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#Canada; #HealthCanada; #measlesInfection; #HospitalForSickChildren; #InfantsMoreSusceptibletoMeasles, #PublicHealthOntario
Toronto, Nov 21 (Canadian-Media): Findings of Toronto researchers from the Hospital for Sick Children and Public Health Ontario said that infants are more vulnerable to measles infection than previously thought is, media reports said. 
Measles Outbreak/Facebook
Measles is an infectious viral disease causing fever and a red rash on the skin, typically occurring in childhood and Measles and can cause severe complications including pneumonia, encephalitis and death.
Vast majority of 196 infants studied were susceptible to measles infection by three months of age and none of them were immune at six months. The findings rule out that most babies are protected in their first year by maternal antibodies passed on through pregnancy. In Canada, measles vaccines are not administered to babies until they are 12 months old resulting in an alarming wide susceptibility gap, study's senior author said. Although most Canadian women of childbearing age are immune through vaccination immunization through vaccine is associated with lower antibody levels than natural infection. "This is really troubling because measles is a serious disease, and it can be quite serious in infants," said Shelly Bolotin, a scientist at Public Health Ontario and also an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto. 
Shelly Bolotin/Twitter
"It can be absolutely devastating and we need to make sure that we are protecting our most vulnerable members of our population — infants."
Bolotin said the Toronto study is unique in measuring antibodies at each month of an infant's life from birth to 12 months. As of late last week, Bolotin said there have been 112 cases of measles in Canada this year, majority of them imported or import-related.
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#Canada; #HealthCanada; #VapingRelatedIllness; #CanadianMedicalAssociationJournal
Ottawa, Nov 21 (Canadian-Media): First documented case of an Ontario teen was put on life-support with a severe vaping-related illness -- more in line with "popcorn lung" -- linked to e-cigarettes, according to a study published Thursday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), media reports said.
Medically known as bronchiolitis obliterans, popcorn lung is named for factory workers who developed lung disease after breathing in heated flavouring, the study said.
"It was a relatively wild story; we have not seen something like this that often," said Dr. Tereza Martinu, a lung transplant respirologist who was part of the teen's care team and a co-author of the study. 
Dr Tereza Martinu/Facebook
After a 47-day hospital stay, the teen, whose identity has not been released, returned home, but still recovering, possibly with chronic lung damage.
The researchers suspected bronchiolitis after scans of his lungs showed a so-called "tree in bud" pattern: tiny nodules connected to longer bronchial "branches," but the teen's infection work-up was negative. The study notes the researchers cannot "pathologically" confirm bronchiolitis obliterans and the team could not evaluate the specific vaping products used by the teen, health officials said it could be a likely consequence. The doctors are calling for more research to better understand an issue that has already raised alarm around the world. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 42 deaths linked to vaping and 2,172 injuries. In Canada, there have been eight confirmed or probable cases but could not include this case possibly because of its different presentation. "We don't want to see anybody sick, but it's quite eye-opening when it's very young people who have been previously healthy," said Dr. Simon Landman, another study co-author involved with the teen's care, and a physician at the London Health Sciences Centre.
CMAJ again called for a Canada-wide ban on flavoured vaping liquids, stricter regulations on advertising, and standards put in place on all e-cigarette products.
"These cases have occurred because of the near-complete absence of government regulations on the composition, quality, design and manufacture of e-cigarettes and e-liquids," the editorial said. Health Canada said it will continue to monitor all available data sources and surveillance systems and take action to protect the health and safety of Canadians.
#Ottawa; #CanadianMedicalAssociation,#Cancer; #CancerInCanada; #Obesity;
#ObesityInYoungCanadians; #CanadianCancerSociety Ottawa, Nov 19 (Canadian-Media): Obesity among young Canadians was found to be a major factor in increasing rates of cancer, new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal reported, which looked at nearly media reports said. The researchers for this massive study took into consideration nearly 5.2 million cases of cancer diagnosed in Canada between 1971 and 2015, and examined trends by age and sex. Obesity was also found to be the risk factor for breast, colorectal, pancreatic, endometrial and kidney cancer. Last four decades have shown increased number of Canadians with a body mass index of 35 or higher. Proper diet and medication, says the study can control obesity.
Another worrisome trend identified by the study was cancer in men and women under the age of 50.
This study's importance is also due to the fact that current guidelines do not recommend screening of younger patients for some cancers. For instance, most provinces do not offer breast cancer screening to women in their 40s which means if cancers in younger patients are diagnosed at a later stage, these become less treatable. In the case of breast cancer, the increased incidence in young women has also been observed in the U.S. and Europe. Besides obesity, other likely risk factors in young women developing breast cancer include the trend for girls to begin having periods at a younger age, as well as increased use of oral contraceptives to delay having their first child.
#Canada, #CanadianInstituteForHealthInformation; #GoPublic; #OECD; #CPSI; #MedicalItemsLeftInsideMedical&SurgicalPatients
Toronto, Nov 7 (Canadian-Media): Canada saw a major jump, of 14 percent over the last five years, in the number of medical items left inside patients after procedures, according to a study released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), media reports said. CIHI, a not-for-profit group that collects data on the quality of health care in the country, said 553 such objects were left inside patients over the last two years. A separate study from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that among developed countries, Canada has the highest rate of medical items being left inside patients. 
Sandi Kossey (left)/Facebook
Canadian medical teams should follow existing safety procedures, Sandi Kossey, senior director of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), a not-for-profit healthcare watchdog said
"There are checks and balances that should happen," said Kossey. "There are enough preventative measures that should be in place, that these things should not happen."
Even the health authorities refuse to take any responsibility of the surgeon's fault, since the surgeon is an independent contractor and not an employee.
"Physicians in B.C. are independent contractors who are licensed and regulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C.," the authority said in an email to Go Public which is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web. According to the most recent report on the quality of healthcare in OECD countries, a foreign body — sponges, needles, clamps, scissors, etc. — is left inside a patient in Canada 9.8 times out of every 100,000 surgeries. That's three times the average. The next-highest OECD results were Sweden at 8.3 followed by Netherlands with 4.6 per 100,000.
"The data shows that we're not doing as good as we should be as a developed country," Kossey told Go Public.
But she also suggests the reason Canada appears to have more mistakes could be in the accuracy of the reporting itself. "In order to address that, we need to first acknowledge that it's happening. The health authorities need to take responsibility for the actions of their subcontractors and they also have to come up with a mitigation plan to avoid these types of events," she said. |
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