The Halton Region Health Department is reporting three cases of measles in Burlington. The cases are confirmed after three children from the same family showed symptoms. Doctors are not sure how the children were infected but say they think that a family member may have picked up the virus while travelling outside the province. Measles no longer circulates in Canada, but Canadians who are not vaccinated or immune through previous infection can pick it up while travelling in places where the virus is still common. Officials remember the dreadful surprise outbreak in Quebec in 2011 when 250 kids came down with measles. That was caused by travellers returning from France where they had been in contact with unvaccinated children who had caught measles. Halton health authority advised that anyone who visited three locations in Burlington on Saturday, June 8 may have been exposed to the virus. The locations are SportChek at the Burlington Mall, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; The Collector’s Vault, near Guelph Line and Fairview St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Al’s Source for Sports, at 3485 Fairview St., from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The children affected visited those three locations at roughly the listed times. Measles has virtually disappeared in Canada and the rest of the developed world, and there are dramatic reductions in the developing world, to the point where last year there was beginning to be serious discussion about eradication. The problem is that vaccines only work if people are vaccinated. But some parents in the Western world are not getting their children vaccinated, or fully vaccinated.Three cases of measles confirmed in Burlington
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The Halton Region Health Department is reporting three cases of measles in Burlington. The cases are confirmed after three children from the same family showed symptoms. Doctors are not sure how the children were infected but say they think that a family member may have picked up the virus while travelling outside the province. Measles no longer circulates in Canada, but Canadians who are not vaccinated or immune through previous infection can pick it up while travelling in places where the virus is still common. Officials remember the dreadful surprise outbreak in Quebec in 2011 when 250 kids came down with measles. That was caused by travellers returning from France where they had been in contact with unvaccinated children who had caught measles. Halton health authority advised that anyone who visited three locations in Burlington on Saturday, June 8 may have been exposed to the virus. The locations are SportChek at the Burlington Mall, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; The Collector’s Vault, near Guelph Line and Fairview St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Al’s Source for Sports, at 3485 Fairview St., from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The children affected visited those three locations at roughly the listed times. Measles has virtually disappeared in Canada and the rest of the developed world, and there are dramatic reductions in the developing world, to the point where last year there was beginning to be serious discussion about eradication. The problem is that vaccines only work if people are vaccinated. But some parents in the Western world are not getting their children vaccinated, or fully vaccinated.