Selkirk Montessori School students, families and staff will be offered a second day of immunizations on Wednesday, following a measles scare that turned out to be a false alarm.
Penny Barner, executive director of the Pacific Montessori Society, said mostly staff in need of booster shots showed up for a free vaccination clinic at the school on Tuesday. The clinic will also be held Wednesday morning.
The vast majority of students are vaccinated, but there are a few who are not, Barner said. There are also students who require a second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination and adults who need booster shots to update their immunity.
A younger sibling of a student at the 300-student Victoria school was suspected to have measles. As a precaution, Island Health alerted school officials on Sunday afternoon and emails were sent to parents.
A small group of unvaccinated students and a larger group of out-of-province students whose immunization records were not yet filed with Island Health were asked on Monday to stay home.
Parents were told that students who had not been vaccinated or did not have proof of vaccination would have to stay home for 21 days if the potential case of measles was verified. This is the protocol that would be put in place at any school where there was a suspected measles exposure.
Lab results received on Monday evening indicated that the child did not have measles.
Barner said she did not receive any pushback from parents.
“There was some frustration, obviously, as it was out of their control,” she said. “And 21 days incubation is quite a long time to have your child out of school for working parents or those with other [commitments].”
Island Health was on top of the situation from the beginning, Barner said. “It’s reassuring to me that in a health crisis there is someone who has your back and provides protocols that make sure families are safe. It’s a good feeling.”
There are six confirmed cases of the measles in the capital region. The first two cases were traced back to Vietnam. The remainder are not related to travel abroad.
For a list of locations where people might have been exposed to measles, go to islandhealth.ca.
Symptoms of measles include fever, runny nose, sore throat, diarrhea, cough and red eyes. A few days after that, there will be a rash that begins on the face and travels to the chest.
Measles immunizations are free.
The past nine weeks have seen more than 4,900 measles vaccinations given in Island Health’s area — double the total from the same period in 2018.
