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Tag: Canada

Quebec urges measles vaccination to prevent spread of highly contagious disease

Quebec public health officials are urging people to get themselves and their young children vaccinated for measles, a highly contagious disease that is making a comeback several years after its eradication.

Quebec’s public health director Luc Boileau, Montreal public health director Mylene Drouin, and pediatrician, microbiologist and infectious disease specialist Caroline Quach-Thanh are holding a news conference in Montreal Monday afternoon.

So far about 10 cases have been detected in the province, mainly in Montreal, but Boileau warns that it could be just the beginning.

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1st case of measles reported in B.C. over the weekend: Health Ministry

One case of measles was reported in B.C. over the weekend, the provincial Ministry of Health confirmed in a statement Monday morning.

This weekend’s confirmed case is the first the province has recorded since 2019. As of Feb. 29, nine other cases of the disease have been confirmed across Canada.

B.C.’s Health Ministry announced the case in a statement warning locals to confirm their immunization records, especially before going on spring break trips.

“With measles outbreaks being reported internationally and spring break on the horizon, the provincial health officer, BC Centre for Disease Control and public health officials are reminding people in British Columbia to check their vaccination records before travelling to ensure they are protected,” the statement said.

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Atteinte de la COVID longue, une Néo-Écossaise désire que la maladie soit mieux reconnue

Two months after contracting COVID-19, Beth Wood found that she had trouble concentrating, was easily irritable and still tired. While it is among the 3.5 million Canadians with long-term COVID according to Statistics Canada, access to disability benefits remains complex.

Beth Wood has been a social worker for forty years. Although the boss of the community centre where she works in Halifax offered her support to resume her work, she feels that she is constantly swimming against the current.

She is now considering applying for a long-term disability benefit, but she is concerned that the road is long.

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Atteinte de la COVID longue, une Néo-Écossaise désire que la maladie soit mieux reconnue

Two months after contracting COVID-19, Beth Wood found that she had trouble concentrating and was easily irritated and always tired. While it is among the 3.5 million Canadians with long COVID, according to Statistics Canada, access to disability benefits remains complex.

Beth Wood has been a social worker for 40 years. Although the boss of the community centre where she works in Halifax offered her support to resume her work, she feels that she is constantly swimming against the current.

She is now considering applying for a long-term disability benefit, but she is concerned that the road is long.

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De l’espoir pour les femmes atteintes de syndromes de fatigue chronique

Research into long COVID may benefit other fatigue syndromes that follow infections. These difficult to diagnose and treat disorders affect twice as many women as men. A symbol of sexism in medicine?

“When we started talking about long COVID at the end of 2020, patients told me how close it was to their symptoms,” says Durand, epidemiologist from the Université de Montréal who studied a cohort of patients with long COVID. “These are patients who for years had chronic fatigue, mental fog, abnormally low resistance to exertion. Doctors often told them it was in their heads. These are symptoms that are called “non-specific.” There are no diagnostic tests.”

These problems are often grouped under the term “acute post-infection syndrome.” “The idea is that there are things that have changed with the infection, and there are still sequelae that we can’t measure right now,” says Durand. “Since many people have had COVID-19, there are many cases of long COVID. We are talking about 15% of COVID-19 cases. So there’s a lot of funding for long COVID.”

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Nova Scotians with long-term COVID symptoms face disability claim hurdles

Two months after contracting COVID-19 and recovering, Beth Wood noticed that she was having trouble concentrating, getting winded easily and feeling unusually tired.

Like three and a half million other Canadians, according to Statistics Canada, Halifax’s Wood has long-term COVID symptoms.

Wood has worked as a community social worker for four decades.

She told CBC Radio’s Information Morning Nova Scotia, her employer has been helping her try to get back up to speed at work. But it hasn’t been successful and she is now considering taking long-term disability.

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Radio | Ontario Today – February 29, 2024: Is there hope for people living with long covid? Where have you turned for help?

Dr. Angela Cheung heads up a network of scientists and health practitioners studying long covid. She’s also a senior physician-scientist at University Health Network in…

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Ottawa Public Health stats mainly stable for COVID-19, flu and RSV

Respiratory infections in Ottawa showed little change over the last week.

Ottawa Public Health reported 83 new confirmed cases and three new deaths during the period ending Feb. 27.

Last week, there were 130 new cases and two additional deaths.

This week’s reading brought the total number of Ottawa cases to 98,254 since the pandemic began in 2020, while 1,230 people have died.

The health agency’s weekly respiratory infections dashboard showed 12 new hospitalizations for flu patients in the seven days ending Feb. 24, for a total of 199 this season. The report described flu levels as very high, the same description as last week’s data.

The report showed 21 new hospitalizations for COVID-19, for a total of 1,064, and three more hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The COVID-19 and RSV results were described as “moderate.”

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SHA disposing of large quantity of personal protective equipment supplied during pandemic

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is disposing of a large quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE) which was supplied by the federal government during the pandemic.

