Health

New coronavirus may be no more dangerous than the flu, despite worldwide alarm: experts – Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Published

5 years ago

February 4, 2020

The apparently high initial mortality rates have shrunk as the number of infections grows, and many of the infected appear to have mild or no symptoms

If one thing has spread faster than the new coronavirus from Wuhan, China, it is worldwide fear of the novel bug.

Surgical masks are being hoarded in Toronto, borders closed in Russia and conspiracy theories disseminated far and wide on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the massive quarantines imposed in China are starting to threaten the global economy.

But as evidence of the severity and transmissabilty of 2019-nCoV trickles in, infectious-disease experts say it’s appearing less menacing than first thought, maybe more like seasonal flu than, say, SARS.

The apparently high mortality rates that dominated headlines initially have shrunk as the number of infections grows, and many of the infected appear to have mild or no symptoms.

To some scientists, the situation is reminiscent of the H1N1 pandemic flu of 2009, which burst onto the scene with a frightening spate of deaths in Mexico, only to be viewed as relatively innocuous by the time it petered out for the season.

“Upfront, what you tend to see is probably an over-representation of severe cases that are getting reported,” said Jason Kindrachuk, Canada Research Chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba.

The people who bring a new infection to the fore are those ill enough to seek medical help and get tested, he noted.

“But there are probably a ton of cases in the background that people just thought were mild cases of flu.”

Kindrachuk and other scientists stress that the jury is still out on the new coronavirus, and say that even if it turns out to be a relatively mild disease, health authorities are right to take it very seriously.

But the sense that the media, public and some nations have over-reacted is beginning to seep into conversation.

The current global panic in reaction to the emergence of a fairly mild new virus is wholly unjustified

Beijing’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman complained Monday about the U.S. decision to ban anyone who had been in China recently, accusing it of spreading fear while not actually helping the country most affected by the virus.

In a news release Sunday, the Federation of International Employers urged more calm to avoid economic dislocation and a world recession.

“The current global panic in reaction to the emergence of a fairly mild new virus is wholly unjustified and amounts to mass hysteria,” complained the human resources association, chaired by a Ford Motors executive.

As of Monday, the World Health Organization reported 17,391 laboratory-confirmed cases of the new coronavirus worldwide — the vast majority in China — and 362 deaths.

That’s a death rate of two per cent, several times that of the seasonal flu in places like Canada, and much less than two other recently emerging coronaviruses: SARS (10 per cent); and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS (35 per cent).

But a recent article by University of Hong scientists published by the journal Lancet suggested the actual number of people infected is far higher. Their paper analyzed travel patterns in China and known cases of the virus and used mathematical formula to estimate that more like 75,000 people had contracted the bug there as of Jan. 28.

A child Manila, Philippines, wears a facemask amid public fear over the Wuhan coronavirus, Feb. 3, 2020.

Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

That certainly would back up evidence that it spreads faster than SARS or MERS. But based on the number of reported deaths when the paper was published Friday, it would actually produce a mortality rate of just .2 per cent — akin to that of influenzas.

“We don’t freak out about seasonal flu, we experience it every year,” said Matthew Miller, a microbiologist who studies viruses at McMaster University. “The people most likely to die from seasonal flu are the elderly and the very young … The same is very likely to be true with this new coronavirus outbreak. The people who are at highest risk are the people at the highest risk for any type of infection.”

Canada has recorded four cases of the new pathogen, all individuals who had travelled recently to Wuhan.

Of course, even seasonal flu takes a heavy toll, and the Wuhan coronavirus is dispersing among a human population never exposed to it before, meaning people have no immunity.

“If we were not to take any kind of precautions … most of us would end up infected by it,” said Darryl Falzarano, a microbiologist at the University of Saskatchewan who is working on a vaccine for 2019-nCoV. “Are you OK with one in a hundred or one in a thousand people not surviving?”

The goal is to contain the new virus, to essentially snuff it out. But what if that were not possible and it became a regular part of the pool of human infectious disease?

The pathogen would not actually replace seasonal flus, but might not add much to the total amount of respiratory illness, said Miller. The body’s immune system produces both specific and general responses to a virus. That general immune response provides some latent, short-term protection against contracting another bug, he said.

And the number of deaths would likely end up similar to the respiratory-virus toll now, the same vulnerable parts of the population falling victim to either the flu or the novel coronavirus, suggested Miller.

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Health

B.C. mayors seek ‘immediate action’ from federal government on mental health crisis

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

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

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Health

Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

Published

4 days ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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

Published

5 days 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.

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