Northern Health has reached an unfortunate milestone as the total measles case count hit 205 while the highly contagious virus continues to circulate its communities.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s newest report for Sept. 11 also showed one active case within the regional health authority who services around 300,000 people. This is down from the six active cases reported in Monday’s update.
Currently, Northern Health is blowing the other health authorities in the province out of the water, with the second most cases being in Fraser Health, where there have been 37 total cases.
Within the northern region, the disease control hub issued several exposure warnings – including two for the emergency room of the Fort St John Hospital, and three for various departments in Prince George’s University Hospital of Northern British Columbia.
The entire north Peace region is also subject to an advisory. Anyone who believes they have been exposed to measles should monitor for symptoms and call any medical office they intend on visiting ahead of time. By calling in advance, the facility’s staff will have enough time to prepare to handle the easily transmissible virus.
To avoid adding to the ever-growing number of measles patients, Northern Health is advising residents who were born after 1970, and are not pregnant, to ensure they have received both doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.