The SHA says it has warehouses in Regina and Saskatoon with PPE that can’t be used because they failed to meet standards or expired before they could be used.

It includes masks, face shields, gowns and gloves supplied by the federal government during the pandemic.

The SHA has now issued a request for proposals for recycling of the materials. The NDP opposition says it’s a shame that it’s all going to waste.

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Canada’s chief medical officer warns of March break measles risk

Canada’s chief medical officer of health is warning people to make sure they have had two doses of measles vaccine, especially if they are travelling. That message, coming just before the heavy travel period of March break, is urgent this year with cases of measles spiking around the world and vaccination rates lagging, including across Canada.

It is also potentially complicated. Many adults are not aware of their vaccination status, and particularly whether they have had one or two measles vaccines. As well, a growing percentage of the population is without family doctors, making it more difficult to access care.

Measles can cause serious illness and even be deadly. Among potential severe complications are pneumonia, deafness and brain damage caused by inflammation of the brain.

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Senior dies of COVID-19, raising death toll to 11 this year in Waterloo Region

A man in his 70s has died of COVID-19, the regional public health unit announced Friday in a weekly update.

This raises the death toll to 11 this year where the pandemic disease was a main or contributing cause.

Hospitalizations for the disease are stable and relatively low, averaging 13 patients per day on Feb. 17. This compares to a typical day in the pandemic with 27 patients in three local hospitals.

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Fall COVID-19 vaccine cut illness risk by half overall

The fall COVID-19 vaccine cut the risk of COVID-19 illness by about half overall, and by 67 per cent for those with a previous infection, according to new research from the Canadian network that has long tracked the performance of the annual flu shot.

This is the first time the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network, which is comprised of hundreds of primary care providers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, produced mid-season estimates of the effectiveness of immunization against COVID-19.

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Nova Scotia Health to lift COVID-19 immunization requirement for employees

Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health are set to lift a requirement for employees, new hires and on-site medical staff to submit proof of primary series COVID-19 immunization beginning Feb. 26, 2024.

In an email to CBC News on Wednesday night, a spokesperson for Nova Scotia Health said the decision was made “in response to evolving evidence regarding COVID-19, Omicron sub-variants, protection from vaccine and a review of vaccination policies across other jurisdictions.”

NSH confirmed the change in policy after a letter to an employee was posted on social media earlier in the day. The letter advises the employee, on unpaid leave for not meeting the COVID-19 immunization requirements, they could return to work as of Monday.

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Ottawa Bylaw says police warned officers not to ticket ‘Freedom Convoy’ demonstrators due to ‘risk of escalation’

The City of Ottawa’s general manager of emergency and protective services says there is no double standard when it comes to how Ottawa Bylaw issues tickets to protesters who violate things like noise bylaws.

His comments come after the city announced this week that bylaw tickets were not issued to protesters in Ottawa for the “Freedom Convoy” anniversary rally on Saturday, despite the fact that a group of protesters set off fireworks in a parking lot on Queen Street, in violation of the city’s fireworks bylaw.

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Canadian data show moderate to good vaccine efficacy against COVID, flu

The Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network (SPSN) data reveal mid-season vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB.1.5 variant of 47% against medically attended outpatient COVID-19 and 67% among previously infected people.

The same test-negative case-control study reports that the flu vaccine is 63% effective against medically attended outpatient infection with the influenza A H1N1 strain and 40% against H3N2.

The researchers enrolled patients with new or worsening cough that is characteristic of acute respiratory illness (ARI) who sought care within 7 days of symptom onset from community-based sentinel practitioners in Alberta, British Columbia (BC), Ontario, or Quebec.

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Ottawa-Gatineau community update | 2024‑02‑15

📈 The COVID-19 wastewater viral signal for Ottawa is very high. The signal has decreased substantially since a peak around January 12, 2024. Levels are still about 1,050% higher than the value during a low point on July 12, 2023. The signal has increased during the first week of February 2024.

⚠️ The percent positivity is high (9.39% in Ottawa; 12.0% in the Outaouais).

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Free supply of COVID-19 tests coming to an end in Saskatchewan

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly four years in the rear-view, measures like masks, social distancing and free COVID-19 test kits have continued to wind down.

On Wednesday, the Government of Saskatchewan confirmed it will no longer supply free tests, which have been widely available at voluntary distribution sites like public libraries.

In response to the pandemic, the federal government procured and distributed rapid antigen tests to provinces and territories, making them freely available to individuals and families as a way to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

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COVID PPE makers sue Ottawa for $5B, say feds broke promise

Fifteen Canadian mask and respirator manufacturers are suing the federal government for $5.4 billion in damages, claiming that Ottawa broke its promises to buy their products to fight the spread of COVID-19.

In a statement of claim filed in Federal Court last week, the companies and their industry association, the Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers (CAPPEM), made “negligent misrepresentations” that prompted them to invest in personal protection equipment innovations, manufacturing and production.

The federal government will have an opportunity to file a defence to the unproven allegations as the court case proceeds.

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