Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 143

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Number+swine+cases+hits/1613975/story.html

Number of swine flu cases hits 13


The Ottawa CitizenMay 20, 2009 10:15 PMBe the first to post a comment

Ottawa ? Ottawa public-health officials confirmed Wednesday there are more cases of the new H1N1 influenza A virus in the city, bringing the total number of cases to 13.

The laboratory-confirmed Ottawa cases so far involve nine males and four females with an age range of less than one year to 54 years, with a median age of 20.

The virus has been identified in both travellers to affected areas as well as people in Ottawa. Some of the people affected have experienced severe symptoms and were hospitalized. All patients are now recovering.

?Ottawa Public Health continues to respond to this constantly evolving situation,? said Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa?s Medical Officer of Health. ?We expected community spread and the possibility of more severe disease in some individuals. We continue to maintain heightened surveillance measures and extensive communication with our community partners, while also expanding our focus to preventing community outbreaks.?

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 21

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 21

Source: http://www.yourottawasouth.com/article/13616

Update on novel H1N1 influenza in Ottawa
Cases in Ottawa up to 21
May 29, 2009
BY City of Ottawa

Ottawa Public Health advises that the situation regarding H1N1 influenza in the City of Ottawa continues to evolve along anticipated patterns. The total number of individuals who have tested positive for the novel H1N1 flu in Ottawa now stands at 21 and the province is expected to confirm and update this tomorrow.

?As part of our ongoing enhanced surveillance measures for the novel H1N1 flu virus, we requested that schools, nursing homes and other institutions report absenteeism rates in excess of 10 per cent,? said Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa?s medical officer of health. ?We have had some reports of potential clusters that we are following up and managing as per routine protocols. We thank our partners for diligently reporting unusual patterns of absenteeism. This is tremendously helpful in managing outbreaks of communicable diseases in the community.?

One of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the novel H1N1 virus in the community is for adults and children to stay home when they experience flu-like symptoms. Individuals with telltale symptoms (a fever over 38 C/100.4 F, cough and shortness of breath, muscle aches, fatigue, severe headache, sore throat, and lack of appetite) are advised to:

? Stay home from work, school or public gatherings until they no longer have a fever and are feeling better. The presence of a cough alone, in the absence of other symptoms, is not a reason to keep an employee away from the work setting. It is not unusual for individuals to experience a cough for days to weeks after infection.

? See their health care provider if they are experiencing severe symptoms.

? Limit contact with household members and wash hands frequently.

? Use self-care measures such as increasing their fluid intake, getting adequate rest and treating themselves for their symptoms. Avoidance of tobacco smoke and the use of cool compresses may also be helpful.

?We still have an evolving situation with this new virus,? said Dr. Levy. ?Ottawa Public Health continues to maintain a heightened vigilance and promote infection control measures to help prevent the spread of the virus. It is important that residents, businesses and community organizations promote and adopt these simple measures: wash your hands well and frequently, cough and sneeze into your sleeve instead of your hands, and stay home when you are sick.?

For future updates on the novel H1N1 flu in Ottawa, the public is encouraged to visit ottawa.ca/health.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 131

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 131

131 new confirmed cases of H1N1 flu virus in Ontario

TORONTO, May 29 /CNW/ -

NEWS

Dr. David Williams, Ontario's Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health,
says there are 131 new confirmed cases of H1N1 flu virus since Wednesday,
bringing the total number of cases in Ontario to 626.

Almost all of the cases reported to date are considered mild. One person
with a chronic pre-existing medical condition died on May 23. The autopsy
results from the Office of the Chief Coroner have shown that the cause of
death is pneumonia that appears to be of bacterial origin and there is
evidence of significant heart disease also present. The role of H1N1 virus in
this case is unclear and may be difficult to ascertain. Six people who have
the H1N1 flu virus were in hospital as of May 28, 2009, a number of whom have underlying medical conditions.

The Ontario cases involve 315 males and 309 females (the gender of two
cases is unknown) with an age range of (less than)1 to 80. The breakdown by health unit is as follows:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health Unit New Confirmed Cases Total Confirmed Cases
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toronto 76 313
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Peel Region 26 98
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York Region 15 82
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Halton 3 62
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City of Ottawa 3 19
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Durham Region 0 16
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Simcoe Muskoka District 3 9
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Windsor Essex 0 5
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Hamilton 1 5
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Wellington Dufferin Guelph 2 4
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Sudbury and District 0 3
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Waterloo Region 1 3
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Niagara Region 1 1
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Oxford County 0 1
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Leeds, Grenville & Lanark 0 1
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Middlesex-London 0 1
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Hastings and Prince Edward
Counties 0 1
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Out of province(*) 0 2
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TOTAL 131 626
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(*) - Visitors who were tested and confirmed in Ontario but do not reside
in the province.

