The B.C. Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver is advising travellers planning to travel to Europe this summer for the Olympics or just to travel to make sure their measles vaccination is up to date.

The agency notes that measles has been on the rise in many parts of the world and that last year alone, there was an outbreak of almost 800 cases in Quebec that started with at least one unvaccinated traveller.

Here’s a story that appeared on CTVNews.ca last month (which I wrote) which explains the dangers of measles and how to find out whether you are up to date with your vaccinations:

I spoke with Dr. Caroline Quach, who works at a children's hospital in Montreal and has seen many of the devastating complications measles can bring on.

Also, here's information from the Public Health Agency of Canada on the safety of the measles vaccine (which is called MMR because it also contains a vaccine against mumps and rubella.)