Health

B.C. COVID-19 cases decline, but flu and RSV on the rise

Published

9 months ago

December 11, 2023

COVID-19 in B.C. is on the decline, but increasing cases of other respiratory illnesses like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus have health officials urging British Columbians to get vaccinated as the holidays approach.

According to the most recent figures from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, COVID-19 infections have decreased significantly since early October — corresponding to the start of the province’s fall vaccination campaign — from 885 in late September to 349 in the week of Nov. 26 to Dec. 2.

Hospitalizations are also down, with 182 people hospitalized across B.C. with COVID-19 as of Dec. 7 compared to nearly 1,000 patients in January 2022 during the Omicron wave.

But while COVID indicators have gone down, cases of influenza and RSV are on the rise, the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, warned at a news briefing on Monday.

“The BCCDC weekly data updates make it clear that we are well into respiratory season,” she said. “At this point in time COVID seems to be low, steady, hasn’t gone away, but in the next few weeks we are going to see more influenza, so I am concerned about it today.”

Wastewater surveillance and visits to primary care doctors and emergency departments indicate increasing numbers of influenza and RSV across the province, although still well within a normal respiratory season, said Henry.

She said holidays can be a time for illness to spread as people get together with friends, family, and loved ones, usually indoors, and could lead to a spike in illnesses.

For the flu, “we tend to see peaks after the holiday period in late December and early January so now is the time for preventive measures to try to stop that peak,” said Henry.

The vast majority of cases have involved the H1N1 strain, an influenza A subtype, which tends to cause more severe illness in younger people. The strain matches very closely to the strain used to make this season’s flu vaccine, meaning a flu shot would be very effective, she said.

But there are also many other viruses that cause cold-like symptoms that are widely circulating right now, said Henry, including RSV — which has been on the rise in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions.

“The test positivity is high among children and we know that RSV has a particular impact each year among very young children,” especially those who are getting it for the first time, said Henry.

The plethora of respiratory illnesses has led to an overcall increase in visits to primary care doctors and emergency visits for both adults and kids.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said one reason to get vaccinated is to reduce the risk of hospitalization at a time when there is record demand for hospital beds and health-care services in the province.

Even though the province has increased its base bed capacity to 9,929 beds from 9,200, “what we are seeing right now is that those beds are fully allocated,” said Dix, adding the province is bracing itself for an increase in demand in early January, “which is our absolute peak season.”

As of Dec. 10, the province has administered more than 1.4 million doses of influenza vaccine and more than 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines during the fall vaccination campaign. People are encouraged to book their vaccination appointments at the province’s Get Vaccinated site.

Novovax’s COVID-19 vaccine, which was approved by Health Canada last week, will be available in B.C. this week for people who prefer not to get an mRNA vaccine, said Henry.

About 23 per cent of British Columbians have received a COVID-19 vaccine this fall. Vaccination rates are highest among those 80 years and older at 50.5 per cent and lowest among the 18 to 29 age group, which has an uptake of 8.3 per cent.

Share this article in your social network

Source link

Health

How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

Published

1 day ago

September 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

Source link

Health

Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

Published

2 days ago

September 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

Source link

Health

Bizarre Sunlight Loophole Melts Belly Fat Fast!

Published

3 days ago

September 10, 2024

Sven Eggers

Product Name: Bizarre Sunlight Loophole Melts Belly Fat Fast!

Click here to get Bizarre Sunlight Loophole Melts Belly Fat Fast! at discounted price while it’s still available…

All orders are protected by SSL encryption – the highest industry standard for online security from trusted vendors.

Bizarre Sunlight Loophole Melts Belly Fat Fast! is backed with a 60 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee. If within the first 60 days of receipt you are not satisfied with Wake Up Lean™, you can request a refund by sending an email to the address given inside the product and we will immediately refund your entire purchase price, with no questions asked.

(more…)