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Severe Flu Cases Surge in Manitoba - Aboriginal Community Hit Hard
Re: Novel H1N1 flu outbreak hits isolated First Nations reserve
This is about Ontario; however, they often lead the health policy across the country - note the comments about testing.
Numbers don't measure full swine flu impact, says Ontario health official
Last Updated: Thursday, June 4, 2009 | 3:22 PM ET Comments25Recommend30CBC News
Swine flu has entered a new phase in Ontario as the virus continues to spread in some communities, a provincial health official said Thursday.
As of Wednesday, the number of reported cases in the province had jumped 25 per cent in the past three days. Since Monday, 179 cases were reported, mostly in the Greater Toronto Area, bringing the province's total to 894.
'It hasn't reached the phase six level where a large per cent of the population have it, and we're seeing doctors offices being overwhelmed with patients.'
? Dr. Michael Gardam"
"We need to shift from the number of cases," Dr. Michael Gardam, director of infectious diseases prevention and control at the Ontario Agency of Health Protection and Promotion, said in an interview with CBC News.
"We're in a funny phase right now, where I'm telling you that this is continuing to spread and we're measuring less, and that's normal.
"We don't need to measure anymore to know if this has spread into the community; it has. So now we're measuring in much broader terms to get a sense of how big an impact is this on the Ontario, or depending on where you are, the Canadian or the American population."
Testing everyone who has flu-like symptoms, asking about travel histories to Mexico and tracing anyone who has been in contact with a confirmed case no longer offer public health officials any valuable information.
Instead, testing for the H1N1 strain is only recommended for people who are sick enough to be hospitalized.
Since test results take a few days to get back, confirmation of H1N1 also doesn't offer any guidance to doctors deciding on how to treat patients. Rather, they base their treatment decisions on symptoms, underlying sickness and age.
2 additional cases have just been confirmed - one from St. Theresa and one from Island Lake. Total = 40
CBC television will be doing a video report at 6:00 CST directly from St. Theresa Point.
[ that means transport in and out of the community is still going on. ]
200 cases reported in St. Theresa Point. Everyone is wearing masks.
The weather in Winnipeg is terrible - thunderstorms. {not that that is relevant, unless you're on a bike ;( }
J.
So by my count, there are three confirmed cases from St. Theresa Point and two at Island Lake. Although at this point, every febrile case in the community is likely due to this virus. Any word on the conditions of those hospitalized? As far as stopping transport, I think that would be like closing the barn door after the animals have gotten out. The virus is already widespread. There would be little benefit in quarantining the town.
Re: Novel H1N1 flu outbreak hits isolated First Nations reserve
Not that it really matters, but cartski's report in #94 would put both new cases in Burntwood, where the report posted by Muscade puts one of them in Winnipeg.
I think there are probably three overall new confirmations, but it really doesn't matter.
Chief Connects Flu To Living Conditions
CJOB's Clay Young reporting
6/4/2009
The Chief of a Northern Manitoba Reserve is lashing out at the housing conditions in his community that he believes is a factor in an outbreak of a flu like virus. 2 cases of H1-N1 Flu virus are now confirmed at the St. Theresa Point First Nation and 21 other people have been sent to Winnipeg Hospitals with flu like symptoms. Chief David McDougall says based on how his people have to live, it's no wonder there's been an outbreak of sickness.
The Province and federal governments have sent more doctors and nurses to the reserve which is 500 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg.*
Winnipeg emergency departments experience spike in visits
Last Updated: Thursday, June 4, 2009 | 3:22 PM CT Comments0Recommend0.
CBC News
The number of daily visits to Winnipeg emergency departments has increased by 25 per cent in the last month, and almost all of the 80 intensive care beds are full, a provincial health official says.
Jan Currie, chief nursing officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, said the increase ? to 1,000 visits from 800 ? includes several patients with respiratory illnesses. Many of them require ventilators, but only a few have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, she said.
Keeping the hospitals staffed has been challenging because some nurses and medical support staff have also been sick, Currie added.
"We don't want them to come to work if they are sick ? just like anyone in the general population ? so some staff are working overtime and we are seeing both critical care and emergency departments, you know, very busy," she said, adding it is unusual to see so many people with flu-like symptoms at this time of the year.
An outbreak of a flu-like illness has also struck a remote northern Manitoba First Nation. About 200 people from St. Theresa Point, located about 500 kilometres from Winnipeg, have reported being ill in the past week.
