Active measles cases in Northern Health have dropped to zero for the first time since Aug. 7, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s latest update.
The bi-weekly report on measles cases in the province for Sept. 15 showed no active cases, and saw four newly confirmed cases, and dropped one probable case – it is unclear what exactly the results of the test indicated.
Even with this new slow down, Northern Health is still leading the provincial sum of measles cases with 209 being in the health region.
88 per cent of confirmed and probable measles cases this year have been linked to a case from October of last year in New Brunswick, according to the centre for disease control. The person in the Maritimes was exposed to the highly contagious virus while outside of the country and when they returned home a cross-country outbreak began.
Measles, which is named for the red bumps which appear on patients’ skin, typically spreads to people who are unimmunized. 230 of the total 265 people who had measles in B.C. hadn’t received a single portion of the two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.
To discuss vaccination and other measles-prevention measures, Northern Health suggests residents contact their primary care practitioner.
