Kim Wetmore is urging people to go to the hospital or get a test if you’ve got symptoms of strep A. She doesn’t want people to have to go through the same pain she is going through now.
Her husband, Dan Wetmore, died of strep A in Moncton, N.B., on Jan. 19 at the age of 49. He had been sick for more than a week.
“By him putting it off and putting it off and putting it off, it ended his life,” said Wetmore.
Canada is seeing a record number of cases of invasive Group A strep, a bacterial infection that kills roughly one in 10 people who contract it, according to data obtained by CBC News. There were more than 4,600 cases confirmed in Canada in 2023.
Invasive Group A streptococcal disease happens when the common strep A bacteria spreads beyond the places it typically infects, such as the throat or skin, where it can cause necrotizing fasciitis, known as flesh-eating disease.
This handout image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows an electron microscope image of Group A Streptococcus (orange) during phagocytic interaction with a human neutrophil (blue). (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/The Associated Press)
Dr. Yves Léger, the province’s acting chief medical officer of health, called it a “concerning trend” earlier in the month.
Getting sick
Kim said her husband started feeling sick on Jan. 8. It started with a sore throat. That weekend he decided not to work at Kurt’s Sausages at the Marché Moncton Market. It wasn’t something he typically missed.
“It was his time.… He wanted to be with his Kurt’s family during that barbecue and be with all those people,” said Wetmore. “It was his retreat, I guess you would say. He just loved it.”
But he was just feeling tired, and if it was infectious, he didn’t want to get anyone else sick. By the end of the week he was starting to feel better. He went into work on Monday, but then didn’t feel well again, and took the rest of the week off. He was tired, his body ached, and he was vomiting.
A microscopic view of Streptococcus bacteria, which can cause a spectrum of disease, ranging from milder infections like strep throat to life-threatening illness. (Josef Reischig/WikiCommons)
“I said, ‘I think you need to go to the hospital.’ And he said, ‘No, it’s just the flu'” said Wetmore.
But it got worse. At 6 a.m. on Jan. 19, Dan called 911.
When Kim got to the hospital, she was told that her husband had strep A. Dan was taken to the intensive care unit. He died that afternoon.
A smile on his face
Since Dan died, Kim Wetmore has been overwhelmed with the support from her family and the community. She’s had people she didn’t know coming up to her.
“I knew what kind of person he was.… But I didn’t really know the kind of impact he had on people,” she said.
She said hundreds of people showed up at the wake on Tuesday, and the funeral service was standing room only.
She said one man stands out to her. He cried in front of her for the first couple of minutes. He said his son had died, and when he would talk to Dan at the market, Dan would comfort and encourage him.
“The one thing people were saying was he always had a smile on his face,” said Wetmore.
Kim says Dan was very close to Zach. The two would work at Kurt’s Sausages every Saturday. (Kim Wetmore)
Don’t wait
After Kim was told her husband had strep A, she had to take a pill, was given a prescription and was told to isolate.
“It’s just going to be constantly going through my head. Do I have something?” said Wetmore.
The day of the wake, Kim’s brother tested positive for strep A. He hadn’t been feeling well, so he went and got tested. He caught it on time, and was able to get on antibiotics.
But she said her brother likely wouldn’t have bothered if it wasn’t for what happened to Dan.
Earlier in January, Léger urged people to take measures to protect themselves and others against severe Group A streptococcal infections and other respiratory illnesses.
Dr. Yves Léger says the rise in cases of strep A is a concerning trend. (Shane Magee/CBC)
He said that can include staying home when sick, wearing a mask in public, washing your hands, and keeping up-to-date with vaccines.
Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, rash or a skin infection that is red, swollen, warm and tender to the touch, according to the province’s website.
“Don’t sit on it, like people cannot sit on it,” said Wetmore. “They need to go. It’s not something to play around with. It’s not a joke.”
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.
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