The majority of them are being treated in the community, but 21 people with severe symptoms have been transported to Winnipeg hospitals. Two women from the community, both in their 20s, are listed in critical condition. One of the women was pregnant but has since miscarried.
Community officials in St. Theresa Point confirmed on Thursday that two residents have tested positive for swine flu. Those positive results did not come from the two critical women, whose tests have not yet come back.
Manitoba First Nation confirms swine flu cases
Canwest News ServiceJune 4, 2009 3:34 PM
Story A remote First Nation in northern Manitoba has confirmed two cases of swine flu, but says that more than 100 people have reported being ill in recent days.
Chief David McDougall of St. Theresa Point spoke to reporters Thursday at an emergency news conference.
About 20 residents of the community have recently been flown to Winnipeg hospital suffering with flu-like symptoms, including 11 people who were airlifted in the last week.
"Those are all pending confirmation if they are in fact infected by this (swine flu) virus," the chief said.
McDougall urged understanding for his fly-in community of 3,200 people, saying that there have been more confirmed cases in Winnipeg than in St. Theresa Point.
He said members of his community were recently asked to leave at least one hotel over fears they could be sick.
"Just to be in the same room with me is not a death sentence for anybody," McDougall said, adding later: "As far as I'm concerned, there's no panic right now."
He has said his community, located about 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, lacks the infrastructure to deal with a full-scale outbreak, and that a potential pandemic could spread quickly, since residents live in overcrowded homes.
Manitoba confirms 40 swine flu cases
Last Updated: Thursday, June 4, 2009 | 4:48 PM CT Comments0Recommend0.
CBC News
Two more cases of swine flu were confirmed by Manitoba Health authorities on Thursday.
The total number of people with H1N1 virus in the province now stands at 40.
One of those infected with the virus is a male from Winnipeg and the other is from a First Nation community in the Burntwood health region, authorities said. The Winnipeg man has not required hospitalization, according to a news release from the provincial government.
The gender and condition of the person from the First Nation was not provided, nor were the ages of either person.
The First Nation was not identified, although the Burntwood health region includes St. Theresa Point, a northern Manitoba community from which 21 people suffering severe flu-like illnesses were flown to Winnipeg by air ambulance in the past week.
Of those, two are women in their 20s who are listed in critical condition. One of them was pregnant but has since miscarried. Results of H1N1 testing for the two women have not come back yet, but two people from the reserve have already tested positive for swine flu.
Health-care response on First Nation communities is led by First Nation and Inuit Health (FNIH) of Health Canada, the news release said. The Manitoba government has offered assistance to FNIH and First Nation communities and has already provided:
?Three additional doctors for a First Nation community.
?45 courses of antiviral treatments.
?10,000 surgical and 2,600 protective masks.
Anyone who is sick with a respiratory illness should visit a health-care provider who will assess whether testing or treatment is required, the release said. Testing for viruses does not change the treatment of a viral respiratory illness.
"Doctors and health-care providers make decisions all the time before test results are available because they know how to treat influenza and other viral illnesses," the release stated. "H1N1 is present in six regions in the province, so every Manitoban should assume that the virus is present across the province.
"All Manitobans need to take the same precautions, no matter where they live, work or visit."
The provincial government is also encouraging the public to maintain their immune systems by making healthy food choices, being physically active and getting enough sleep.
Other tips to prevent the spread of any germs include:
?Covering a cough or sneeze, using a tissue or the inside of the elbow.
?Washing hands often with soap and water, especially after a cough or sneeze.
?Avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth.
Those with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, aches and fatigue, are most contagious for about one week. During that time, people are encouraged to stay home from school or work and limit contact with others to reduce the chance of spreading the virus.
Re: Novel H1N1 flu outbreak hits isolated First Nations reserve
The red statement is a little bizarre - are the two women in critical condition the nieces of the chief? One earlier article mentioned three of his nieces were ill, but this is the first I heard that two of them were the critical pregnant women.
Manitoba chief confirms two cases of swine flu, 21 other people hospitalized
By Chinta Puxley ? 6 minutes ago
WINNIPEG ? The emergence of swine flu on a remote northern Manitoba reserve is a wake-up call for governments to address poor living conditions and improve health care for aboriginals, the community's chief said Thursday.
David McDougall of St. Theresa Point First Nation said there are two confirmed cases of swine flu on the reserve. Another 21 people are in hospital suffering from flu-like symptoms.