QUICK FACTS

- Symptoms of the H1N1 flu virus are similar to seasonal influenza
(flu) including, chills and cough followed by fever, loss of
appetite, muscle aches and fatigue, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes
and throat irritation. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea may occur in
adults as well as in children. In more severe cases, or in people
with chronic conditions, complications such as pneumonia may develop.
- People who have symptoms of respiratory illness should contact their
health care provider or call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.
- For general information on the H1N1 flu virus, call the
ServiceOntario INFOline at 1-800-476-9708 or visit the Ministry of
Health and Long-Term Care website
(http://webx.newswire.ca/click/?id=402dcc1e69804c5).

LEARN MORE

For more information about H1N1 flu virus.
(http://webx.newswire.ca/click/?id=2f58c2c0557cd2d)

To learn more about hand washing.
(http://webx.newswire.ca/click/?id=69ffa15ce0a395a)

Read about public health initiatives in the province.
(http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/project/ohp/ohp_mn.html)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ontario.ca/health-news

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 21

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 21

Source: http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=1655991

Swine flu suspected at 13 Ottawa schools
Pauline Tam, Ottawa Citizen
Published: Tuesday, June 02, 2009

OTTAWA - Health officials are investigating possible flu outbreaks at as many as 13 Ottawa schools, which they believe could be caused by the swine flu virus.

Another three schools have reported unusually high numbers of absent students, prompting officials to suspect the virus may have spread there, as well.

Because the risks of infection are particularly high among people who gather in large groups and in confined spaces, the school-based outbreaks, even before they are confirmed, have officials predicting the strain of the H1N1 flu virus has moved into a new phase that will likely lead to faster spread and more cases being reported over the summer and into the fall.

"With influenza, you pretty much know you're not going to be able to contain it," said Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa's chief medical officer of health.

"What we're trying to do is minimize spread in the community, and blunt the epidemic long enough for people to develop immunity in a natural way, or for the global community to develop a vaccine. That's really the strategy over the next six to 12 months."

Given the typical flu season usually ends by early spring, any flu outbreak that persists into June is likely being caused by the H1N1 virus, Levy said. "We assume that it's more widespread than we're seeing."

Meanwhile, a remote First Nations community in Manitoba has shut down its school over heightened concern a severe flu is spreading among area residents.

St. Theresa Point First Nation Chief David McDougall said Tuesday an additional five children suffering from severe flu-like symptoms were flown to Winnipeg on Monday night.

The reserve is about 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Over the last week, seven people suffering from severe flu-like symptoms were taken to Winnipeg, including two pregnant women, who were sent to hospital. One woman lost her child as a result of the illness.

Lab tests haven't confirmed the cause of the illness, but public health officials suspect the respiratory virus could be H1N1.

McDougall said the community lacks the infrastructure to deal with a full-scale outbreak and that a potential pandemic could spread quickly, since residents live in overcrowded homes.

In Ottawa, the virus has been confirmed at two elementary schools, where more than three cases each have been reported. The schools are Guardian Angels in Stittsville and St. Clare Catholic School in Orleans, where many students have been absent.

To date, 37 confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus have been discovered in Ottawa; of that number, 17 have been found among children, including two babies and one child who were hospitalized within the past two weeks.

Some of the hospitalized children were placed in an intensive-care unit - not because they needed critical care, but because doctors took extra precautions to isolate the patients, Levy said.

All three children have since been discharged and are "recovering well," Levy said. He said none of the children had underlying illnesses that would have made them more susceptible to complications from the virus.

With files from Winnipeg Free Press

Flu basics

Symptoms of the flu

- fever over 38 C

- cough

- shortness of breath

- muscle aches

- fatigue

- severe headache

- sore throat

- lack of appetite

What to do if your children have the flu:

- Keep them home and out of school, daycare, sports and extracurricular activities, shopping centres, church or summer camp;

- Limit the contact they have with friends or family;

- Teach them to cough into their sleeves instead of their hands;

- Ensure they wash their hands frequently;

- Give them plenty of fluids and make sure they get rest; and

- Take them to a doctor or hospital, especially if they have a fever.

Source: Ottawa Public Health

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 143

Source: Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Health...e+global+pandemic+declared/1687040/story.html

City school flu cases rise as global pandemic declared
Number of Ottawans with H1N1 almost triples to 143; half under 16
By Mohammed AdamJune 11, 2009 11:01 PM


OTTAWA-On the day the World Health Organization declared the first global flu pandemic in 40 years, public health officials in Ottawa said the number of schools with suspected H1N1 flu cases rose to 50, a 72-per-cent increase in a week.

