Disease-carrying ticks are showing up earlier in B.C., and in greater numbers
Ticks are showing up earlier and in greater numbers in B.C., spreading pathogens such as the one that causes Lyme disease. Cases of that have gone up nationwide by more than 5,000 since 2009. CBC medical columnist Melissa Lem explains what you need to know.
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CTV News
22 minutes ago
- CTV News
Language revitalization linked to better Indigenous health, says UBC research
New research to come from UBC highlights the positive link between Indigenous language revitalization and the health and wellbeing of First Nations communities. (Courtesy: MoA) Editor's note: This story mentions suicide. If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health there are a number of ways to get help, including by calling or texting Suicide Crisis Helpline at 988. A list of local crisis centres is also available here. Indigenous communities have long touted the wellness benefits of speaking and sustaining their ancestral languages, and now there's evidence that supports it – courtesy of new research from the University of British Columbia. The review, led by a UBC team and assisted by the University of Toronto and the University of Sydney, saw researchers analyze more than 260 studies from Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand for references of language use being connected to better health. The most surprising element of the findings wasn't that there was a connection between the two but the extent of that connection, with various aspects of health shown to be benefitted by First Nations members conversing in their own language. 'I think a lot of people are aware that there is a link between the two at some capacity, but there hasn't really been a thorough review to see what this link really is, how prevalent it is, what it means exactly,' said Julia Schillo, a PhD student in the department of linguistics and co-author of the study. 'I hear a lot about how language revitalization has been important for First Nations people for things like trauma healing and for mental health, but there were so many articles talking about how it played into things like physical health and diet and spiritual well-being, too,' she said, noting how around 78 per cent of the material discussed a positive correlation. Stronger educational performance, greater social connection and, in some cases, lower suicide rates, were also found to be directly connected to the use of Indigenous language. Many of the findings, particularly from studies in Australia and northernmost Canada, showed how there are typically better outcomes when health services are offered in First Nations languages, with patients more likely to better understand their treatment plans, and feel more comfortable and respected in a medical facility. Likewise, there were worse health outcomes reported when patients weren't able to receive health care in the language they needed. 'There were some reports of issues with people receiving health care without being able to provide informed consent, or translators not being called even when they were available,' said Schillo. The research process had been lengthy and involved Schillo and the study's lead author Louise Harding searching a number of databases, pulling around 10,000 potential articles and going through the summaries of those articles for relevant information. That search was then narrowed to 1,000, then a few hundred. Schillo hopes it will be the first of many studies into the relationship between health and Indigenous language use, as further research is needed to truly understand the finer elements, like the potential confounding variables. 'Socioeconomics, English language, fluency, things like that that need to be looked at in more detail to actually get a solid picture of what's going on here,' she said. Mark Turin, an anthropologist, UBC associate professor and co-author of the study, said the next step should be two-fold. First of all, there needs to be 'grounded, site-specific, ethnographically informed and culturally rich studies' of the specific Indigenous communities who have established language programs. Turin said he would also like to see a pivot towards research that focuses more on the strength and resilience of First Nations communities. 'Some of the formative research has been about negative associations, whether through causation or correlation, namely a decline in Indigenous youth suicide being related to language transmission and cultural continuity,' he said. 'This is extremely important research, but also really painful because of the devastating effects of suicide in Indigenous communities.' For further research and efforts to revive Indigenous language to get underway, however, funding, of which there is little, is required. 'Right now, so much language revitalization work is being done on short-term funding grants that are not guaranteed to be renewed,' said Schillo. 'That interruption undermines the long-term investment that it could provide to people's health.'
