Low measles vaccine rates in parts of B.C. calls for open discussion: experts [Video]

B.C. scientists are sounding the alarm over low measles vaccination rates in certain parts of the province.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) provides stats on vaccination rates and it shows there are areas where children are not keeping up to date with their measles vaccine.

The provincial average is only 65.6 per cent.

“Well, to my knowledge, I believe there are three cases in British Columbia,” Dr. Brian Conway, the medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, told Global News. “They are related to each other but acquired abroad. There has been no evidence as of yet of any local spread of measles outbreaks of the type that we’re seeing in Texas.”

In the Kootenay Boundary area, only 62 per cent of seven-year-olds are up to date.

Similar numbers are reported in the Thompson-Cariboo and Okanagan regions.

“There are the risks of local outbreaks because that’s a low enough rate that if the reintroduction of a case of measles, you …