Eight children who were severely ill from E. coli infections have been discharged from hospital even as the number of cases related to an outbreak at several Calgary daycares continued to rise.
There were 329 lab-confirmed cases of the bacterial infection, as of Thursday, related to an outbreak at 11 daycares that was declared Sept. 4.
Investigators were still looking for the source of the outbreak, but health officials have said it almost certainly came from a central kitchen used by the daycares.
Alberta Health Services said in a statement that the number of infected had gone up as test results came back from the lab, but that the number of patients in Alberta Children’s Hospital had declined for a second day.
“There are currently 13 patients receiving care in hospital, all of whom are children,” the health authority said Thursday. “Eight children have been discharged since yesterday and are now recovering at home.”
Twenty patients — 19 children and one adult — have been discharged from hospital since the beginning of the outbreak.
Eleven of the 13 children still in hospital have hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication affecting the blood and kidneys. Six of those children are receiving dialysis, which is a treatment for kidney failure and a way to remove waste products from the blood.
“We’re seeing that the patients on dialysis and even our HUS numbers have been fairly stable,” Dr. Tania Principi, section chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Alberta Children’s Hospital, told reporters a day earlier. “We’re not seeing a significant rise in that, but we’re continuing to do tests and follow this last group of patients.”
There have been 22 E. coli cases from secondary transmissions, all of whom have been in households linked to the outbreak.
“If we’re able to continue to contain that secondary spread, we should be through the largest hump now and see potentially some increase in case numbers … as tests come back,” said Principi. “But, in terms of sick children and people, we should be at the tail end.”
Parents with children in the daycares linked to the E. coli outbreak sent an open letter Thursday to Premier Danielle Smith asking her to do more to deal with the outbreak.
“Many of our children began falling ill at the end of August,” said the letter, which had more than 700 signatures online by Thursday afternoon.
“Many passed not just blood but their own flesh as they screamed in pain, unable to sleep for days while others became lethargic and despondent.”
The letter said parents did their best to protect their children by rushing them to emergency departments, but they now need the government to do more.
“We would like to know why we have not heard from you,” the letter said. “Surely the suffering of our children merits more communication than a single tweet.
“Lives have been torn apart by what seems to be a preventable crisis.”
Sarah MacDonald, one of the parents who put out the letter, said it’s about the lack of response from the government.
“We don’t feel that we’ve been given any answers yet that make us feel safe, that our children are safe back in the system where kitchens are being regulated,” she said in an interview.
The premier’s press secretary, Sam Blackett, released a statement in response to the letter.
“Premier Smith has made this outbreak her No. 1 priority,” he said. “She has heard the heartbreaking stories from parents and rest assured action will be taken.”
Blackett said Smith would “have more to say” at a news conference Friday.
Several fundraisers are also in the works to support parents whose children got sick.
“I feel like this could have been any one of us,” said Cathy Wang, a Calgary engineer who’s organizing a campaign to support families. “I send my older one to daycare every single day, and I expect him to have fun and be safe.”
She and nine other parents from affected daycares started a GoFundMe account and are using the money to make meals, buy non-perishable foods and make care packages for the families and goody bags for the children.
Some people have also been dropping off coffee or meals at the Alberta Children’s Hospital for parents whose children are still receiving care.
“It’s a difficult time for them because, with their kids this young, they can’t leave their bedside,” Wang said. “Because they have to stay by their children’s side, it means they cannot work.”
Meanwhile, the daycares were allowed to reopen Wednesday.
“I want to stress that the closure orders were rescinded only after Alberta Health Services determined that the facilities are safe environments,” Dr. Francesco Rizzuti, medical officer of health for Calgary, said at the time.
A spokesman for the daycares said in an email that the well-being of the children, parents and staff remains the priority and that the daycares have had extensive cleaning and sterilization before they reopened.
“We have been in regular communication with our families and staff to ensure reopening requirements are met, along with implementing any changes in our operations and processes that are required,” said Kent Hehr, a former member of Parliament who’s a vice-president with Fueling Brains.
“All food will be provided by parents or sourced by external providers.”
A report released by Alberta Health Services earlier this week said inspectors found improper sanitation, live cockroaches and issues around food handling in the central kitchen for the daycares.
Rizzuti said the kitchen would not be allowed to reopen until the critical health violations are fully addressed. It remained closed Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2023.
Colette Derworiz and Jamin Mike, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story; An earlier version had the incorrect surname for Sarah MacDonald
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.
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.
