adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Health

Active COVID-19 infections in B.C. fall to nine-week low – The Tri-City News

Published

 on


B.C. continues to face sufficient serious COVID-19 infections to worry health officials, but new data shows some good news: the number of known active infections in the province has fallen to a near-10-week low.

There are 4,888 people known to be infected with COVID-19 in B.C., with the vast majority being told to self-isolate at home. The last time there were fewer known active cases was on August 13, when 4,277 people were known to be infected, and the fourth wave of the pandemic was surging. 

Of those fighting infections, 370 are in hospitals, with 139 in intensive care units (ICUs).

300x250x1

Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said yesterday that there are around 200 people in hospitals who are not included in that count, but are dealing with lingering health problems as a result of COVID-19.  

The province’s general rule for counting COVID-19 hospital patients is to limit the official number to those who are infectious, with that meaning those who have not yet gone 10 days after first feeling symptoms. Henry said this is not a hard and fast rule, and that some people could be included in that count up to 30 days after first feeling symptoms depending on the severity of their illness. 

Another six people died from COVID-19 overnight, raising the province’s death toll from the disease to 2,092, and underscoring the seriousness of getting infected. 

Health officials detected another 696 infections overnight, raising the number of those in B.C. known to have contracted the disease to 199,534.

Of those, more than 96.3%, or 192,189 people, are deemed by the province to have recovered because they have gone more than 10 days after first feeling symptoms, and are therefore considered to be not infectious. 

Vaccinations in the general population have slowed as the vast majority of people are already vaccinated.

Health officials administered initial vaccine doses to 2,787 people in the past day, as well as second doses of vaccine to 5,870 people. 

Across B.C., 89.3% of eligible adults older than 12 have had at least one dose of vaccine, with 83.6% of eligible people having had two doses, according to the B.C. government.

Of the 4,138,787 B.C. residents who have received one dose of vaccine since mid-December, 2020, 93.6%, or 3,876,579, are fully vaccinated, with two doses. Health Minister Adrian Dix said October 19 that about 60,000 residents, who are either immunocompromised or who live in seniors’ living facilities, have received three doses of vaccine.

The B.C. government estimated in July that the province’s total population is 5,147,712, so Glacier Media’s calculation is that 80.4% of B.C.’s total population has had at least one dose of vaccine, and 75.3% of the province’s total population has had two doses.

“We do track vaccine effectiveness, [and] hospitalization, as a measure of severe illness by what combination of vaccines people received,” Henry said October 19.

“What it does show us across the board, is that every combination is very effective at preventing severe illness. The AstraZeneca-AstraZeneca [combination] is slightly less than every other combination in terms of preventing infection, but if you go to AstraZeneca, and then in an mRNA vaccine, that protection goes back up again.” 

The small slice of the population that is not vaccinated is responsible for the lion’s share of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. 

Only 20 of the 139 people in ICUs are fully vaccinated, according to Dix.

When adjusted for age, in the week up to October 18, there were 294.3 people newly infected for each 100,000 unvaccinated British Columbians. In that same time period, there were only 86.9 people newly infected for each 100,000 partially vaccinated British Columbians, and only 32.1 people newly infected for each 100,000 fully vaccinated British Columbians. 

One new health-care facility outbreak has been detected at Swedish Assisted-Living Residence in Burnaby, raising the number of such outbreaks in the province to 24. •

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Health

We all experience stress. How we handle it is key to our health, say experts – CBC.ca

Published

 on


The Dose24:36What’s the connection between stress and my health and well-being?

Read transcribed audio

300x250x1

It could be a morning traffic jam. A deadline at work. A conflict with a family member. Taking care of kids and aging parents. 

Stressful situations are all around us, and experts say how we manage stress is key to preventing it from causing long-term health problems — both physical and mental. 

Short-term stress doesn’t have to be negative, but research shows that ongoing stress wears away at the body’s systems and can lead to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes, and mental health challenges.

“It’s like walking around with a ten or fifteen-pound weight continually on your back and not being able to shed that weight,” psychologist Dr. Zindel Segal told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC’s The Dose

There are techniques and strategies to decrease that stressful load, however, and lessen the impact of stress on the body and the mind. 

