Canadians are finding it difficult to get treatment for strep A because of long wait times at busy hospitals and clinics.
Group A streptococcus is a bacteria that can cause severe infections like pneumonia, a flesh-eating disease, rheumatic fever or toxic shock syndrome if not treated.
Canada’s health-care system has been under pressure for years, something that has resulted in overflowing emergency rooms and patients being treated in hallways.
CTVNews.ca asked Canadians about their experiences with strep A. Some Canadians said they were turned away from hospitals, or left to deal with painful symptoms without antibiotics. The emailed responses have not been independently verified.
‘You’re in heart failure’
Kevin Johnston told CTVNews.ca he was initially turned away from the hospital while infected with strep A.
“My symptoms were progressively getting worse, to the point where I felt I was hallucinating when I was sleeping,” Johnston said in an email. “My joints were stiff, I explained it as if I had lactic acid build up in my system. I had a rash unbeknownst to me.”
Johnston’s brother helped him to the nearest hospital in London, Ont. where he could “barely walk.”
The doctor told Johnston that his body is fighting a virus and that it “will go away.” Johnston said his brother pushed back.
“Unfortunately, I remember the doctor being annoyed by my brother’s concern and said I was fine,” Johnston said. “Releasing me from care with an amoxicillin prescription.”
The next day, Johnston said, the rash spread across the “majority” of his body, his throat was sore and his eyes were bloodshot. Back at the hospital the emergency physician was “puzzled” with the symptoms.
“After several blood tests, MRI and chest X-rays, I was told that I had puss pockets in the back of my throat,” he said. “It wasn’t until I was admitted to the cardiac ward when they told me I have rheumatic fever. The doctor said, ‘You’re in heart failure! Your heart is functioning at 30 per cent.'”
Johnston was hospitalized for seven days, receiving antibiotics hourly and the ICU team introduced themselves to him, he said, in case they needed to intervene.
The hospital staff were able to treat Johnston and he was able to walk out on his own. The “road to recovery” didn’t end there, he said, with penicillin shots prescribed to him monthly for the next 10 years.
‘Felt like acid down my throat’
Johnston is not the only Canadian finding it difficult to navigate the overburdened health-care system with strep A.
Elena Bernier, from Gatineau, Que., said she waited almost a week to receive a diagnosis of strep throat and medication.
The mother, of two young children, told CTVNews.ca in an email that she was in “extreme pain” and was paying out of pocket for remedies at her pharmacy.
“I don’t want to get too graphic but I remember giving birth … Currently, swallowing feels like when my firstborn was crowning but in my throat,” Bernier said.
Swallowing anything — including water, saliva and food — feels like her throat is being stretched beyond its limits, she told CTVNews.ca.
Elena Bernier (pictured) with her husband and two children waited almost a week for medication for strep. (Contributed)
“My husband made pasta with marinara sauce and it felt like I was pouring acid down my throat,” she said.
Bernier tried extra-strength Advil and Tylenol to reduce the pain. Out of desperation, she bought throat sprays to fight the infection and numb her throat.
By day five of not being able to eat and being in pain, Bernier called her doctor.
“She said she was sorry that the system hadn’t alerted her of my results but that they had come in on Tuesday,” Bernier said.
That same day, Bernier said she was prescribed penicillin and was feeling better overnight.
Battling busy clinics
New symptoms may present themselves over time, and early signs of infection might be easy to shrug off, according to Melanie Kruger. Her son caught the bacteria in early January.
“Then it was trying to get him out to a clinic because it was on a Saturday afternoon,” Kruger told CTVNews.ca in an interview.
By that time many clinics in Guelph, Ont. were full or closed, Kruger said. The family went to another clinic about 35 minutes away in Kitchener where a nurse tested him for strep throat.
After having amoxicillin for 10 days, Kruger’s son started feeling sick again.
“I looked at his throat and it was red,” she said. “And I thought, ‘My gosh, does he still have it?'”
A follow-up trip to the clinic proved that Kruger’s son still had strep.
The doctor said it’s possible her son didn’t respond to the medication because he was given it prior for an ear infection in October — something that would have been caught if Kruger initially went to the clinic; however, it was closed, she said.
Melanie Kruger’s husband and daughter in the waiting room of a clinic. (Contributed)
Instead of setting her son down the path of recovery, Kruger had to endure another week of him having a hard time eating and feeling ill.
“He’s on the mend now but he’s just been kind of off the last few days … You can just tell he’s more agitated, definitely tired … I mean, he’s had it now since Jan. 6,” Kruger said.
Initially, Kruger thought her son could benefit from hospital care, considering strep A’s growing prevalence in Canada. But wait times at her local emergency department deterred her from trying.
She added the alternative – waiting for a child to recover at home – brings its own set of anxieties.
“You give them Advil or Tylenol,” she said, “(And wonder), is this just going to mask a symptom of what could be something more serious?”
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Melanie Kruger’s husband and daughter in the waiting room of a clinic. (Contributed)
