second measles immunization clinic all day Feb. 18.

One is a recent outbreak of the disease at Simon Fraser University. At the beginning of the week, there were 85 cases reported, none of these were people who had their second immunization.

More than 11,000 students were immunized, causing Northern students to call Public Health in Yellowknife for their records.

This proves measles are not necessarily dying out, public health nurse Jan Stirling said.

Another reason is that there are still people out there whose immunizations aren't up to date.

"Some people aren't well informed of the seriousness of measles," said Stirling, adding there hasn't been a case of red measles in the territories since 1992. "And that's how we want to keep it." People born before 1957 have likely built up anti-bodies and don't need the shots Stirling said.

There were red measles immunization clinic in schools last spring, but Stirling is sure a few were missed and in view of the outbreak in B.C., this should be remedied.

Measles shots are given routinely at 12 months and a booster is given at 18 months.

"It used to be you only needed one dose. That single dose doesn't work in five to 10 per cent of the cases. Two doses make it more effective," Stirling said.

The clinic is aimed especially at pre-schoolers. Measles were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Aboriginal people 150 years ago.

Although in rare cases the disease still kills children, it more often leads to pneumonia, ear infections or brain damage.

In developing countries, a million children a year die from measles.