Measles vaccine proven preventative: MLA Hunter

Posted on June 12, 2025 by Ryan Dahlman

By Trevor Busch
Commentator/Courier
editor@tabertimes.com

Alberta’s measles case count continues to escalate, surpassing 761 cases as of June 6, and is showing no signs of abating in the hard-hit South Zone which accounts for the majority of cases province-wide. 

Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter warned that older individuals who may be unvaccinated are risking serious complications should they become infected.

“Well, first of all, anybody who gets measles when they’re older there can be some complications – some great complications. So people need to make sure that they get the boosters. I got my measles, rubella, mumps shot when I was younger – I have the scar to prove it on my shoulder – I think everybody when we were younger, that’s what we got, and we got a scar for it.”

Low vaccination rates in areas of the South Zone, like the MD of Taber (39.1 per cent) and County of 40-Mile (30.2 per cent), are a significant contributing factor to the alarming numbers being witnessed. 

Hunter, who also serves as Associate Minister of Water and Chief Government Whip, pointed to vaccination as the only proven method to protect parents and children from measles.

“It’s people who are vaccine hesitant. I don’t know all the reasons why they are, there’s probably some to do with COVID. But vaccines have been around for a long, long time and there’s vaccines that that have been proven to be safe for decades. And so I just think that people need to make sure that they are consulting with their doctor and making sure that they get good advice. You know, as a government, we will always say you need to get your vaccinations to be able to protect yourselves and that’s our policy.”

Doctors and scientists are now warning of some of the long-term and rare complications from measles, some of which can be deadly, including subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) which can flare up seven to 11 years after an initial infection. It can attack the brain in people who were very young when they were first infected, or the immune-suppressed, has no treatment and usually results in coma and death.

Another serious measles complication can cause what’s known as immune amnesia, which eliminates a person’s immune memory and can make them much more susceptible to other infections for months or even years. 

And those are only long-term complications. People currently infected with measles can be susceptible to ear infections, pneumonia, brain swelling and death.

The Alberta government has launched an awareness campaign to try to get more and more citizens and children vaccinated against the outbreak, but Hunter pointed out the province isn’t the only jurisdiction in North America currently grappling with this growing issue.

“They are ramping up their campaign to make sure that there’s more out there on the billboards and in terms of advertising, but remember, it’s not just Albertans. This is all over the place. This is happening all over Canada. I know it’s probably down in the States as well, but certainly all over Canada. I know Ontario has a lot of people that have got the measles. So this is not just happening in Alberta. It’s kind of cropping up all over the place.”

By far the worst numbers in Alberta are being seen in the South Zone, which included 556 of the 761 total cases in Alberta on June 6. Of that total, some 576 cases are children.