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Tag: British Columbia

Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

‘Abandoned and betrayed’: Removal of mask requirement in B.C. health care sparks outcry

Published April 1, 2025

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Published by: Daily Hive
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By Amir Ali

We’ve come a long way from the days of general mask mandates for the public, but a recent move to eliminate the requirement in B.C. health care settings is causing some outcry.

According to a recent BC Ministry of Health release, “People are still encouraged to wear medical masks in health care settings as appropriate,” but it is not mandatory.

Some groups, including Protect Our Province BC and DoNoHarm BC, are questioning the decision. This response comes after B.C. announced that it was launching the spring immunization campaign on April 8.

Continue reading‘Abandoned and betrayed’: Removal of mask requirement in B.C. health care sparks outcry
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BC patients, health advocates slam removal of healthcare mask protectionsOrange, yellow and black graphic with an illustration of a person in an N95, fist raised, holding a sign that reads: Keep (and improve) masks in healthcare. Next to the DoNoHarm BC logo and a QR code, smaller text reads, New tools and actions: www.DoNoHarmBC.ca
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC patients, health advocates slam removal of healthcare mask protections

Published March 31, 2025

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Published by: DoNoHarm BC
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC and the Canadian Covid Society warn the province’s decision endangers patients, healthcare workers, and the healthcare system

March 31, 2025 (British Columbia) – BC patients and health advocates are speaking out against the provincial government’s decision to drop healthcare mask requirements, at a time when there are multiple illness outbreaks in medical settings. Public health groups DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC, and the Canadian Covid Society warn that the move endangers vulnerable patients and frontline workers, while harming the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of BC’s healthcare system.

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Respiratory season ends, B.C. launching spring COVID-19 vaccination campaignProvincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry at the Legislature in Victoria, British Columbia, March 28, 2025. She has grey hair, and she is not wearing a mask during the ongoing pandemic. Photo: Government of British Columbia. The image is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 generic licence.
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Respiratory season ends, B.C. launching spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign

Published March 28, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Brenna Owen

Respiratory illness season is over, British Columbia’s top doctor said Friday, but the province is set to launch a spring COVID-19 immunization campaign and wants everyone to ensure they’re fully protected against measles.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said B.C.’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit the lowest level since 2020, with about 40 people in hospital, while cases of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, have also been declining.

Still, Henry said there have been resurgences in spring and summer in the past, and the province is focused on protecting people at the highest risk of serious illness.

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I traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the two health systems stack up.A red emergency sign at a hospital. Photo: Pixabey.
Topic: healthcareView all posts for the topic: healthcare

I traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the two health systems stack up.

Published March 25, 2025

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Published by: Canada Healthwatch
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By Code Black

After more than a decade practicing emergency medicine in the United States, I very recently began working shifts in Canada. The differences hit me immediately, and are profound.

What follows are a series of working hypotheses — early impressions shaped by firsthand experience and years of health policy work in the U.S. I expect they will evolve with time, but they already point to important contrasts in how both countries approach medicine, physician autonomy, and the doctor-patient relationship.

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Topic: VancouverView all posts for the topic: Vancouver

Long COVID sufferers converge outside the Vancouver Art Gallery to protest for better support

Published March 15, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Mina Kerr-Lazenby

Crowds of people suffering long COVID rallied outside the Vancouver Art Gallery Saturday afternoon to raise awareness of the debilitating effects felt by those still battling the disease.

People had gathered to call on the government to assist with funding for further research into symptoms and treatments, disability support, public awareness, and training for medical staff.

Via placards and speeches, protesters described their own various experiences and asked passers by and others in attendance to send letters to their MLA’s and MP’s, requesting support.

According to Statistics Canada, 3.5 million Canadians continue to suffer symptoms five years after the global outbreak of COVID-19.

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BC’s Measles Vaccination Rate Is Lower Than in Gaines County, TexasColourized transmission electron micrograph of a measles virus particle (red), with a yellow background. Photo: CDC and NIAID. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC’s Measles Vaccination Rate Is Lower Than in Gaines County, Texas

Published March 14, 2025

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Michelle Gamage

In Gaines County, Texas, where a measles outbreak has killed one six-year-old and one adult, the measles vaccination rate among kindergarteners is just 82 per cent, according to reporting by The Atlantic.

That’s a higher measles vaccination rate than children have here in B.C.

Just under 82 per cent of two-year-olds have gotten one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, and around 72 per cent of seven-year-olds have gotten both doses, according to the B.C. Childhood Immunization Coverage Dashboard’s 2023 data, which is the most recent data year available.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Additional measles case detected in B.C.‘s Lower Mainland: officials

Published February 19, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Lisa Steacy

A second case of measles linked to a group that travelled to Southeast Asia has been identified in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, according to health officials.

The infected person lives in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and was on Air Canada Flight 66, which arrived at YVR on Feb. 11, said a statement from the health authority on Wednesday. The person was travelling in the same “party” as a Fraser Health region resident in whom measles was detected over the weekend.

People who were on the flight or who were in the international arrivals area of Vancouver’s airport between 7 and 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 11 may have been exposed, the notification from health officials said.

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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Canada buys 500,000 doses of H5N1 avian influenza vaccine for those most at risk

Published February 19, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Amina Zafar

The Public Health Agency of Canada said Wednesday it’s purchased 500,000 doses of a human vaccine to protect against avian influenza for those most at risk from being exposed to the virus by infected animals.

The agency said it secured the initial supply of GSK’s Arepanrix H5N1 A/America vaccine by leveraging an existing agreement.

“While the current risk to the public remains low, individuals with higher-level exposure to infected animals are at increased risk and should take appropriate precautions,” the agency said in a statement.

