Kwantlen’s Langley campus has become the latest school to report a student with measles.
Students, teachers and staff may have been exposed to a student with measles on March 17-19, Fraser Health and the school told them in a letter.
Anyone with a cough or other measles symptoms is instructed to stay at home and away from others who may not be immune and speak to a doctor.
A Fraser Health spokesman on Monday put the number of measles cases in the Fraser Valley at “more than 100.†Measles alerts have been sent to students living on campus at the University of the Fraser Valley, and there has also been a case involving a BCIT student in Burnaby.
Other cases included a retail worker, public school student and staff at the Chilliwack Lions Club Music and Dance Festival.
Measles (red measles) is an illness caused by the measles virus, according to Fraser Health. It’s very contagious and can be a severe illness in those lacking previous exposure or immunizations. Measles spreads easily through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. The measles virus can survive in small droplets in the air for several hours.
Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose and red and inflamed eyes (often sensitive to light). These are followed by a rash, which starts first on the face and neck, and spreads to the chest, arms and legs, and lasts at least three days.
- from the Vancouver Province