920 high school students in Waterloo region suspended for out-of-date vaccination records

There are 920 high school students across Waterloo region who have to stay home Thursday after being suspended for not having up-to-date vaccination records on file with public health.

The news is particularly concerning because there's a rise of measles cases throughout the province, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, said in a release on Thursday announcing the suspensions.

"Vaccination is the best way to protect against serious illness," Wang said in a press release.

"With the current increase of measles in southern Ontario, it is especially important to strengthen immunization rates among children and youth. Ensuring that students in our schools are protected through immunization also helps to keep the broader community safe and healthy." 

The Immunization of School Pupils Act says students must be vaccinated or have a valid exemption on file in order to attend school. In mid-March, more than 5,000 suspension orders were sent to secondary school students in Waterloo region. In some cases, students are vaccinated but their records are out-of-date. They had until end-of-day on May 7 to get their records updated.

Region of Waterloo Public Health says students who are vaccinated can book an appointment with public health or their own doctor to get vaccinated. New or unreported vaccinations can be reported through the public health website.

Waterloo region "issued nearly 9,000 suspension orders to elementary school children who don't have up-to-date vaccination records" back in February. Last month, more than 1,600 students were suspended. By April 24, 70 students remained out of class.

Guelph, Wellington a 'risk area' for measles

Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a contagious virus that spreads through the air and between people through breathing, coughing or sneezing. Public Health Ontario notes that measles remains the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in children worldwide. 

Symptoms after a measles exposure can develop anywhere between seven and 21 days later. It begins with cold-like symptoms and can later devolve into white spots in the mouth and back of the throat and a red blotchy rash on the face and body. 

Serious complications, such as ear and brain infections, can happen. 

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health said on Wednesday that it was identified as a risk area by the province because of the community spread. There were 63 probable or confirmed cases in the area as of Wednesday morning.

The province said earlier this week there have been more than 1,300 cases of the virus since October. Many of those cases are in children.