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You鈥檝e seen the headlines, you鈥檝e read the comments and you鈥檝e watched the hysteria build.

Dr. Monika Naus, medical director of the Communicable Diseases and Immunization Services at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, explains exactly what the big deal is.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no treatment for measles, so if you get measles it鈥檚 your own body that has to cure you,鈥� said Naus.

Measles is a virus, so antibiotics don鈥檛 work. According to Naus the most modern medicine can do for you is aid in the healing, but your body has to tackle the infection itself.

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鈥淚f your lungs are full of measles virus and you鈥檙e in respiratory failure you can be put on a ventilator,鈥� said Naus. 鈥淚f you have a brain infection with measles 鈥� they can give you steroids to reduce swelling 鈥� but essentially it鈥檚 up to you to cure yourself.鈥�

Measles is a highly infectious virus spread through airborne transmission making it that much easier to contract.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need direct contact. You don鈥檛 need to be sharing spit, kissing, sharing 鈥� it鈥檚 airborne, so it鈥檚 that much more infectious.鈥�

Because measles can spread so easily in susceptible populations it can cause exceedingly high numbers of cases.

鈥淲hen you have high numbers of cases, you also wind up with a high number of cases with complications,鈥� said Naus.

Measles can infect any part of the body and serious infection occurs when the virus spreads to a person鈥檚 lungs or brain.

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According to Naus there is debate around how fatal measles is, but it鈥檚 estimated from North American data about one in 300 cases result in death.

In 1996 Canada adopted the measles elimination goal as part of the Pan American Health Organization because it was recognized increasingly that measles elimination was achievable.

鈥淲e do get imported cases, sometimes a visitor or a Canadian returning from overseas and most of the time there鈥檚 no onward transmission if people around them are vaccinated,鈥� said Naus. 鈥淚f they go into a group of people with susceptible individuals that鈥檚 when we see transmission.鈥�

According to Naus measles is still a big problem worldwide, particularly where children are malnourished coupled with little available treatment the virus is still killing hundreds of thousands of children worldwide.

Naus said while it is achievable to eliminate measles, it requires a demand from the public to be vaccinated and prevent the disease from spreading.

鈥淭here are people who believe that general health, eating nutritious foods and exercising is sufficient,鈥� said Naus. 鈥淵es 鈥� all those things help your immune system but they don鈥檛 provide you with specific immunity.鈥�

The recent outbreak has been limited to a small group of schools in Vancouver and according to Naus there haven鈥檛 been anymore reported cases since Valentines Day.

鈥淭he incubation period for measles is up to 21 days so we won鈥檛 know whether there will be any additional cases until about the 7th of March,鈥� said Naus.

For more information on how you can get vaccinate to protect against to measles virus visit immunizebc.ca/finder