Judge recommends better vaccine campaigns, housing after Alberta boy's death

FILE- A vaccine for meningococcal disease is seen in this undated photo. (Sherry Yates/Science Photo Library/AP/CNN)

EDMONTON — A judge has recommended better vaccination campaigns and solutions to overcrowded housing after the death of a six-year-old Indigenous boy in northern Alberta.

Provincial court Justice Claus Thietke says in a fatality report says the boy died on Nov. 13, 2020, at a local nursing station after complaining of abdominal pain and hours spent vomiting.

The fatality inquiry, held in October 2024, heard that meningococcus bacteria in the boy’s bloodstream led to an infection, and his organs began to fail.

Thietke’s report, released Tuesday, says the boy lived with about 20 relatives on a First Nation near Fox Lake, in a house that lacked running water and sewage facilities.

Thietke says such conditions “should not be tolerated,” as evidence heard at the inquiry showed they can increase the risk of contracting symptomatic meningococcus.

The judge also pointed to evidence that the boy was not up to date on his vaccinations and recommended “consistent efforts” to promote such campaigns.

“Following (the boy)’s death, the community was met with a mass vaccine campaign against meningococcal disease. As a result, vaccine levels went from 17 per cent to 78 per cent of the population,” Thietke said in the report.

“Court’s recommendation in this area is that consistent efforts to increase vaccination levels should be at the forefront of combating serious illnesses.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2026.

Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press