There is a scene in a season 5 episode of ’80s sitcom The Golden Girls where one of the main characters, Dorothy, who has been…
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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles
Ontario reports nearly 200 new measles cases as virus spreads across Canada
Health officials say measles infected 197 more people in Ontario over the last week as the highly contagious disease emerged in new parts of the country.
That brings the province’s tally of probable and confirmed cases to 1,440 since an outbreak began in October.
Public Health Ontario’s measles report says there have been 101 hospitalizations, including 75 children. Eight patients have been in intensive care.
Nova Scotia and Northwest Territories each reported measles cases earlier this week, marking their first since this outbreak began.
Alberta reported yesterday that its overall case count had reached nearly 300 since mid-March, including three patients under the age of 18 in intensive care.
Saskatchewan updated its cumulative count to 27 cases today, a day after Manitoba reported it had reached 24 cases.
Measles has mostly infected unvaccinated children, infants and teenagers, with almost 500 cases in Ontario’s southwestern public health unit.
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Ontario reports 95 new measles cases, sending total above 1,000 since outbreak began
TORONTO – Public Health Ontario is reporting 95 new measles cases since last week, bringing the total number of people infected past 1,000.
It says a total of 1,020 people have had measles since the province’s outbreak began last October.
The agency says the ongoing rise in cases is “due to continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized.”
Continue readingOntario reports 95 new measles cases, sending total above 1,000 since outbreak began
Comments closed Topic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba
Manitoba rolling out COVID-19 spring vaccination campaign for high-risk groups
Manitoba is rolling out a vaccination campaign for those at the highest risk of developing serious outcomes from COVID-19, aiming to get people vaccinated before summer, when virus circulation might increase, the province says.
Between May 1 and June 30, the province will make additional COVID-19 vaccine doses available for people who have already had a dose since last fall, but meet specific criteria.
The extra doses will be available to anyone age 65 or older, Indigenous people over the age of 45, residents of long-term care homes, and anyone age six months or up who is moderately or severely immunocompromised.
Comments closedTopic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles
Measles cases in Ontario have nearly doubled over the last 2 weeks
This is a corrected story. A previous version from The Canadian Press erroneously reported that there were 84 new measles cases reported in Ontario over the last two weeks when in fact there were 78.
Ontario is reporting 78 new measles cases over the last two weeks, nearly doubling the province’s total count since an outbreak started in the autumn.
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Manitoba becomes first province to join national pharmacare program with $219M deal
OTTAWA – Manitoba became the first province to officially join Ottawa’s pharmacare program on Thursday, giving it access to federal funding to cover the cost of birth control and diabetes medications as well as hormone replacement therapy for menopause.
Comments closedTopic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu
Avian flu detected in Manitoba for the 1st time this year
Manitoba has confirmed its first case of avian influenza in domestic birds for 2024 at a commercial poultry operation in Portage la Prairie.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the viral infection was detected on Nov. 26. Similar cases have previously been detected in the province in 2022 and 2023.
CFIA has set a primary control zone in the area where the disease was detected.
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Manitoba reports first case of mpox, province says risk to public is low
The Manitoba government is reporting the first confirmed case of mpox in the province, noting it is also a strain that has not been seen in Canada before.
The province said a confirmed case of clade Ib mpox has been identified in Manitoba and is related to travel in central and eastern Africa.
“The individual was assessed and diagnosed shortly after returning to Manitoba and is currently isolating,” the province said in a news release. “Based on travel history and symptoms, specimens were tested and confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory for clade Ib mpox virus.”
Comments closedTopic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines
COVID-19 boosters start rolling out to some Canadians. Who can get them?
Updated COVID-19 vaccines are starting to roll out to some high-risk Canadians, but others will have to wait a little while longer before these new shots are offered to them.
Last month, Health Canada approved Pfizer and Moderna’s latest COVID-19 vaccines targeting the most recent variants of the virus.
Both shots are approved for everyone aged six months and older.
The new mRNA vaccines from both pharmaceutical companies target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron that was dominating COVID-19 spread earlier this year.
