Tag: British Columbia

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

Colourized 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/

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

Published March 14, 2025

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: March 14, 2025
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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British Columbia

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

Published February 19, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: February 19, 2025
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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avian flu

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

Published February 19, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: February 19, 2025
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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immunity theft

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

Published January 10, 2025

Published by: Surrey Now-Leader
Published on: January 10, 2025
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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British Columbia

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

Published January 9, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: January 9, 2025

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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avian flu

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

Published January 9, 2025

Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
Published on: January 9, 2025
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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British Columbia

Mask Rules Are Back in BC Hospitals

Published January 9, 2025

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: January 9, 2025
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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British Columbia

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

Published January 8, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: January 8, 2025

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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British Columbia

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

Published January 8, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: January 8, 2025

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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avian flu

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

Published January 6, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: January 6, 2025
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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avian flu

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

Published January 3, 2025

Published by: NBC News
Published on: January 3, 2025
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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avian flu

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

Published December 31, 2024

Published by: Global News
Published on: December 31, 2024
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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avian flu

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

Published December 26, 2024

Published by: CBC News
Published on: December 26, 2024

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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vaccines

Why We Vaccinate

Published December 24, 2024

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: December 24, 2024
By Michelle Gamage

There’s a concerning trend emerging in Canada and the United States when it comes to vaccine hesitancy.

In the United States, a key legal adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the man tapped to be the next U.S. health secretary, is working to get rid of polio and hepatitis B vaccines in America, according to the New York Times. Kennedy himself has vocally opposed vaccines for years.

And here in Canada the overall childhood vaccination rate is declining, said Dr. Jason Wong, chief medical officer at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Wong is the deputy provincial health officer and a clinical associate professor in the University of British Columbia school of population and public health.

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British Columbia

Respiratory illness on the rise as B.C. residents begin busy holiday season

Published December 22, 2024

Published by: Vancouver Sun
Published on: December 22, 2024
By Tiffany Crawford

As B.C. begins the busy holiday season of social gatherings, health officials are reporting a steady increase in respiratory illness, including respiratory syncytial virus and walking pneumonia in children.

RSV is up 10.3 per cent over last week, predominantly in children in the Lower Mainland, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported in an update Friday.

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British Columbia

To deal with a doctor shortage, this B.C. city has decided to start paying them directly

Published December 21, 2024

Published by: CBC News
Published on: December 21, 2024
By Michelle Gomez

A new clinic opening early next year on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island has a different structure it hopes will help attract and retain family doctors amid an ongoing physician shortage.

The Colwood Medical Clinic will be run not as a private practice, as is normally the case, but by the Greater Victoria municipality itself. The mayor says they have now hired their first doctor and plan on bringing on seven more.

All eight will be paid as municipal employees, receiving full medical benefits, vacation and a pension. They will also be free of the administrative and financial tasks doctors typically handle when running their own clinics, instead handing that work off to the city.

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CDC confirms first severe case of H5N1 bird flu in U.S.

Colourized transmission electron micrograph of avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles (yellow), grown in canine kidney epithelial cells (blue). Photo: CDC and NIAID.

avian flu

CDC confirms first severe case of H5N1 bird flu in U.S.

Published December 18, 2024

Published by: CBC News / The Associated Press
Published on: December 18, 2024

A person in Louisiana has the first severe illness caused by bird flu in the U.S., health officials said Wednesday.

The patient had been in contact with sick and dead birds in backyard flocks, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. Agency officials didn’t immediately detail the person’s symptoms.

Previous illnesses in the U.S. had been mild and the vast majority had been among farm workers exposed to sick poultry or dairy cows.

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Advocates Urge BC to Reinstate Healthcare Mask Protections Amid Rising Risks

British Columbia

Advocates Urge BC to Reinstate Healthcare Mask Protections Amid Rising Risks

Published December 10, 2024

Published by: DoNoHarm BC
Published on: December 10, 2024

DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC and the Canadian Covid Society warn of infection risks in healthcare

December 10, 2024 (British Columbia, Canada) – Advocacy groups in BC are calling on policy-makers to immediately reinstate healthcare mask requirements. The call comes as BC faces severe risks from COVID-19, a rise in “walking pneumonia,” local measles warnings, and Canada’s first human case of H5N1 avian influenza – which health officials warn could potentially turn into another pandemic.

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DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC and the Canadian Covid Society warn of infection risks in healthcare