The majority of parents in the southeast get their children vaccinated, but small pockets of resistance among parents still exist, and even delaying a child's vaccination can lead to serious consequences.
Dr. Ross Findlater, medical health officer for the Sun Country Health Region (SCHR), said the majority of vaccine-preventable diseases have a much greater impact on younger children, and delaying their immunization isn't a good idea.
"By delaying, you're leaving them unprotected during their most vulnerable time to those diseases," Findlater said.
A recent report from the Canadian Medical Association suggested schools should be allowed to ask for vaccine reports before children start school in order to ensure they are vaccinated. In Ontario and New Brunswick, students are required to be immunized upon school entry for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella, though exemptions relating to medical or religious grounds, do exist.
Findlater said Saskatchewan doesn't have mandatory immunization systems in place, but under the Public Health Act, health regions and schools can exclude non-immunized children from school.
"This would be done because during an outbreak (non-immunized children) pose a risk to other children," he said, but noted this has never happened during his 20 years with SCHR.
Mandatory vaccinations would be a suitable tool to combat low vaccination rates in an area, Findlater said. However, the southeast is in no such position.
According to SCHR's 2013/2014 annual report, immunization coverage rates among children are relatively high. The measles vaccine coverage rate for children in SCHR by their second birthday was 94 per cent (one dose) and 85.2 per cent (two doses) compared to 88.8 per cent (one dose) and 75.3 per cent (two doses) for Saskatchewan.
The Region’s coverage rates are the highest in the province among seven-year-olds for the pertussis and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine coverage and second highest for the meningococcal disease vaccine coverage in this age group.
Systematic evaluations of various grades in elementary schools are occasionally performed, but Findlater said this isn't done consistently throughout the province.
Findlater said it's important that high immunization rates continue in the southeast. Some parents believe that when a significant portion of a population is immunized from a particular disease, it provides a measure of protection for individuals who have not been vaccinated, (also known as herd immunity), and Findlater said though this does hold some truth, it's not something that should be relied on.
“Families with young children will eventually do some travelling, and they may also travel once they’re older, so in situations like that, there’s a risk of bringing something back with you,” he said. "It's a social responsibility … it's important that kids are protected."
He noted misconceptions regarding vaccines still exist, the most prominent one still being the supposed connection between vaccines and autism.
"It's been strongly disproven," Findlater said, adding when measles outbreaks occur in the world, it does bring non-believers back into the discussion. Many parents approached the health region last year when the U.S. experienced a record number of measle cases during 2014, with 668 cases from 27 states reported to CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). These scenarios, at times, even result in parents reassessing their beliefs about vaccines.
