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Tag: Ontario

Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Here are CHEO’s new visitor guidelines as flu season begins

Published November 14, 2025

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

CHEO is reinstating public health measures for visitors to the hospital as viral season begins.

Beginning Monday (Nov. 17), visitors will be asked to wear masks while in all waiting areas and during clinical interactions. CHEO will also begin limiting visitors. There will be a limit of one caregiver for patients attending appointments, and no visitors under the age of 12 — including siblings — will be allowed.

The precautions are being taken to help reduce the spread of viruses and protect those who visit the hospital and its community locations, spokesperson Karl Oczkowski said.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada officially loses its measles elimination status

Published November 10, 2025

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Published by: The Globe and Mail
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By Alanna Smith, Kristy Kirkup

Canada has been stripped of its measles elimination status after failing to interrupt transmission within one year of an outbreak that continues to spread in parts of the country.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said Monday it was notified by The Pan American Health Organization, a regional arm of the World Health Organization, that Canada lost its designation – an accomplishment it held for 27 years.

“While transmission has slowed recently, the outbreak has persisted for over 12 months, primarily within under-vaccinated communities,” the statement said.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada loses its measles elimination status

Published November 10, 2025

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Published by: Radio-Canada
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By Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski

The Pan American Health Organization has informed the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) that Canada no longer has the status of a country that has eliminated measles, due to an outbreak that has been ongoing for more than one year.

This status indicates that there is no continuous transmission of the disease for 12 months or more in a given geographical area.

“Despite considerable efforts by Canada, the country has lost its status. Measles is now considered to be endemic in this country,” PAHO director Dr. Jason Barbosa told a news conference.

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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Lack of funding is hobbling Ottawa Public Health: officials

Published November 5, 2025

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

Funding gaps are already making it difficult for Ottawa Public Health to meet growing community needs and invest in health-care prevention, but a public health emergency would make the situation worse, OPH is warning.

Among other things, OPH is unable to comply with Ontario Public Health standards when it comes to inspections and some infectious disease cases and contact management for “lower impact diseases of public health significance.”

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Topic: TorontoView all posts for the topic: Toronto

Toronto to develop wastewater surveillance program for FIFA World Cup

Published October 17, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

TORONTO – Toronto Public Health is developing a wastewater surveillance program to detect any potential spread of diseases during the FIFA World Cup.

Toronto’s new Medical Officer of Health Dr. Michelle Murti said the pilot will collect sewage samples in areas where fans congregate and test them for infections such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV.

Murti said the public health unit is looking into whether other illnesses, such as measles, could also be monitored in wastewater given the large international audience expected next summer.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario declares measles outbreak over after nearly a year of spread

Published October 9, 2025

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Published by: CBC / The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

Ontario’s measles outbreak, which sickened more than 2,300 people over the course of nearly a year, highlighted the consequences of declining vaccination rates and led to the death of a newborn, has been declared over.

Public Health Ontario and the province’s top doctor said Thursday the outbreak ended on Monday because it had been 46 days since any new reported cases — twice the maximum incubation period for measles.

“In Ontario, the last confirmed case developed a rash on August 21, 2025, following several months of steadily declining case numbers,” Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said in an emailed statement.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

COVID vaccine still free in Ontario as chief medical officer calls for action to combat skepticism, mistrust

Published September 26, 2025

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

When Ontario rolls out its fall vaccination campaign at pharmacies, doctor’s offices and clinics across the province in the coming weeks, it will be bucking a trend.

At a time when both Alberta and Quebec have stopped funding COVID vaccines for the general public, limiting them to higher risk populations, and access to COVID vaccines is becoming limited in the United States, Ontario is moving in another direction.

The fall vaccination campaign, beginning in October, includes free access to an updated COVID-19 vaccine for the general public as well as expanded access to a vaccine to prevent RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) for older adults, and the flu vaccine.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Looking for your next COVID-19 or flu shot? Here’s when you can get it in Ontario

Published September 18, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Gabriela Silva Ponte

The Ontario government has released its schedule for fall immunization programs as it encourages residents to get flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

In a media release on Thursday, the province said free flu and COVID-19 shots will be available to Ontarians as of Oct. 27 at participating pharmacies, some public health units and doctor’s offices.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in the release that Ontario is working with health-care partners to ensure immunizations are available and accessible to all.

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Topic: budget cutsView all posts for the topic: budget cuts

Public Health Agency of Canada cutting hundreds of jobs

Published September 4, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Josh Pringle

Approximately 320 jobs will be cut at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) as part of a “post pandemic calibration” at the federal department.

The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed to CTV News Ottawa a review of programs will result in job cuts to align department spending with approved funding for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

“As part of PHAC’s post-pandemic recalibration and ongoing efforts to adjust to new salary allocations, the agency must focus resources on government-funded priorities. This means re-prioritizing and streamlining some programs, and in some cases discontinuing work,” a PHAC spokesperson said in an email.

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Topic: RSVView all posts for the topic: RSV

Ontario to expand RSV vaccine availability for seniors 75 and older this fall

Published August 27, 2025

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Published by: The Globe and Mail
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By Kelly Grant

Beginning this fall, all Ontarians 75 and older will be eligible for a free shot that protects against respiratory syncytial virus.

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones is scheduled to announce the expansion of public coverage for RSV vaccines on Wednesday, according to a Ministry of Health release that The Globe and Mail obtained in advance.