As a result, some people in the community of 3,200 are wearing masks and most are avoiding large get-togethers, he said.
It's still not clear how swine flu reached the reserve, McDougall said. But he added the spread of the flu-like illness has likely been exacerbated by the shortage of housing and cramped quarters.
"It's common for 12 people to be living in a two-bedroom bungalow," he said at a news conference in Winnipeg on Thursday. "We know that's prime breeding ground for viruses such as this one.
"It's a wake-up call for everyone. This is an emergency and a catastrophe waiting to happen. Now we're seeing it."
Provincial and federal governments have sent more doctors and nurses to the remote community, which is 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg and accessible only by air. But officials have so far refused to discuss the outbreak in St. Theresa Point - even with the community's chief.
Elise Weiss, Manitoba's acting chief public health officer, said Thursday there were two more confirmed cases of swine flu in the province - including one more from the vast health region which includes St. Theresa Point. The new cases brought the total number provincewide to 40.
Since virtually all communities probably have some form of swine flu, specific communities are not being identified, she said.
"Public health advice does not change whether you are in community A, B or C."
Most sick people on the reserve were experiencing mild symptoms, but McDougall said his two pregnant nieces fell seriously ill and one lost her child. Both woman were in critical condition, he said. It hadn't been confirmed yet whether swine flu made them sick.
"There have been some frightening moments through the course of their treatment."
But there is no reason for people to panic, McDougall said.
He also said that as news has spread about the flu, so has prejudice. Some family members from St. Theresa Point were turned away from a Winnipeg hotel because of concerns they could infect others.
"There are two confirmed cases from my community," McDougall said. "There are 27 cases in the city of Winnipeg. I can't see why there is a big alarm dealing with people from St. Theresa Point.
"I feel very handicapped by the whole situation, almost as if I'm blind," McDougall continued. "There is uncertainty. I'd like to work with both levels of government to ease the situation, but it's very hard when there are certain departments that are not playing the same game we are.
"I feel very disadvantaged and I'm trying to provide information, but I don't have any answers and they're not being fed directly to us."
Copyright ? 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Re: Novel H1N1 flu outbreak hits isolated First Nations reserve
Machine translation
Canada: concern which an Indian reserve is a hearth of porcine influenza
MONTREAL - the authorities of Manitoba, province of the center of Canada, dispatched urgently doctors and nurses in an Amerindian reserve where two cases of porcine influenza were confirmed and several other suspects are the subject of analyses, one learned Thursday.
For one month more than 200 members of the Amerindian reserve of Saint Theresa Point, who counts 3.200 people, have been treated for respiratory problems being able to be comparable with those of an influenza.
About fifty patients had to be evacuated by helicopters in hospitals of the Winnipeg provincial capital.
?We had the confirmation of two cases of influenza (porcine) H1N1?, declared at the time of a press conference Whelan Mason, chief assistant of this community, adding that 21 suspect cases were the subject of analyses.
No death related to the disease was recorded, it specified, adding however that two patients were in ?critical? state.
The federal health authorities dispatched Wednesday six civils servant, while the government manitobain sent four doctors and several nurses, bring back the local mediums.
Vis-a-vis this mysterious epidemic, several people carry masks in the reserve where a ?very great level of prudence? was adopted, Mr. Mason indicated.
The chief of another reserve, located at a hundred kilometers, at the edge of the same lake that Holy Theresa Not, fears that its community is infected by the epidemic because the inhabitants draw water there directly, indicates Winnipeg Free Press.
Canada counts 1.795 cases of porcine influenza, including three death, according to the last assessment of the federal health authorities, published Wednesday. Manitoba counts 38 cases for its part.
OTTAWA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Two cases of A/H1N1 flu have been confirmed on a remote reserve in western Canada, following reports that a mystery flu had sent residents sick to the hospital, local officials said on Thursday.
Two people out of 21 who are now hospitalized have tested positive for the A/H1N1 flu virus, and a total of 200 people from the St. Theresa Point First Nation, located in northeastern Manitoba province, were sickened, deputy chief Whelan Mason told reporters on Thursday.
Some reports put the number of sick people at 500.
The reserve officials also warned about the overcrowded living conditions on the reserve, which may present challenge to controlling the flu.
Manitoba provincial officials are expected to talk about the flu situation in the reserve later on Thursday. The federal and provincial governments have sent more doctors and nurses to the region.
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