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Health Canada orders provinces to destroy old COVID-19 vaccines amid wait for new batch
Health Canada has directed provinces to withdraw and destroy remaining supplies of last year’s COVID-19 vaccines while it works to authorize updated shots, which is expected to happen in October, according to Ontario’s health ministry.
“Vaccines will be available once Ontario receives supply from Health Canada following their regulatory authorization of the new, updated vaccine formulation,” read a statement from Ontario spokesperson Hannah Jensen.
A notice posted on the federal government’s immunization guide says vaccines aimed at Omicron variant XBB.1.5 is no longer available in Canada. Updated shots, made to target the now-dominant JN.1 or KP.2 strains are expected to get the green light “in the coming weeks.”
Comments closedTopic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis
Wildfire smoke could move into Ottawa, eastern Ontario tonight
Wildfires in western Canada will likely bring smoke into Ottawa and eastern Ontario starting on Monday and into Tuesday morning.
CTV’s Your Morning chief meteorologist Kelsey McEwen says smoke could travel as far as Quebec City by Tuesday morning with air quality advisories being issued in five provinces.
“You can see the Jetstream pulling that smoke down south of the border through the Dakotas and back up through the Great Lakes,” McEwen said.
“By tomorrow, this begins to slide toward the Ottawa-Gatineau area, tomorrow morning and out toward Quebec City.”
Comments closedTopic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response
Scientists, clinicians across Canada preparing for future pandemic threats
Nearly $574 million will be doled out to researchers across the country for projects aimed at ramping up Canada’s preparedness for future health emergencies, including the next pandemic, the federal government announced on Monday.
One of the 19 projects is a national network of existing emergency departments and primary-care clinics, called Prepared, that will screen for any new viruses or pathogens that start to appear in patients.
“As a public health specialist and as a practising physician, I would very much anticipate there being another respiratory pandemic in the future. The challenge is we don’t know when it will be or what it will be,” said Dr. Andrew Pinto, Prepared project lead and a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.
Comments closedTopic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba
Mask rules being relaxed at Manitoba health-care facilities
Mask requirements for health-care workers are being loosened at Manitoba facilities starting next month.
In a memo to staff issued last week, Shared Health Chief Operating Officer Monika Warren writes the requirement to mask during direct care interactions will be lifted in most areas starting May 1.
She notes health-care workers are required to wear PPE according to approved protocols, including if respiratory symptoms are present.
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La distribution des vaccins contre la COVID-19 sera interrompue cet été
Manitoba indicated that the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines will be discontinued as of May 1. The vaccination campaign will resume in autumn 2024.
A provincial spokesperson says the province has taken this approach based on scientific evidence and advice from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Based on seasonal trends in respiratory viruses in Manitoba, a dose administered in the fall is more likely to provide protection when respiratory virus circulation levels are higher, he said.
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Do you need a spring COVID-19 vaccine? Research backs extra round for high-risk groups
New guidelines suggest certain high-risk groups could benefit from having another dose of a COVID-19 vaccine this spring — and more frequent shots in general — while the broader population could be entering once-a-year territory, much like an annual flu shot.
Medical experts told CBC News that falling behind on the latest shots can come with health risks, particularly for individuals who are older or immunocompromised.
“Even when the risk of infection starts to increase, the vaccines still do a really good job at decreasing risk of severe disease,” said McMaster University researcher and immunologist Matthew Miller.
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Supreme Court will not hear appeal from churches who fought Manitoba COVID rules
The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to hear an appeal by several churches that fought Manitoba’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Lawyers for the churches argued public health orders in 2020 and 2021 that temporarily closed in-person religious services, then permitted them with caps on attendance, violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
They lost that argument in two lower courts.
The Manitoba Court of Appeal ruled last year the restrictions were necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and allowable under the Charter.
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Manitoba reduces recommended wait time between COVID-19 shots
Respiratory viruses are on the rise in Manitoba and the province is reducing recommended intervals between COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, said residents are now eligible to receive an updated vaccine three months after their previous shot.
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