Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-ar...se-in-n-w-t-chief-public-health-officer-says/
Potentially deadly strep infections rise in N.W.T., chief public health officer says
CBC News
Posted: Monday, June 10, 2024 at 11:19
Territory has seen 9 cases so far this year — equal to the yearly average — and 1 person has died
Wilfred Simon says it started one day in April after he’d been at his daughter’s duplex in Fort Resolution, N.W.T., helping her deal with a plumbing issue.
“I washed my hands good, and I thought I did a good job. Then I went home that night and my leg was itchy — so I scratched it, and I made it bleed,” he said.
He figures that’s how the infection started.
“The bug got inside there, I guess,” he said.
Simon, 69, woke up the next morning feeling feverish and unwell. His wife convinced him to go to the local health centre, and within hours, he was being flown to Yellowknife, where he was in a coma for nine days and almost lost his leg — and his life...
...So far this year, the N.W.T. has seen nine confirmed cases of invasive group A strep. That’s equal to the territory’s yearly average, and the year’s not yet half over. One of those people has died.
Almost half of the cases so far this year happened in May, according to Dr. Kami Kandola, the territory’s chief public health officer.
“That’s a small time period. So we are being vigilant,” she said...
Potentially deadly strep infections rise in N.W.T., chief public health officer says
CBC News
Posted: Monday, June 10, 2024 at 11:19
Territory has seen 9 cases so far this year — equal to the yearly average — and 1 person has died
Wilfred Simon says it started one day in April after he’d been at his daughter’s duplex in Fort Resolution, N.W.T., helping her deal with a plumbing issue.
“I washed my hands good, and I thought I did a good job. Then I went home that night and my leg was itchy — so I scratched it, and I made it bleed,” he said.
He figures that’s how the infection started.
“The bug got inside there, I guess,” he said.
Simon, 69, woke up the next morning feeling feverish and unwell. His wife convinced him to go to the local health centre, and within hours, he was being flown to Yellowknife, where he was in a coma for nine days and almost lost his leg — and his life...
...So far this year, the N.W.T. has seen nine confirmed cases of invasive group A strep. That’s equal to the territory’s yearly average, and the year’s not yet half over. One of those people has died.
Almost half of the cases so far this year happened in May, according to Dr. Kami Kandola, the territory’s chief public health officer.
“That’s a small time period. So we are being vigilant,” she said...