Is stress good or bad? 

Stress means that we are unable to use our personal or social resources to meet the demands being placed on us, said Dr. Eli Puterman, a health psychologist and associate professor in the school of kinesiology at UBC. 

But not all stress is bad stress, said Puterman. 

“It sometimes can motivate you to also move in the direction of, ‘Let’s change our goals,'” he said. 

From an evolutionary perspective, our bodies are engineered to handle stress, said Segal, a distinguished professor of psychology and mood disorders at the University of Toronto Scarborough. 

But after the stress response, we need a period of rest and recovery, which allows the body to recoup the resources that were used up during the stressful situation. 

Chronic stress is when we’re unable to step out of the situation and take advantage of our own natural capacity to restore, said Segal. 

It’s a system that is “stuck in the fifth gear without the ability to downshift,” he said. 

Connecting with your senses

The first step to managing stress is recognizing it, said Segal, and that means tuning into our bodies. 

“Are you noticing that maybe your heart is racing, or that your palms are sweating, or that your temple and forehead are pounding?” he said. 

Grounding techniques can anchor us in the present moment and help pull us away from intrusive thoughts or feelings to take a broader view of the situation, said Segal. 

Deep breathing and meditation can both help you tune into your senses during stressful moments. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

“One of the things that we lose the ability to connect with is the sensory world,” he said, which is why so many techniques for managing stress are about reconnecting with your senses. 

“Sensations are a way of actually helping us step out of thinking, to ground ourselves.” 

A breath of fresh air 

Doing yoga, meditating, exercising and deep breathing can all help ground us in our bodies and change our perspectives on stress, said Segal. 

However, stress can cause barriers to being physically active, said Puterman, so he prefers to think about moving our bodies as opposed to exercising. 

“Getting outside and going for some walks for 10, 15 minutes per day can help us start having those moments where we’re taking care of our bodies,” he said. 

LISTEN | Try this guided exercise in box breathing with Dr. Zindel Segal: 

The Dose1:50A guided exercise in box breathing

One simple exercise Segal recommends is a technique called box breathing. Here’s how to try it: 

  • Sit in a chair and notice the sensations of sitting: the feet pressing down into the floor, the hands folded in the lap or on the thighs. 
  • Breathe in for four beats (visualize the left side of the box). 
  • Hold for four beats (visualize the top of the box).
  • Breathe out for four beats (visualize the right side of the box). 
  • Hold for four beats (visualize the bottom of the box). 
  • Repeat as many times as you like. 

What stress does to the body 

It may be easy to understand how stress can take an emotional and mental toll, but research also shows that stress can have an impact on our physical health — including an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. 

“In the short term, it rapidly increases your blood pressure, which can potentially result in a tear in the plaque that is in your arteries and then subsequently cause a heart attack or a stroke,” said Dr. Hassan Mir, a cardiologist at the Ottawa Heart Institute. 

When we’re feeling stress, it activates our sympathetic nervous system, the part of our nervous system that carries signals related to our fight-or-flight response. 

That can cause an increase in our blood pressure and heart rate, said Mir. 

Another reaction to acute stress is a condition called takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or a weakened heart muscle, he said.

“When you’re really stressed, you can have this release of adrenaline in your body,” Mir said. 

WATCH We can’t avoid stress, but we can learn how to deal with it: 

Stress can create long-term health impacts: ‘It’s all about how you cope,’ says psychologist

6 months ago

Duration 1:49

Mir has seen people who come into the hospital because their partner had a cardiac arrest, and then they suddenly get rushed to the ER because it looks like they’re having a heart attack. 

“You go and look inside and the coronary arteries look completely fine, but their heart muscle looks like it’s completely weakened,” Mir said. 

If you’re frequently activating your sympathetic nervous system due to stress, that can cause other issues in the body, said Puterman. 

“If you’re starting to shift your baseline of the functioning of your physiology, you’re now entering the state where now you have too much cortisol that’s then activating too much glucose release,” he said. 

