Recent measles outbreaks in several different Canadian provinces have two Ontario parents concerned for their son, who couldn’t get the measles vaccination due to a health condition.
Mallory Olsheski’s son, Riley, had a heart transplant in 2012 when he was just five months old. Because the transplant left Riley’s immune system in such a fragile state, he wasn’t able to get the measles vaccination, she said.
She said that the measles outbreaks across the country, including four cases in the Ottawa region where she lives, pose an increased risk to her son.
“Exposure to measles and contracting the measles can be deadly for him,” she told CTV’s Canada AM. “So it’s very scary to think that he’s at such risk for something that was originally eradicated in this country.”
Since the start of 2014, there have been measles outbreaks in Western Canada, the Prairies and Ontario, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. The agency issued a warning last week that there have been a higher-than-usual number of confirmed cases since the start of the year.
On Tuesday, Ontario public health officials confirmed that there have been 11 cases in the province, all of which are directly or indirectly related to travel overseas.
And in British Columbia, public health officials are contending with an outbreak of about 320 cases in the Fraser Valley East region.
The B.C. outbreak is believed to have first occurred in a Christian elementary school in Chilliwack. Parts of the region have low vaccination rates, with some community members choosing not to vaccinate their children for religious reasons. On Tuesday, the provincial ministry of health said the outbreak had been largely contained.
Olsheski said she “takes issue” with people who don’t vaccinate their children due to non-medical reasons.
“I believe that these people need to be educated and informed, they should ask questions,” she said. “They should take time to speak to physicians and health units.”
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease that can have serious side effects including diarrhea, fever, pneumonia, infections of the brain and even death. Symptoms of measles begin to appear after seven to 18 days after infection, and can include fever, drowsiness, red eyes and the development of a blotchy rash. Public health agencies across the country stress that immunization is the best protection against the measles.
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8 Responses
And I take issue with people who don’t vaccinate due to so-called health reasons!
#1: It’s more than taking issue. These people are rotzchim.
people don’t realize that not vaccinating is playing with fire!
I missed my MMR vaccine as a teenager due to negligence and as a result a number of years later while i was a bochur in yeshiva I contracted Mumps.
Now I am married and dealing with infertility due to a very low sperm count because of the mumps.
this besides the fact that I could have infected other bochurim in the yeshiva during the ten day incubation period.
Health, I’m about as pro vaccination as they come, but in rare cases there really are reasons not to vaccinate.
One of my children developed a seizure disorder as an infant, and when he was discharged from the hospital, we were told that he was not allowed to receive the pertussis vaccination. His pediatrician – a conventional doctor who strongly urges her patients to get vaxed for anything possible – told us the same, no pertussis vax for children with seizures. We gave our son diptheria and tetanus shots separately instead of the DPT.
So it’s possible that this child really was not allowed to get the measles shot. I wouldn’t jump to judge them
Her son didn’t get measles! This is another propaganda piece to pull our heart strings and criminalize the anti vaxers! This child is unfortunately susceptible to much more than just the measles, and we don’t have to put our children at risk – yes vaccines carry many risks- for him. I’m very sorry I’m not insensitive but I don’t have to risk my child’s life to maybe protect your child from complications![Besides the vaccines don’t work anyways] Time and again we’re gonna here from the media these heart-wrenching accusations, but it’s not gonna help them! People are starting to see through their agenda and are getting educated, that’s why their rolling out this propaganda, and some people just follow it blindly…
Before believing anti-vaccine propaganda, ask for proven facts supporting that connection.
just google “dr poul thorsen indicted” & c what the dept of justice says about the doctor who did the studies for the CDC Autism & vaccines
Didibrook is right.
The sort of people reading Yeshiva World News, are supposed to be the yeshiva velt type, the gemara minds and all I see is knee-jerking heart of headness. A jew is supposed to rule their heart with their head. Intellect before emotion.
Do you know that most who do not vaccinate, are very up on things, have done more reading then the simletons that bow to the health industry, bow to everyone, believe everyones first interest is their best interest! Get some intrigue, open your eyes!
Time and again studies when conducted, have found the vaccines given are often not even active since they have not been stored properly, and they are often given beyond their date and so on and so forth!
They will tell you the outbreaks are from people who dont vaccinate that have travelled overseads and have brought it back. Would they tell you when an outbreak is a result of BAD VACCINES! Surely not, figure it out.
Gemara kop says, you have two options before you, one may or may not happen, and one probably will. You may get measles (which is something that passes and is treated so well now it is not a threat hardly in any case at all!), or you may develop reactions to getting a shot, read up on the many complications that can and do occur on a daily basis to kids that are getting shots!
Too many litvisher jews are istanis freak-out types. Neurotic and phobic, and it shows! Calm down, breathe through you nose (Rebbe Nachman say to do this, to cool your brain down since its over-heating), put your brain in first gear and turn the heart down a few notches eh.
I asked a sheila from my Rav before not vaccinating any of my kids pi pi pi. Did you ask a sheila from your Rav before vaccinating? My Rav said not to. Rav Yisrael Eisenblatt Z”L. If you dont know him its no shocker, but if you are as connected and know it all as you suppose, you should know of him. He told me there is no need, but for things that are life-threatening in the area one lives in, would be prudent. When I asked him if he vacinated his own kids, he wouldnt answer.