As well, the number of people who have tested positive for the virus jumped to 143, up from 56 a week ago. About half are under 16. Ottawa medical officer of health Dr. Isra Levy said 11 people have been hospitalized. He said, however, that the confirmed cases may only be ?the tip of the iceberg? and in all likelihood, there are many more people in Ottawa with H1N1 who have not been identified.

But the rise in the number of people affected by H1N1 does not mean that the city is under threat because the virus is behaving like a typical seasonal flu and most of the cases, so far, have been mild, Dr. Levy said. No one has died in Ottawa from the flu.

But Thursday, with the H1N1 virus infecting tens of thousands of people in 74 countries across four continents, the WHO raised its alert indicator to Level 6, its highest ? the onset of a full global pandemic. In declaring a ?moderate? pandemic, WHO director general Dr. Margaret Chan, stressed that this does not ?imply we will see an increase in the number of deaths or very severe cases.? Chan said declaring a global pandemic was to prevent governments and public health officials from complacency.

?The tendency to move into complacency is our biggest concern because we need to continue to monitor this virus, follow its track and do not allow it to come back in the second wave to give us more trouble,? she said.

Experts agree the WHO?s decision does not mean the virus has become more deadly. It is a warning that a new virus, about which very little is known, and which could become lethal, remains a public health threat that should be taken seriously.

The last flu pandemic came after an outbreak of the H3N2 viral strain in 1968, which originated in Hong Kong and went on to kill as many as two million people.

Experts say as dramatic as it sounds, the declaration will make little difference to how Canada deals with the outbreak other than keeping officials on their toes, and concentrating minds on the search for a new vaccine. Public health officials, they say, have long been operating as if a pandemic was under way.

?This is not to engender fear or panic. What it is telling us is that we need to recognize that this is a novel virus and it is still spreading around the world and we need to be on top of it,? said McGill University epidemiologist Tim Brewer.

?While it hasn?t been that deadly, no one wants to wait until it becomes a deadly virus all of a sudden. Going to Level 6 (of the alert level) is to make sure we remain prepared and vigilant.?

Dr. Levy agrees.

?The raising of the alert level does not refer to the virulence of the virus, but it addresses the pattern and extent of the virus?s spread. From the local point of view, the announcement does not indicate new approaches or actions that we are going to be taking,? he said.

?We instituted our inter-agency pandemic plan several weeks ago and we?ve been maintaining that in a measured way as the situation demands.?

Thomas Hayes, chair of the emergency preparedness committee of Ottawa hospitals said it is business-as-usual at the hospitals, including day and elective surgeries. Hayes said people who have flu symptoms should take normal precautions and should only go to the emergency department if they get really sick. He warned that people who go to the emergencies should not expect to be tested for H1N1 because that is not the practice of the hospitals.

John Ash, the city manager of emergency preparedness, however, said it is important now to have all organizations, including school boards and businesses, draw up their own plans. Ottawa?s four school boards, which together are responsible for more than 120,000 students, don?t have their own pandemic plans. Ash said it would be helpful if they did.

So far, Canada has 2,978 confirmed H1N1 cases, but health officials say only five per cent have been hospitalized. Four people have died. Concern has been raised about the outbreak in aboriginal communities, with the WHO expressing fears that the native population is suffering disproportionately.

The federal government moved quickly Thursday to reassure Canadians that it was on top of the situation and the declaration of a global pandemic will have little impact. Public health officials said help was being rushed

to native communities and everything is being done to deal with the outbreak.

Canada has stockpiled 50 million doses of antiviral drugs, particularly Tamiflu, to dispense to Canadians if necessary, and the Public Health Agency of Canada said it will continue its work with vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline to develop and test a new flu vaccine.

?Moving into Phase 6, we continue to implement our plan as appropriate to the situation in Canada,? said Canada?s chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones.

?The virus is causing primarily mild illness in Canada, and we are working with our partners at all levels to make sure those those who are sick, get appropriate support and treatment if needed.?

The H1N1 virus, first detected in Mexico in April, and then spread to the U.S. and Canada, is now being widely transmitted between humans in Asia, Europe and Australia. Nearly 29,000 infected cases have been reported worldwide, with 144 deaths. In Mexico, officials have reported 109 confirmed deaths and 6,294 infections. Particularly troubling for the WHO and other experts is H1N1?s spread from person to person, without the ability to trace it to an infected person. Public health officials have noticed the trend in Ottawa and that is one reason they believe more people are going to be infected.

Dr. Allan Ronald, scientific adviser to the International Centre for Infectious Diseases in Winnipeg, said the big problem for the WHO and public health officials in Canada and around the world is the uncertainty surrounding how H1N1 will behave in the fall. He said scientists expect the virus ?to recur in

October/November, and it is going to recur.?

