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Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Issue 45
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
WE HAVE MOVED!
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Vaccination rates high in the southeast By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca
There are currently no confirmed cases of measles in Saskatchewan. However, with the breakout of the now-rare disease in B.C. and in the U.S. the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health encourages people in the province to make sure that their vaccination is up to date. The last time cases of measles were reported in Saskatchewan came in 2014. Then, 16 people were diagnosed with measles. Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab pointed out that they were able to keep infectious illness under control due to a high rate of vaccination in the province. “Measles vaccine is very effective.Two doses are 99 per cent effective. And what we’ve seen is that for the most part severe measles infections only happen in unvaccinated children,” said Shahab. Even one shot of vaccine is 95 per cent effective. Yet two doses are the norm and are recommended to be done on time. “For measles that means getting your first dose of MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella vaccine) at 12 months, the second dose at 18 months. So for parents who have children under the age of two making sure that they are up to date with the vaccine,” Shahab said. However, if for some reason the person didn’t receive the vaccination on time, it’s always possible to get it later. “Anyone born after 1970 should have two doses of the measles vaccine. So it doesn’t matter if your child is pre-school, or is in school, or if you are a young adult who for some reason didn’t get vaccinated, make that call to the public health,” Shahab said. The vaccination doesn’t guarantee that one won’t get sick, yet if vaccinated the illness will be milder. “We hardly ever see fullgrown measles in a vaccinated child,” said Shahab. Shahab also pointed out that the decision not to take the MMRV shot affects not only those who get vaccinated but also people in their closest circle. “When we choose to get a child vaccinated we obviously protect our children but we also protect others around them. Especially those children who may be having chemotherapy or other treatments and because
of their current condition may not get vaccinated at that time,” said Shahab. He also reminded that vaccines are safe and have saved more lives in Canada in the last 60 years than any other medical intervention. International travels may also bring more risk if the proper measures are not taken. In that manner, if travelling outside of Canada and traditional Canadian sun destinations such as the Caribbean with a little child, it may be a good idea to contact the local health authority. “If you are travelling internationally to the parts of Europe, Africa, South America, Asia do check online … and if those countries are mentioned do talk to public health, because if you have an infant – six months to 11 months – travelling to selective countries … you can ask if your child qualifies for an additional dose of MMR,” Shahab said. Less than one per cent cannot be vaccinated due to previous reactions or a current condition. And despite a robust public discussion on the pros and cons of vaccinations, it turns out most people still choose to vaccinate. “Less than one per cent of people actually refuse immunization due to personal believes. About five to 10 per cent have questions about immunization,” said Shahab. Those who have questions are advised to address them to public health specialists. In most cases, after all questions are answered, people choose to take a shot. “Go to credible websites, increase your understanding and talk to a professional about your questions. We have seen that when parents have that discussion with the public health or medical health officer, nine times out of 10 they have decided to get vaccinated,” said Shahab. Sometimes negative examples also motivate people to take action. Thus, more people decided to get vaccinated after the 2014 measles breakout. General vaccination numbers in Saskatchewan are quite high. The vaccination rate for children starting school is around 89-90 per cent. It gets to about 92 per cent at Grade 1. And by the time the children finish school, it’s around 95 per cent. The most recent available statistics from 2016 demonstrates that when it comes to measles vaccination southeast Sask. was similar to the rest of the province.
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Learning about CCS The Regina-based International CCS Knowledge Centre hosted three delegations from China, who are taking part in an extensive informational program on carbon capture, usage and storage. The groups included Sinopec, one of China’s national oil companies, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and China’s International Carbon Capture and Storage Centre. A busload of the delegates examined the injection well of the Aquistore project with great interest, despite a bitterly cold and strong wind on Monday. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Cornerstone responded quickly to tragic situation The South East Cornerstone Public School Division moved quickly to put its tragic response protocol into place last week after the death of a student at the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS). Aaron Lavoie, a 16-year-old student who was in Grade 11 at ECS, died on Feb. 24. Lynn Little, the director of education for the school division, said when the division receives notification of a tragic event, they will identify the nature of the tragedy, and the people who will be affected directly. “And then we begin to reach out to our various teams to put supports in place,” said Little. One of the first calls made will be to the school’s administration, so that the school can begin to prepare their staff members. The staff members will be aware of the situation and can support the students once they arrive at school. Providing support for staff is also a task that must be taken care of, she said.
A r r a n g e m e n t s we re made through Aaron Hiske and his team at student services for the support of student services counsellors, who are trained specifically to support students in these challenging times. “ We have a number of counsellors assigned to specific buildings, and then in the event where we have a tragic event occur like this, we pull them from different areas for a little bit of time to offer additional support for students in need or for staff in need at a specific site,” said Hiske. The additional counselling services were provided from Feb. 25-28. The counsellors were very busy, and Little believes that reflects the positive relationships between counsellors and students. They’re good at what they do, and students are willing to talk to them. If counsellors are deployed to other schools, then the school will do what is necessary to compensate for the lost staff members. “We’ll leave those resources in that school or in
Lynn Little that setting until there’s a sense that there’s stability, and everybody who is typically a part of that school is then able to manage and move forward,” said Little. The size of the school and the impact of the incident will determine how many counsellors they bring in. And it is a fluid situation, so they might have to bring in extra counsellors as the week progresses in case they are busier than expected, or they might send counsellors back to their school if it is quieter than expected. There are two full-time counsellors in student ser-
vices at ECS, and three other counsellors were brought in from other schools to see students. The division has 16 1/2 counsellors available. In recent years, those counsellors have also responded to such tragic situations as the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy last year, and the school shooting in La Loche in 2016. Hiske said he was pleased with how the school responded to the tragedy. Little said these situations are more common than people might think. Counsellors are sent in to a school three or four times per month, whether it be for situation involving a student, teacher, staff member or another member of the school community. “Our counsellors primarily support the students. They do also help with staff, of course, but primarily for students,” said Little. Teachers also have supports through the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation through an employee family assistance program to deal with tragic occurrences.
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