ROTHENBURGER – Measles is back; what if we don’t know if we’re immune?
Measles and its telltale rash. (Image: CDC)
MEASLES IS on the rise. It was supposed to have been eradicated years ago, but relaxation of vaccine programs in some parts of the world, combined with international travel and misinformation about vaccinations, are allowing this highly contagious affliction to make a comeback.
While a handful of cases have landed in B.C. via travel, there are no known cases of the measles in Interior Health. So far, so good but there are no guarantees, and health professionals are wary of the possibility that pockets of spread could appear.
Fortunately, Canadian parents are still on the ball, making sure their kids are up to date on their vaccinations, including measles. But it’s a different story with seniors.
I went looking for a measles vaccination this week, since we expect to be traveling overseas some time in the next several weeks. It wasn’t easy. The Internet is jam-packed with information about measles but it’s tough to find clear information on whether seniors should be concerned and how to get the vaccine if need be.
A local health clinic had no advice to offer and suggested I call public health. So I did, and a very helpful health nurse looked in her computer and found that anyone born before 1957 is considered immune and not in need of vaccination.
The reason for this confidence of immunity is that measles was so rampant in the ‘50s and ‘60s that it’s likely anyone who was around back then was hit with it. Besides which, you probably got vaccinated as a child. Therefore, you aren’t eligible to be covered for a booster now.
But, I explained, I don’t recall ever having had the measles, and I don’t remember ever having been vaccinated for it, either. The vaccine didn’t come on the scene until the mid-‘60s and, if I had received the shot, I would probably remember since I was into my university years by then.
Wouldn’t it be in my records if I’d gotten one? No, because the system doesn’t keep vaccination records that far back and I sure don’t either. You can get a test to find out if you have the anti bodies but that takes time and, really, if getting a measles shot after you’ve already had one isn’t going to hurt you, why not just get a booster?
And what about the fact I’m going to be traveling? The countries I’m going to could be full of measles for all I know. Better safe than sorry, I should think. Good point, she said, and did a little more research, discovering that I am, indeed, eligible for the vaccine despite my decrepit years. However, public health won’t be offering the vaccine for several more weeks.
The deal is, if you’re “eligible,” you can get the shot from public supplies at no charge. Otherwise, you can probably get one if you pay. I have no problem with paying; I just want to know if I can get the shot.
Most pharmacies have it in stock, so I should check with them, she said. The pharmacy I called on Friday told me to check back on Monday when there might be somebody on duty who could help me out.
When I went into the pharmacy on Monday, the pharmacist I talked to simply didn’t know enough about the guidelines around measles vaccine but referred me to a different pharmacy that’s more tuned up on travel immunizations. “They might know,” she said.
Indeed, pharmacy number two was very helpful, though it took quite a bit of checking to sort out the nuances of how to go about getting vaccinated if you want. Bottom line: “You can get the shot right now if you want one.”
Which is what I did. Several days later, I’ve had none of the side effects that many people apparently feel from getting this live vaccine. No fever, no feeling like crap, not even a sore arm. Maybe I was immune all along and my little soldier cells had been waiting these long years for a chance to take on the enemy.
And now to my point. Being that measles is making this unwelcome reappearance, and given that it can actually kill you, shouldn’t there be a lot more awareness and protocol in our healthcare system regarding who should get vaccinated and where and how to get vaccinated?
Shouldn’t Dr. Bonnie Henry be on TV telling us to be kind to each other and to be sure we’re immunized and if we aren’t, here’s how to do it?
Might be time for the policy setters to arm those on the front lines of healthcare, and the public, with a better information package.
Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Thanks for the timely and informative editorial. I remember having had measles when I was a child so I’m likely to have lifelong immunity.
It’s a bit scary to think that some people believe “God will protect us from getting measles so our kids don’t need to be vaccinated”.
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I see the scare stories are circulating again. Big pharma sales must be falling.
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Do you think that vaccinating dogs and cats is a fallacy? Try to take one’s dog across the border without having proof of its vaccinations and the dog won’t be allowed to go.
Big Pharma is hardly involved with preventing the transmission of rabies, for example. The rabies vaccine is a proven way of preventing a dog from developing rabies if it is bitten by an infected animal.
Most people my age have a scar on the upper part of one arm. That was a “side effect” of having been vaccinated for……I’ll let you guess. I once told a dental hygienist about the scar on my arm and she replied, “You bear your scar so that I didn’t have to.”
With your pseudonym, you may be familiar with the bearing of scars.
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Thank you for your reply John.
Re your first two points:
1. “Do you think that vaccinating dogs and cats is a fallacy? Try to take one’s dog across the border without having proof of its vaccinations and the dog won’t be allowed to go.”
I used to think vaccines were of some use but not for the ‘flu as people fell ill anyway. It wasn’t until 2020 and the COVID farce that I researched in depth and realised vaccines are a clever scam, so vaccinating man or beast is pointless at best.
Except for big pharma and the medical profession etc. who profit by it.
They have managed to persuade the authorities that vaccination is necessary so rules are made to force people to comply.
2. “Big Pharma is hardly involved with preventing the transmission of rabies, for example. The rabies vaccine is a proven way of preventing a dog from developing rabies if it is bitten by an infected animal.”
Big pharma and the medical/veterinary profession tell us it is proven because they have vested interest in doing so. There is no profit in good health so they invent scare stories based around real and/or imagined events which the mainstream media portray for them, anything for revenue of course.
Vaccination is a magic illusion using advertising incessantly and manipulated statistics. If it was so effective it would sell itself.
It relies on the unprovable negative that somebody has not caught a disease because of something undertaken in the past, conveniently ignoring the fact that a myriad of other factors are at play with health.
As to side effects you might care to look up John Cross pharmacist who suffered a vaccine injury and ultimately took his own life because of it.
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Its difficult to believe that people still do not see that vaccines save lives. Go to any Pioneer cemetery and look at the graves of children who died of diseases that have all but disappeared, thanks to vaccines. And because of this, we are careless in getting vaccinated and slowly the diseases are coming back.
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Apologies for the delay in getting back to you Jennifer. However, it is difficult to believe that people still do not see that having a cocktail of toxic substances into them will only cause disease. As to graveyards, they just indicate that children died, not the detail of their circumstances leading to death.
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