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Tag: Public Health Ontario

Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Almost 70 per cent of Canadians surveyed want child vaccines to be mandatory: poll

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

A new poll suggests nearly 70 per cent of Canadians support mandatory childhood vaccinations, but at least one public health official says she’s uncomfortable with the idea of forcing parents to immunize their kids.

The Angus Reid Institute survey landed Thursday as Public Health Ontario said 93 new measles cases have emerged in the province over the past week, bringing the total number of infections there to 1,888 since October.

The poll found 69 per cent of respondents said proof of immunization should be required for kids to attend daycare and school. That’s an increase from the 55 per cent of respondents who said the same thing last year, before a measles outbreak emerged in multiple provinces and infected mostly unvaccinated infants, kids and teens.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Measles cases increase by 173 in Ontario, bringing outbreak’s total close to 1,800

Published May 22, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – Public Health Ontario says 173 more people have been infected with measles in the province over the past week, bringing the number of cases to 1,795 since the outbreak began last October.

“That’s 173 more cases than we want to see,” said Dr. Sarah Wilson, a public health physician at the agency.

Public Health Ontario’s weekly measles report, released Thursday, said the virus continues to spread primarily among people who have not been vaccinated.

Continue readingMeasles cases increase by 173 in Ontario, bringing outbreak’s total close to 1,800
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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario reports 95 new measles cases, sending total above 1,000 since outbreak began

Published April 24, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

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.”

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Ontario sees another sharp rise in measles cases while outbreaks grow in Quebec, Alberta

Published March 20, 2025

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

There’s been another sharp increase in Ontario measles cases as the province begins to release weekly reports on the infectious disease.

Public Health Ontario is reporting 470 measles cases since an outbreak began in October. That’s an increase of 120 cases since March 14.

The spread resulted in 34 hospitalizations, including two people who needed intensive care. Most of those hospitalized were unvaccinated kids, including one of the intensive care patients.

The outbreak expansion adds to the growing concern of rising measles cases in different parts of the country, including in Quebec where there are 40 cases and Alberta where there are 13, according to the latest data.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

‘Mind boggling’ surge in pneumonia cases among children, teens and young adults

Published November 27, 2024

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

Perth emergency physician Dr. Alan Drummond has never seen anything like it. Drummond has treated five or six patients with pneumonia during almost every shift…

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Topic: Hamilton RegionView all posts for the topic: Hamilton Region

Ontario sees first measles death in more than a decade after young child dies

Published May 17, 2024

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Published by: CTV News
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By Codi Wilson

A young child has died of measles in Ontario, marking the first death in the province from the highly contagious virus in more than 10 years, a Public Health Ontario report confirms.

The child, who was under the age of five, was not immunized against the virus, according to the report, which was published on Thursday.

The report also confirms this is the first measles death in the province in more than a decade.

Public Health Ontario says that there have been 22 confirmed cases of measles reported in the province in 2024. Of those individuals, 13 were children and nine were adults. Four of the adults were previously immunized, two were unimmunized, and two had an unknown immunization status.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

“Short-sighted and dangerous” – Public Health Ontario Lab workers are sounding the alarm about potential lab closures

Published April 17, 2024

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Published by: Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO)
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TORONTO, April 17, 2024 – OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick and members working at Public Health Ontario (PHO) Labs were at Queen’s Park today to sound the alarm about the potential closure of six (6) out of 11 PHO labs in Ontario, and the risk it poses for all Ontarians – especially rural families and communities.

“If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that public health should never be taken for granted,” said Hornick. “Like many choices made by this government, if Premier Ford decides to shutter the doors of these 6 labs it will be short-sighted and dangerous.”

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

More than 260 Ontario long-term care residents died after getting COVID-19 in last four months

Published January 3, 2024

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Published by: CTV News
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By Katherine DeClerq

Respiratory virus outbreaks in Ontario’s long-term care homes remains dominated by COVID-19, with nearly 16,000 cases of the virus reported in the last four months.

According to a newly released report by Public Health Ontario, there have been 850 confirmed outbreaks in long-term care homes since Aug. 27, 2023.

This is compared to 32 influenza outbreaks and 32 Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) outbreaks.

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COVID-19 overwhelms OntarioElectron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. Photo by: NIAID. Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.
Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

COVID-19 overwhelms Ontario

Published December 15, 2023

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Published by: The Kingston Whig Standard
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By Geoffrey P. Johnston

“We have to be able to have open conversations about the reality of COVID and not pretend that it’s not there,” infectious disease expert Dr. Dick Zoutman told the Whig-Standard in a candid interview about the terrible toll that the pandemic is taking on public health.

Data published by Public Health Ontario on Dec. 7 reveals that the COVID-19 Wastewater Signal for Eastern Ontario is rising on a steep curve. In other words, SARS-CoV-2, the airborne virus that causes COVID-19, is spreading out of control, sickening adults and children alike.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Citing Omicron’s airborne ‘potential’, Ontario hospitals, LTC homes will now use N95 respirators with COVID patients

Published December 16, 2021

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Published by: Toronto Star
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By Ed Tubb

Ontario health officials are changing a key recommendation on the use of hospital personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the “potential” that the highly-transmissible Omicron variant can spread at a distance through the air.

Health-care workers providing care to a “suspected or confirmed” COVID-19 patient in hospitals, long-term-care homes, or in a home-care situation will now be required to also use a “fit-tested, seal-checked N95 respirator,” according to interim guidance issued by Public Health Ontario Wednesday.

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