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Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ng-across-canada-doctors-warn/article1172090/
H1N1 spreading across Canada, doctors warn
LISA PRIEST
From Saturday's Globe and Mail, Saturday, Jun. 06, 2009 04:14AM EDT
As Manitoba copes with new cases of H1N1, doctors are telling the public to be prepared for more flu across Canada, particularly this fall.
The message comes as the federal government yesterday announced $10.8-million for pandemic research over the next three years and the World Health Organization called a meeting of its top scientists.
"The initial thoughts of a month ago - maybe this is a flash in the pan - well, it's not a flash in the pan, it's clearly continuing to spread," said Michael Gardam, director of infectious diseases prevention and control for the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.
Since not all sick patients are being tested for H1N1, Dr. Gardam said the numbers of those infected are actually higher.
There were 1,795 laboratory-confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus reported in nine provinces and three territories as of Wednesday, including three deaths. Since Wednesday, 320 new cases have been reported, about half in Ontario. Worldwide, the virus has spread to 70 countries, where it has infected 21,940 people and killed 125.
In Manitoba, two cases of H1N1 have been confirmed in St. Theresa Point and another 21 people are in hospital suffering from flu-like symptoms. Governments have sent doctors and nurses to the remote community, 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq was at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital yesterday, announcing $10.8-million over three years to fund a national research network focused on evaluating pandemic vaccines. The money comes from a commitment in the 2006 federal budget.
Shelly McNeil, associate professor of medicine at Dalhousie University and vaccine researcher at the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology, the co-ordinator centre for the network, said she would study the best way to implement vaccines."Should the need arise, we are ready to test vaccines in Canada and ready to have systems in place," she said.
While the profile of H1N1 is similar to seasonal influenza, she said it was important not to minimize it, as that type of flu still causes hospitalizations and death. The concern with the fall, she said, is that the virus may become more aggressive, but even if it doesn't, it could still cause a lot of illness.
Donald Low, medical director of Ontario's public health laboratories and chief microbiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, described H1N1 as a "pretty stable" virus.
"I don't know what is going to happen this fall regarding numbers," he said in an e-mail. "But I'm pretty sure it is not going away. It will be interesting to see if it replaces either of the two seasonal strains."
Dr. Gardam recommended people have a plan should H1N1 cause public-service interruptions, such as school closings, which may mean one parent working from home.
H1N1 spreading across Canada, doctors warn
LISA PRIEST
From Saturday's Globe and Mail, Saturday, Jun. 06, 2009 04:14AM EDT
As Manitoba copes with new cases of H1N1, doctors are telling the public to be prepared for more flu across Canada, particularly this fall.
The message comes as the federal government yesterday announced $10.8-million for pandemic research over the next three years and the World Health Organization called a meeting of its top scientists.
"The initial thoughts of a month ago - maybe this is a flash in the pan - well, it's not a flash in the pan, it's clearly continuing to spread," said Michael Gardam, director of infectious diseases prevention and control for the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.
Since not all sick patients are being tested for H1N1, Dr. Gardam said the numbers of those infected are actually higher.
There were 1,795 laboratory-confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus reported in nine provinces and three territories as of Wednesday, including three deaths. Since Wednesday, 320 new cases have been reported, about half in Ontario. Worldwide, the virus has spread to 70 countries, where it has infected 21,940 people and killed 125.
In Manitoba, two cases of H1N1 have been confirmed in St. Theresa Point and another 21 people are in hospital suffering from flu-like symptoms. Governments have sent doctors and nurses to the remote community, 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq was at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital yesterday, announcing $10.8-million over three years to fund a national research network focused on evaluating pandemic vaccines. The money comes from a commitment in the 2006 federal budget.
Shelly McNeil, associate professor of medicine at Dalhousie University and vaccine researcher at the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology, the co-ordinator centre for the network, said she would study the best way to implement vaccines."Should the need arise, we are ready to test vaccines in Canada and ready to have systems in place," she said.
While the profile of H1N1 is similar to seasonal influenza, she said it was important not to minimize it, as that type of flu still causes hospitalizations and death. The concern with the fall, she said, is that the virus may become more aggressive, but even if it doesn't, it could still cause a lot of illness.
Donald Low, medical director of Ontario's public health laboratories and chief microbiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, described H1N1 as a "pretty stable" virus.
"I don't know what is going to happen this fall regarding numbers," he said in an e-mail. "But I'm pretty sure it is not going away. It will be interesting to see if it replaces either of the two seasonal strains."
Dr. Gardam recommended people have a plan should H1N1 cause public-service interruptions, such as school closings, which may mean one parent working from home.
