Strictly religious school that opposes vaccinations has been temporarily closed as measles infects 80-100 students
There have been two confirmed cases of the potentially fatal disease — which is preventable — in the greater community of Chilliwack, 100 kilometres east of Vancouver.
The students are members of a Christian Reformed congregation.
Van Buynder said he’s frustrated that 25 to 30 per cent of the surrounding community isn’t vaccinated against measles even though there are readily available and free vaccines.
Measles can cause fever, a rash, brain inflammation, pneumonia, brain damage, blindness, deafness and even death. It’s particularly dangerous for toddlers and infants
Since measles has an incubation period of a couple of weeks, it’s too early to assess the scope of the problem, he said.
There have been recent outbreaks in Orthodox Protestant groups in Holland, as well as in India and the Philippines, Van Buynder said.
“We get sporadic access all of the time from people who go and visit these places and bring it back,” Van Buynder said.
Van Buynder said he’s thankful the school cancelled a planned trip to Haiti, which would have had potentially disastrous results to fellow airline passengers and people in Haiti.
