The building where the BCIT
student infected with measles wrote his exams. Ironically, hosts the School of
Health. pic.twitter.com/OgRn8OnKa6
—
Jon Woodward (@ctv_jon) March 15,
2014
—
UPDATE (SUNDAY MARCH 16):
Building NE-1 (Inglis building) in Burnaby will be open for classes on Monday, March 17
—
BCIT students have been warned about the spread of measles on the Burnaby
campus after one confirmed case in a student.
The outbreak of the illness – which according to the World Health Organization,
remains one of the major killers of children in the developing world – has been
making headlines across the country.
“Fraser Health has informed BCIT that a student who attended classes at the
BCIT Burnaby Campus on March 6 and March 7 in Building NE-1 has since been
diagnosed with a confirmed case of measles,” according to an e mail alert sent to
students and staff.
Measles is a severe (and very contagious) illness caused by a virus.
Here are some common complications, according to the Fraser Health Authority’s
website:
Ear infections (1/10 cases)
Diarrhea – (8/100 cases)
Pneumonia – (1/10 cases)
Hospital stay – (1/10 or 2/10 cases)
Encephalitis – (1/1000 cases)
Health officials say the disease is rare in Canada because of immunization and
because most cases are seen in unimmunized people.
For details about vaccinations and more information about the illness visit this
link: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile14b.stm
How are people reacting to the outbreak? Here are some tweets about the BCIT
community being at risk of getting the illness:
@anitabathe @bcit should I attend class on Sat.
Mar.15/2014? Don’t know if I’ve got the measles
vaccine.
— John Cabrera (@John_Cabrera) March
15, 2014
measles at BCIT. .. thank god I’m vaccinated
— Cassandra L (@cassand_ra) March 15, 2014
just got an email about measles
at bcit haha
— thomas (@thomasmolander) Marc
h 15, 2014
Neetu was born and raised in the Okanagan Valley (minus the few toddler years she spent living in Punjab, India where her line of heritage is from). She moved to the lower mainland to attend BCIT and is now in her graduating year of the Broadcast and Online Journalism Program. Her writing and editing for Link magazine often happens late at night because when she’s not at school she works as a reporter and anchor for CKNW Newstalk 980 and is also involved in the start up of a charity called the Beautiful World Foundation. She loves to travel and feels fortunate to be in a field where she can share the stories of interesting and inspiring people from around the world.