Dr. Ronald said the WHO?s decision will force officials to confront tough issues, including, whether to close schools if more transmissions are found among children; whether to start prescribing Tamiflu to patients sooner rather than later, when to start protecting health care workers and how soon to start manufacturing vaccines.

?This will put political and scientific resources into having a vaccine more quickly,? he said.

 

[thebes]

Re: Ottawa: Number of A/H1N1 cases hits 143

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Health/Swine+forces+CHEO+call+staff/1722667/story.html

Swine flu forces CHEO to call up staff

Number of patients with H1N1 symptoms has put considerable strain on resources

By Mohammed Adam, The Ottawa Citizen; with files from Citizen News ServicesJune 23, 2009 7:55


The number of patients going to the emergency department of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario has jumped 17 per cent in the past few weeks because of the H1N1 swine flu, forcing the hospital to call up more staff to work extra shifts.

CHEO's emergency department typically sees about 160 patients a day, and during the summer months staff numbers drop as fewer patients are expected. This year, however, the rising number of children showing up at the ER with H1N1 flu symptoms has forced the hospital to increase staffing to cope. While the situation has not developed into a crisis, hospital officials say it has put considerable strain on workers and resources.

"It is impacting all staff and physicians and they have done what needs to be done and worked extra shifts when needed," said Dr. Lindy Samson, CHEO's chief of infectious diseases and head of pandemic planning.

"What we've done is increased the number of nursing staff that are available each shift at the emergency department, as well as increase the number of support staff. We've returned to what we usually have to do during our peak viral season in the middle of winter."

The financial strain is also significant.

The hospital has been dealing with additional costs not only for increased staffing, but also for supplies such as gowns, gloves and masks, as well as putting patients in isolation and doing laboratory tests for the new flu virus. The hospital's laboratory, which serves the Champlain health region, is not paid by the number of tests it does -- it gets a lump sum to cover its costs. With the large number of tests being done, the hospital is likely facing a budget shortfall. Numbers are being crunched and exact figures won't be known for weeks, spokeswoman Ann Fuller said.

The H1N1 flu, which was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization two weeks ago, has spread to 100 countries and territories. More than 52,000 people have been infected and more than 230 have died. According to the WHO, the global infection has risen by nearly 8,000 cases and more than 50 deaths since last Friday, indicating it's a fast-spreading virus.

The U.S. led the world in the number of new cases over the weekend -- 3,594, taking the number infected to 21,449, with 87 dead. Scientists are particularly worried about the spread of the virus into southern-hemisphere countries entering their winter seasons. Chile, the latest of such countries, has been hard hit, with nearly 1,200 new cases, bringing the total to more than 4,300 and four deaths. In Australia, the other southern hemisphere country being monitored by experts, there've been 237 new cases for a total of 2,436 and one death.

Canada has seen an extra 805 cases, taking the overall toll to 5,710 and 13 deaths. On Monday, authorities confirmed the first death of an Ontario child with the flu, in Peel region outside Toronto. A six-year-old girl died on June 15 outside hospital, said Ontario's chief medical officer of health, but it wasn't confirmed she had H1N1 flu until June 19.

As of Monday, 261 cases of the flu have been confirmed in Ottawa, with half of those among children under 16, though health authorities say they're no longer keeping a close count. No deaths have been reported in Ottawa.

Samson said many children have shown up at CHEO's emergency department with flu-like symptoms that their parents suspected to be H1N1, but was not.

Others were clearly infected.

"We've definitely had children that both have come into the emergency department and been sent home that have been confirmed with H1N1 virus, and also several that have required admission to the hospital," Samson said.

CHEO wouldn't say how many patients have been infected with H1N1 or hospitalized with the virus, but Samson said the hospital has "risen to the occasion" throughout the outbreak and provided appropriate care.

Pat Elliott-Miller, the hospital's vice-president of patient care and chief of nursing, explained that during the peak flu season from December to May, key sections such as the intensive care unit or the emergency department would staff about nine nurses during the day and the same number at night. In the summer, this number is ordinarily reduced to about seven each day and night, but now the staffing levels are back to peak-season service. Spread across the hospital, the numbers required to cover the extra hours suddenly become large.

"When you multiply that across the number of patient care units we have, that becomes a bit of a big deal. That's about 40 nurses per 24 hours working extra shifts, extra hours," Elliott-Miller said.

Samson said parents can help ease the pressure by dealing with flu-like symptoms at home and going to the ER only in a true emergency.

"When children get sick at home with fever and cough, parents should really manage the fever at home, making sure the children drink enough fluids to stay hydrated," she said.

"If they develop any breathing problems, or severe headache, or the children are sleepy and can't be woken up, that's the time when you come to the emergency department."