Until now, the Ontario government only paid for the RSV vaccine for seniors who were 60 and older and considered high risk, such as transplant recipients, dialysis patients and nursing home residents.

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Topic: tick-borne diseasesView all posts for the topic: tick-borne diseases

Tick-borne Rocky Mountain spotted fever spreading in Canada

Published August 20, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Emily Chung

Quebec has reported a case of the potentially deadly tick-borne disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever that was likely acquired in Ontario or Quebec. The disease was also reported in dogs in Ontario earlier this year.

Here’s what you need to know about preventing, identifying and treating the disease.

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First case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever confirmed in QuebecCloseup photo of an American dog tick, crawling on the skin of a person. Photo: Jerry Kirkhart. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Topic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec

First case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever confirmed in Quebec

Published August 18, 2025

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Published by: Le Devoir
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By Florence Morin-Martel

For the first time in Quebec, a person has contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a tick-borne disease that is potentially fatal, a doctor stated on Monday. The patient, recently infected in Estrie, has nevertheless responded well to treatment and has now recovered.

As milder temperatures favour the proliferation of ticks, we expect to see more and more cases in the coming years in Quebec, says Dr. Alex Carignan, infectious disease microbiologist and professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke. “It is concerning, because it is an infection with significant severity.”

The disease, which is treated with antibiotics, can lead to death if not properly managed. The first symptoms, which appear a few hours or days after a person is bitten, include a high fever, headache, muscle aches, and skin lesions in the form of small red spots.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Long COVID left her son with debilitating stomach pain. Why it’s an ‘uphill battle’ for so many kids to get treated

Published August 17, 2025

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Published by: Toronto Star
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By Kevin Jiang

When Rebecca Lewkowicz’s 10-year-old son, Ethan, first tested positive for COVID-19, the Toronto-based mom of two thought little of it — the boy had only minor symptoms, which went away in a matter of days.

She had little reason to suspect the mild infection in April 2022 would soon derail Ethan’s life trajectory and her plans for his future. Nor did she anticipate she would spend more than a year fighting for her son’s illness to be taken seriously.

“We were lucky because it only took us 13 months to be believed,” Lewkowicz told the Star. ”People (living with long COVID) go two, three, four years without being believed, and children even longer.”

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Why Canadians with long COVID feel forgotten by the health-care system: ‘The pandemic still isn’t over’

Published August 16, 2025

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Published by: Toronto Star
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By Kevin Jiang

Parts of Tracey Thompson’s home are papered with notes.

Post-its and sheets of paper are pinned to her fridge and bookshelves, chronicling everything from doctor’s appointments to errands and upcoming tasks — physical reminders of what the 57-year-old says her brain can no longer keep track.

Five years after the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thompson has become one of the faces of long COVID, her journey chronicled by numerous news articles.

“I understand why more folks aren’t willing to be interviewed because they can garner a lot of negative attention,” she told the Star. “While telling my story can feel repetitive and is often stressful, there are still folks who don’t know what’s wrong with them or what the risks are, so I feel obligated to keep talking.”

Her profile may be higher than most, but Thompson is far from alone.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Do you have long COVID? Here’s how to tell, and what we know about the condition so far

Published August 16, 2025

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Published by: Toronto Star
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By Kevin Jiang

It has been more than five years since the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet innumerable Canadians are still living with the consequences months or even years after their initial infection.

Much remains unknown about long COVID, or Post COVID Condition (PCC), despite the ailment affecting millions of Canadians and leaving thousands out of work. But as research continues to develop, scientists have gleaned some pieces of the puzzle.

Here’s what we know so far about what long COVID is, why it happens and how to tell if you have it.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada likely to lose measles elimination status as outbreak continues: expert

Published August 6, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Pauline Chan

Canada is at risk of losing its measles elimination status as an outbreak that started in New Brunswick last year continues to grow.

Measles has been considered eliminated in Canada since 1998, and the country saw an average of 91 cases annually before October 2024, when the outbreak began. The designation means that, within a certain geographical region, there has been no sustained measles transmission over 12 consecutive months.

Since then, of the 4,394 measles infections nationwide, Health Canada data shows that most individuals were exposed to the virus domestically (94 per cent) and were not vaccinated (88 per cent).

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Topic: wildfiresView all posts for the topic: wildfires

What’s all this wildfire smoke doing to your health? Here’s what experts have to say

Published August 6, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Heather Kitching

People who breathe air polluted with large amounts of wildfire smoke visit hospital emergency rooms more often for respiratory symptoms, according to a Canadian emergency room physician and chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance.

Rates of heart attack and cardiac arrest also increase after a couple of days of exposure, Dr. Courtney Howard said.

“So don’t just attribute that feeling of heaviness in your chest to asthma,” said Howard, who works in Yellowknife and is president of the Northwest Territories Medical Association.

“If you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease especially, go see your friendly local emergency department.”

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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Wildfire smoke blanketing Ottawa could linger into Tuesday

Published August 4, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Ted Raymond

Environment Canada says a cloud of wildfire smoke that is covering the nation’s capital could hang overhead into Tuesday.

A special air quality statement is in effect for much of the region as smoke continues to affect most of southern and eastern Ontario.

“The wildfire smoke may persist into tonight and possibly Tuesday before finally easing,” Environment Canada says. “Air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour.”

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