CBC
25 minutes ago
- CBC
New measles exposure sites confirmed in southern Manitoba
Manitoba health officials announced Tuesday that four new measles exposure sites have been identified in southern Manitoba. The Manitou Motor Inn in Manitou, the Triangle Oasis Restaurant in Winkler, VB's Entertainment Center in Winkler and the Steinbach Church of God in Steinbach have all been confirmed as measles exposure sites, a news release said Tuesday. Anyone who was at the Manitou Motor Inn bar on June 9 between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. or VB's Entertainment Center on June 9 between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. should monitor symptoms until July 1. Anyone who was at the Triangle Oasis Restaurant on June 11 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. should monitor symptoms until July 3, while anyone who was at the Steinbach Church of God on June 1 between 9:45 a.m. and 2 p.m. should monitor symptoms until June 23. Public Health also asks those who were in these locations during these times to check their immunization records and ensure they are up to date with the measles vaccine (MMR or MMRV). The province also recommends that people who were exposed in these locations and born in 1970 or later, and have never received a measles vaccine or had a measles infection, get the measles vaccine. Measles is highly infectious and spreads through droplets in the air formed when coughing or sneezing. An infected person can spread the virus from four days before the rash appears until four days after that. Symptoms generally appear seven to 21 days after exposure, and may include a fever, runny nose, drowsiness and red eyes. Small white spots can also appear on the inside of the mouth or throat, the province said. If symptoms develop, people who may have been exposed are advised to isolate at home and contact their health-care provider. The province also stressed that immunization is the "only means of protecting people from contracting measles." The most recent data from the province, which was updated on June 7, says there have been 98 confirmed cases of measles in Manitoba this year, as well as eight probable cases. The province is expected to release another measles update on Wednesday.
CBC
30 minutes ago
- CBC
Health board wants deeper dive into water testing at Ottawa's beaches
Social Sharing Ottawa's interim medical officer of health says his department may have misstepped in its public communication of a plan to test the water at the city's beaches weekly instead of daily. Dr. Trevor Arnason's comments came during Monday's meeting of Ottawa's Board of Health where he faced questions from members about the reduced testing schedule, which is set to begin this weekend. The decision has drawn criticism from the Ottawa Riverkeeper who launched a petition last week opposing the reduction. "[The Riverkeeper has] done a large amount of work in this area around Ottawa for many years," Arnason told the board. "And we probably should have engaged them much, much earlier on around their views on the testing." Arnason said Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has since been in touch with the Riverkeeper. "They offered some really good suggestions on how to improve our messaging, and pointed out that some of our messaging may not be resonating in the public in the way that we intended," Arnason said. Standing by weekly testing Still, Arnason said he stands by the decision to test for E. coli weekly rather than daily, because the results take time to process. "When people are looking at the testing result for today, that's the result from yesterday," Arnason said. "That one measure of yesterday's water quality doesn't tell you what today's water quality is, [and] doesn't tell you about other safety issues that you encounter at the beach." Board member Brent Bauer said his swimming club, the Ottawa Rideau Speedeaus, often uses the city's lakes and rivers in the summer and pays close attention to the daily reports, despite their limitations. "We use them as [an] approximate guide for the water quality of the day that we intend to swim, and in full knowledge that weather conditions can increase the risk if there's a heavy rainfall, for example," Bauer said. Arnason also said he doesn't believe the reduction to weekly testing will lead to significant cost savings for the city. Bauer said he feels OPH is downloading responsibility onto residents by encouraging them to carry out visual inspections for potential problems such as dead fish and algae blooms, which could affect water quality. "These might not be helpful messages," Arnason acknowledged, adding that the public communication was discussed in OPH's discussion with the Ottawa Riverkeeper. "They might not resonate with people, and they might seem to indicate that we're putting more pressure on them to evaluate things that they don't fully know how to do," Arnason said. He said the intention was to reduce the public's reliance on E. coli reports alone as a measure of safety, and emphasized the importance of other advice such as drowning prevention. Risk assessment, additional testing During the meeting, Bauer submitted a motion to request that OPH conduct a comparative analysis of daily versus weekly testing, in collaboration with the Ottawa Riverkeeper, and report back to the board in the fall. Coun. Rawlson King said he understands OPH's rationale for shifting to weekly testing, which brings the city in line with provincial standards, but asked if it would consider doing additional testing during periods of heavy rain or sewage overflows. "Those types of things we could look at a little bit more," Arnason said.