Too much glucose released into the body can cause people to enter a pre-diabetes state, said Puterman. 

How much stress is too much?  

A little bit of stress could help us handle more stressful events in the future, a theory called the inoculation hypothesis, said Puterman. 

“Some stress on a daily basis or in life actually inoculates you to future exposures to stressors,” he said. 

But there are some telltale signs that the stress you’re experiencing is causing harmful effects, said Puterman. They include: 

  • Not sleeping well.
  • Not getting as much exercise as usual.
  • Consuming more alcohol or drugs.
  • Withdrawing from others socially.
  • Getting into more arguments with family or friends.

The trick is finding that sweet spot, said Segal, between having enough stress and too much. 

“We don’t want to tip over into a point where the stress that we’re facing is overwhelming,” Segal said. 

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Health

Medical officer encourages measles vaccinations as global cases rise – SteinbachOnline.com

Published

 on


As cases of measles are increasing in parts of Canada and around the world, Manitobans are reminded that staying up to date on their vaccinations is one of the most important ways to prevent and reduce the risk of measles and other serious illnesses. 

Measles is very contagious, says Dr. Mahmoud Khodaveisi, Medical Officer of Health for Southern Health-Santé Sud. 

300x250x1

The most recognized symptom of measles is a red, blotchy rash, which often begins on the face and spreads down the body. Other common symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough, drowsiness, irritability and red eyes. Measles is a serious illness, especially for young children, and can result in lung and brain infections and other conditions that lead to serious complications or death. 

Although there have been no recent confirmed cases of measles in our province since 2019, there is increasing concern as the number of cases are rising in Canada and around the world. 

Dr. Khodaveisi says that before the vaccine was available, measles was a significant cause of childhood illness, and as a result, people born before 1970 are considered immune to measles as they were likely exposed growing up. 

As part of Manitoba’s routine immunization schedule, children can receive two doses of a vaccine that protects against measles, first at 12 months and again between the ages of four and six. Together, these doses provide 97 per cent protection against measles. 

The province reports that the most recent data available shows that about 80 per cent of children in Manitoba have received one dose of the vaccine that protects against measles by age two. Nearly 75 per cent of children have received two doses of the vaccine by age seven and this rate increases to over 88 per cent by the age of 17. 

The province has sent information out about measles to health-care providers. 

Measles is a reportable disease, meaning public health must be informed about cases by laboratories and health-care providers. Once a case is reported, public health will launch an investigation. This includes identifying close contacts, offering vaccination where appropriate and notifying the public of relevant exposures if needed. 

Manitoba’s immunization registry was established in 1988, so records for anyone who has received immunizations since then should be contained in the registry. 

If you are not sure if you or your children have been vaccinated, immunization records can be requested online at https://forms.gov.mb.ca/immunization-update-request/. Alternatively, you can contact your local public health office or contact your health-care provider.

-With files from Corny Rempel. 

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Health

Measles in Toronto: 2nd case confirmed

Published

 on

A second lab-confirmed case of measles has been identified in Toronto.

The city’s public health agency said that an infant who recently returned from travel has contracted the disease. The child is recovering at home.

The first Toronto case was identified on Feb. 16.

Toronto Public Health is warning that anyone who attended the Agincourt Public Library between 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on March 11 may have been exposed. Individuals should monitor for symptoms until April 1 and double check that their vaccinations are up to date.

300x250x1

Symptoms of measles include red rashes, fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and fatigue. Individuals can also get unusual white spots in their mouth.

The number of measles infections in Ontario so far this year has already surpassed the total number of cases reported in 2023.

As of March 13, Public Health Ontario had confirmed at least eight cases of measles across the province. Cases have been identified in Peel Region, Hamilton, Brant County and Windsor-Essex County.

Of those infections, six were related to travel and two had an unknown source of exposure.

In 2023, there were seven cases of measles confirmed in Ontario.

Canada-wide data is less detailed, with the Public Health Agency of Canada reporting 17 cases of measles as of March 2, along with one case of congenital rubella syndrome.

 

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending