Fraser Health is conducting a measles vaccination clinic at Terry Fox secondary school in Port Coquitlam today after being notified that a student had contracted the disease.
The student, who has not been named, was infected while on a flight home from China on March 21, one of 10 people in the Lower Mainland who contracted the disease on the same flight.
A letter went home with parents yesterday, Thursday, asking for approval for the vaccinations. Depending on the participation rate, a second clinic may be held on Monday.
People born before 1970 are protected but people born after that year who have never been vaccinated or never received a second dose of the measles vaccination are asked to report to the clinic. A booster shot is not harmful and could provide additional protection for those who are unsure whether they are vaccinated, according to Fraser Health spokesperson Nafisa Abddulla.
"They want to get as many people vaccinated as possible so they get that immunization as quickly as possible," explained Abdulla, who said the individual was infectious last week.
