Delta mom pleads for people to stop going to ER amid measles outbreak

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you think that you or your children may have been exposed to or have contracted measles, stop going to the emergency room. That’s the plea from one local mom whose teenage son lives with an autoinflammatory disease.

Karen Aubey says people’s first reaction may be to go to the ER for treatment, but she warns that’s not the way to go.

“I’m like ‘No, stop going to emerg, you need to go to your doctor’s office where they can isolate you or call, you can call your doctor’s office and they can order the bloodwork be done,” she adds. “You know it can be done in a much more protective setting than in emerg.”

RELATED: Demand exceeds supply of measles vaccine in Burnaby

She says she still sees people in the ER looking for treatment, noting that exposes everyone present to the virus which includes vulnerable patients.

“That’s if you get triaged and they see the rash and they immediately isolate you but isolation in the main part of the hospital until you get triaged into a room is still pretty open grounds. So many vulnerable people in emerg.”

More should be done to ensure possible measles patients know what to do, Aubey adds.

WATCH: Tackling the measles outbreak

 

Vancouver Coastal Health said Monday the outbreak is not over yet, noting more cases are expected.

Two new cases identified over the weekend involved people returning from trips overseas where they were exposed.

Thirteen cases have been recorded this year with nine linked to a couple of French-language schools in Vancouver. It’s believed an unvaccinated child was exposed to measles during a trip to Vietnam.

Meanwhile, it seems several pharmacies and walk-in clinics around Burnaby are close to or completely out of vaccines for the virus.

 

LISTEN: The measles outbreak in the Vancouver area was the subject of a Big Story podcast episode this week:

 

Stay at home

The B.C. Children’s Hospital agrees with Aubey and is asking people who suspect their children may have measles to stay at home.

“Call your doctor’s office. Tell them that you think your child may have measles before visiting,” read a statement from the hospital. “This will allow your doctor to take precautions to protect other patients as an infected person can spread measles from four days before to four days after the onset of rash.”

It also encourages people to call the public health team through 8-1-1.

-With files from Tim James and Lasia Kretzel 

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