B.C. scientists are sounding the alarm over low measles vaccination rates in certain parts of the province.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) provides stats on vaccination rates and it shows there are areas where children are not keeping up to date with their measles vaccine.

The provincial average is only 65.6 per cent.

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“Well, to my knowledge, I believe there are three cases in British Columbia,” Dr. Brian Conway, the medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, told Global News. “They are related to each other but acquired abroad. There has been no evidence as of yet of any local spread of measles outbreaks of the type that we’re seeing in Texas.”

In the Kootenay Boundary area, only 62 per cent of seven-year-olds are up to date.

Similar numbers are reported in the Thompson-Cariboo and Okanagan regions.

“There are the risks of local outbreaks because that’s a low enough rate that if the reintroduction of a case of measles, you have enough people who are susceptible to infection to acquire the disease and become sick,” Conway said.

A few regions have a higher vaccine rate, including the Northern Interior region at 75.6 per cent, the East Kootenay region at 66.9 per cent, the Fraser East region at 68.3 per cent, Richmond at 74. 5 per cent, Central Vancouver Island at 72.8 per cent, and the Northwest region at 70.1 per cent.

In 2013, around 90 per cent of seven-year-olds were vaccinated against measles every year, according to the BCCDC. That number is now just 72 per cent.

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“As far as vaccination rates, we would like them to be above 90 per cent in the general population,” Conway said.

He added that parents need to know that the measles vaccine provides long-term efficacy and that contracting measles is not better than getting the vaccine.

Conway said that someone who contracts measles in nature stands a one in 500 chance of getting a brain infection, people can go blind, and one in 1,000 people die from the infection.

“We need to have these discussions openly and give people the facts so that they can make a decision for themselves and their kids,” he added.

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Caroline Colijn, a mathematician and epidemiologist, told Global News that British Columbians need to be aware that measles cases are rising in other parts of Canada, including New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta.

“We looked at this starting last year, when we realized that measles vaccination coverage was actually really variable across Canada,” she said.

“So while the overall numbers nationwide are good and have been good for many years, they’re a little less than they used to be.”

Colijn added that now is the time to get vaccinated, even if someone doesn’t know their immune status.

“I think what I’m concerned that, you know, with many childhood infectious diseases, they are very serious,” she said.

“Measles can cause death … It can cause brain swelling, encephalitis, which can lead to deafness and disability. And it can damage the immune system.”