Six months after a measles outbreak began in northeast B.C., Northern Health says the virus will continue to circulate in the region well into 2026, prolonging the strain on healthcare workers and keeping vulnerable people at risk.
As of Dec. 29, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 338 confirmed and probable cases across northern B.C. The vast majority, 317 cases, have been in the northeast region around Fort St. John, where community transmission still shows no sign of slowing down.
Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Jong Kim says he expects to see five to 10 new cases a week in the region in the new year.
“It’s understandably put a lot of pressure in the healthcare system, healthcare workers as well as the community,” he said. “That level of fatigue and the challenges, in addition to other challenges we are having, is a concern.”
The outbreak is the province’s worst since 2014. It began at an elementary school north of the city and spread through exposures at shops and businesses, as well as the local hospital.
Most exposures continue to be linked to schools, followed by community and acute care settings, according to Northern Health.
In other parts of northern B.C., however, communities have seen relatively few cases, largely linked to travel with limited further spread, Kim said.
Kim says the contrast highlights how vulnerable under-immunized communities can be to an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases, and how effective immunization can be in stopping their spread.
“It reflects the reality we are living in,” he said. “But it’s also a reminder that we can make a difference.”
Still, he added, “we have accumulated some vulnerabilities in our communities through some gaps in the immunizations.”
Among the most vulnerable are babies, Kim said.
Of the 20 measles cases requiring hospitalization across the north, more than a third have involved infants younger than one year old, he said.
“So it can reflect that severity and vulnerability and risk among the very young population.”
He says their safety depends on people getting immunized in their community.
Across northern B.C., the number of people getting the measles vaccine surged through the summer and remained well above average into the fall and early winter.
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According to Northern Health data, immunization across the north increased 61 per cent year-over-year in September, 137 per cent in October, and 92 per cent in November.
In the northeast region alone, immunizations increased 202 per cent year-over-year in October, according to the health authority.
Kim says that “significant uptake” gives him some optimism after Canada lost its measles-free status in November, and as the country has seen broader declines in routine immunizations following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m hoping that we are regaining the confidence, as well as the interest, in immunization,” he said.
“[That] it’s not just going to change for the measles, [but] it will change for other vaccine-preventable diseases.”
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