There have been no lab-confirmed cases of measles on Vancouver Island or on the Sunshine Coast.
So far the confirmed cases of measles have come from the lower mainland.
Dr. Shannon Waters, medical health officer for Island Health said there’s been an uptick in requests for the vaccine at clinics as a result of the reported cases and that’s not a bad thing.
“Measles certainly is not a benign illness and if there’s a benefit to all of this it’s that people are looking at their own vaccination schedules and those of their children”.
Waters said there’s a good supply of measles vaccine and the shot is given at no charge.
She said, as far as the timetable for vaccinations, children should get one at 12 months and again before they start school.
The BC Centre for Disease Control said two new measles cases have been reported.
Both individuals got the illness while traveling abroad and their cases are unrelated to previous reports of measles in the Lower Mainland.
An exposure alert has been issued by Vancouver Coastal Health for the Vancouver International Airport and Richmond on February 11th and 12th and for various locations in Richmond between February 16th and 18th.
Date | Time | Location |
| February 11 | Arrived in Vancouver at approximately 4pm | Philippine Airlines Flight PR 116, landed at YVR |
| February 11 | 4pm – 7pm | YVR, international arrivals and customs areas |
| February 11 | 5pm – 7pm (approximate) | Shuttle Bus from YVR to La Quinta Inn. Richmond |
| February 12 | 8:30am – 10:30am (approximate) | Shuttle Bus from YVR to La Quinta Inn, Richmond |
| February 12 | 9am – 12:30pm | YVR, Air Canada domestic departures area |
| February 16 | 6pm – 10pm | Little Ongpin Restaurant, Richmond |
| February 17 | 11am – 9pm | Toys R Us, Lansdowne Centre, Richmond |
| February 18 | 11am – 9pm | Toys R Us, Lansdowne Centre, Richmond |
