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A month after the first case was identified in Ottawa, 11 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the city, Public Health Ontario says.
Ottawa Public Health is offering vaccines to eligible clients at its sexual health clinic and operating ongoing vaccination clinics at Centretown Community Health Centre.
A month after the first case was identified in Ottawa, 11 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the city, Public Health Ontario says.
The majority of cases in Ontario remain centred in Toronto, where 124 have been laboratory-confirmed. Cases are also beginning to show up in smaller centres, including Leeds, Grenville and Lanark, which reported its first confirmed case earlier this week.
There are now 156 confirmed cases of monkeypox across Ontario and eight suspect cases: all but one of whom are men.
The average age of confirmed cases is 37.3 years and the most common symptoms being reported include rash, oral or genital lesions, swollen lymph nodes, headache, fever, chills, myalgia and fatigue.
Just nine of the people with confirmed cases have had to be hospitalized, according to PHO.
The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, noted recently there had not been rapid growth in cases of monkeypox, which he attributed to the vaccination strategy.
More than 8,000 people across the province have been administered smallpox vaccine which is being given to those who contract the virus, their close contacts and anyone considered at risk.
Ottawa Public Health is offering the vaccine to eligible clients at its sexual health clinic and operating ongoing vaccination clinics at Centretown Community Health Centre.
The vaccine is available to people who have been exposed to the virus plus people who received diagnoses of bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the past two months, have had two or more sexual partners within the past 21 days, have attended a venue for sexual contact within 21 days, had anonymous casual sex during the same time period or engaged in sex for work.
Monkeypox, which is in the same family as smallpox, had been rarely seen outside of parts of Africa, where it is endemic, until this year when cases began spreading in many parts of the world.
On Tuesday, as global cases reached 9,200, the World Health Organization announced it would convene a second emergency meeting next week to determine whether monkeypox posed a global health threat.
The cases have been reported across 63 countries since earlier this year. There were slightly more than 6,000 cases reported globally as recently as July 4.
Health officials say monkeypox, which causes a rash and lesions along with flu-like symptoms, is not a sexually transmitted disease and can be spread through close contact. Most cases to date have been among men who have had sex with men.
The virus can enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract or the mucous membrane, including the eyes, nose or mouth.
Risk of infection is low for the general population, the Public Health Agency of Canada says.
TORONTO – Health Canada has authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The mRNA vaccine, called Spikevax, has been reformulated to target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine that was released a year ago, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Health Canada is also reviewing two other updated COVID-19 vaccines but has not yet authorized them.
They are Pfizer’s Comirnaty, which is also an mRNA vaccine, as well as Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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