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Topic: immunity theftView all posts for the topic: immunity theft

Analysis: Why are B.C. kids sick all the time? Health experts explain

Published January 10, 2025

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Published by: Surrey Now-Leader
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By Dr. Lyne Filiatrault, Arijit Chakravarty, T. Ryan Gregory

Simply put, COVID-19 infections weaken our immune systems. This makes us more prone to reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, infections with other viruses (e.g. RSV), reactivation of dormant viral infections (e.g. shingles, Herpes-Zoster virus), bacterial infections (Group A strep,TB) and even rare fungal infections. To make matters worse, the infections themselves may also be more severe. Being infected with SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses or bacteria at the same time can also make things worse, in adults as well as children.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Flu driving spike in respiratory illness in B.C., but COVID-19 numbers low

Published January 9, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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VANCOUVER – New data shared by British Columbia’s Centre for Disease Control shows the province has one of the worst flu rates in Canada, as a holiday-season spike in respiratory illnesses continues.

But the data also shows the province has one of the lowest COVID-19 test positivity rates in the country, at about half the national rate.

Dr. Jennifer Vines, interim medical director for public health response at the B.C. CDC, says respiratory illness has been “steadily climbing” over the past several weeks, with RSV and influenza “driving the increase right now.”

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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

B.C. teen with avian flu discharged after weeks in hospital

Published January 9, 2025

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Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

BC Children’s Hospital says a 13-year-old girl with avian flu was discharged Tuesday after weeks in hospital.

The patient was taken to a pediatric intensive care unit with respiratory failure and pneumonia on Nov. 8 and health officials said she tested positive for H5N1 a day later.

A recent medical journal chronicled the teen’s hospitalization in Vancouver, which involved tracheal intubation and supplemental oxygen.

Her family says in a statement that the experience has been “life-changing” and that they are grateful to have their daughter home.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Mask Rules Are Back in BC Hospitals

Published January 9, 2025

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Michelle Gamage

Masks are back for British Columbia’s health-care sector.

On Wednesday the province said it had reintroduced masking requirements for all health-care workers, volunteers, contractors, patients and visitors.

The masking requirements kicked off on Monday and will last for the duration of respiratory season, which usually ends once the weather improves in the spring.

Masks will be required “in areas where patients are actively receiving care, except when eating and/or drinking,” the Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

B.C. orders masks for hospitals, care facilities as flu, respiratory illness increase

Published January 8, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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VICTORIA – Medical masks are again required in British Columbia health-care facilities as provincial authorities say cases of respiratory illness are rising.

A statement from B.C.’s Health Ministry says workers, volunteers and visitors in facilities operated by provincial health authorities must wear masks in areas where patients are receiving care in order to prevent the spread of the flu, RSV and COVID-19.

The requirement spans hospitals, long-term care and assisted living facilities, outpatient clinics and ambulatory care settings, and it’s expected to remain in effect until the risk of illness decreases, likely in the spring.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Masking required at all B.C. health-care facilities once again

Published January 8, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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Masks must again be worn in health-care facilities across B.C., according to the province’s Health Ministry.

In an email to CBC News, the Ministry of Health said the requirement came into effect on Jan. 6, and everyone in health-care facilities, including staff, patients, visitors and volunteers, must wear medical masks “in areas where patients are actively seeking care.”

The move is in response to what the ministry says is a rise in influenza and RSV infections in B.C. COVID-19, it said, is “stable but showing early signs of an increase.”

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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

First Bird Flu Death in U.S. Reported in Louisiana

Published January 6, 2025

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Published by: The New York Times
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By Apoorva Mandavilli, Emily Anthes

A Louisiana patient who had been hospitalized with severe bird flu has died, the first such fatality in the United States, state health officials reported on Monday.

The patient was older than 65 and had underlying medical conditions, the officials said. The individual became infected with the bird flu virus, H5N1, after exposure to a backyard flock and wild birds.

There is no sign that the virus is spreading from person to person anywhere in the country, and Louisiana officials have not identified any other cases in the state. Pasteurized dairy products remain safe to consume.

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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

In severe bird flu cases, the virus can mutate as it lingers in the body

Published January 3, 2025

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Published by: NBC News
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By Kaitlin Sullivan, Mustafa Fattah

A 13-year-old girl in British Columbia who was hospitalized with bird flu for several weeks late last year harbored a mutated version of the virus, according to a report published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The case was Canada’s first recorded human infection of avian influenza, which has infected at least 66 people in the United States since last March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes the nation’s first severe case, in Louisiana in December.

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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

B.C. teen no longer critical with avian flu, has been taken off oxygen

Published December 31, 2024

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Published by: Global News
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By Simon Little

We’re learning more about the B.C. teenager who became the first critically ill pediatric patient with avian influenza in North America earlier this fall, including some details about her recovery.

The new information was published in a case summary as a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday, signed by multiple doctors from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, BC Children’s Hospital and Public Health Agency of Canada.

Prior to the publication of the letter, B.C.’s Ministry of Health had refused to provide updates on the teen’s status or their case “unless there is a need from a public health perspective to do so.”

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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

American pet food sold in B.C. recalled after a cat died of bird flu

Published December 26, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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Northwest Naturals, an Oregon-based pet food company, is recalling a batch of its two pound (one kilogram) Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after a cat that died of H5N1 avian influenza was linked to the product.

The recalled pet food was sold in British Columbia and several American states — including Oregon, Washington and California — and lists the best before dates as between May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026, the Portland company said in a press release on Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed one house cat in Washington County, Ore., became infected with H5N1 and died after eating the pet food, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) said in a press release on Thursday.

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