Health
BCCDC study finds schizophrenia was heat dome risk factor
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New research from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control suggests people with schizophrenia were particularly susceptible to the deadly heat dome that struck the province in June 2021.
The study, which was published last week in the journal GeoHealth, compared deaths that occurred in B.C. during the heat dome with deaths that occurred on the same dates in previous years. It found roughly three times as many people with schizophrenia died during the heat dome as would have been expected during a “normal” weather pattern.
In a news release announcing the findings, the BCCDC posited several factors that may help explain why schizophrenia, in particular, was such a risk factor.
Mental illnesses, generally, were among the conditions that left people most susceptible to death during the heat dome, the centre said, adding that schizophrenia’s psychotic symptoms – such as hallucinations, delusions, thought disorders and cognitive losses – likely play a role in the increased risk for people with the condition.
“Many people living with schizophrenia also suffer from anosognosia or lack of insight into their own illness,” the BCCDC said in its release.
“Schizophrenia may also lead to social isolation and lower socioeconomic status, and both are risk factors for death during extreme hot weather. In addition, some medications used to treat schizophrenia can play a role in overheating.”
The researchers said their findings suggest people with schizophrenia, their families and support networks should take extra precautions during extreme heat events.
“Because individuals living with schizophrenia are more susceptible to heat-related illness, it is essential that families and caregivers are aware of the increased risk, identify potential risk factors and take prompt action to help their loved one during a heat wave,” said Faydra Aldridge, CEO of the B.C. Schizophrenia Society, in the BCCDC release.
“Educating ourselves to recognize symptoms of heat-related illness and take emergency cooling measures will help ensure everyone’s safety during heat waves.”
The study looked at 26 chronic conditions, including schizophrenia, and found several others that correlated with increased risk of death, including substance use, chronic kidney disease, ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Most of these are “well-recognized risk factors during extreme heat,” the BCCDC said.
“This study was conducted to understand who is most at risk, so we can prepare for future heat events, which will be more frequent and more severe in the coming decades because of climate change,” said Michael Lee, the study’s lead author and an epidemiologist with Environmental Health Services at the BCCDC, in the release.
“Climate change has real impacts on our health, and we can help limit those impacts when we know what they are and how to prepare.”
Health
RCMP warn about benzodiazepine-laced fentanyl tied to overdose in Alberta – Edmonton Journal
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued a warning Friday after it was revealed fentanyl linked to a deadly overdose was mixed with a chemical that doesn’t respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on Feb. 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl had been mixed with Bromazolam, which is a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded instance of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” though Mounties say it can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, requiring the use of additional doses and may still result in a fatality.”
From January to November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 linked to benzodiazepine, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service, last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of nearly a third over the previous year.
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Health
CFIA continues surveillance for HPAI in cattle, while sticking with original name for disease – RealAgriculture
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month.
Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the interview below, says at this time Canada will stick with “HPAI in cattle” when referencing the disease that’s been confirmed in dairy cattle in multiple states in the U.S.
The CFIA’s naming policy is consistent with the agency’s U.S. counterparts’, as the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also said it will continue referring to it as HPAI or H5N1.
Appelt explains how the CFIA is learning from the U.S. experience to-date, and how it is working with veterinarians across Canada to stay vigilant for signs of the disease in dairy and beef cattle.
As of April 19, there has not been a confirmed case of HPAI in cattle in Canada. Appelt says it’s too soon to say if an eventual positive case will significantly restrict animal movement, as is the case with positive poultry cases.
This is a major concern for the cattle industry, as beef cattle especially move north and south across the U.S. border by the thousands. Appelt says that CFIA will address an infection in each species differently in conjunction with how the disease is spread and the threat to neighbouring farms or livestock.
Currently, provincial dairy organizations have advised producers to postpone any non-essential tours of dairy barns, as a precaution, in addition to other biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of cattle contracting HPAI.
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Health
Toronto reports 2 more measles cases. Use our tool to check the spread in Canada – Toronto Star
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Canada has seen a concerning rise in measles cases in the first months of 2024.
By the third week of March, the country had already recorded more than three times the number of cases as all of last year. Canada had just 12 cases of measles in 2023, up from three in 2022.
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