Latest news with #BCCDC
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Creeping effects of death cap mushrooms as murder trial continues
Erin Patterson is accused of deliberately adding the deadly fungi to a meal served to her estranged husband's family Death cap mushrooms have been thrust into the spotlight as an ongoing murder trial in Australia hones in on a toxic Beef Wellington created by Erin Patterson. While the prosecution claims she included the mushrooms deliberately, Ms Patterson denies this with her team claiming it was a 'terrible accident' according to the BBC. She served the toxic beef wellington at her home in July 2023, with the death of her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson as well as Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson following days after the lunch. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson was hospitalised but survived. You only need to eat a small amount of the deadly mushroom for it to be fatal. Those who have tried it and survived say it has a pleasant taste. After eating the mushroom, it can sometimes take up to 12 hours for symptoms to start. At the beginning, this may include nausea, vomiting and low blood pressure. Around 24 hours after eating the mushroom, the symptoms can completely disappear according to the BC CDC. You may feel fine for days but the real symptoms are still lying in wait. The toxins in the mushroom prevent cells from carrying out essential functions, and the toxin isn't destroyed by cooking or drying. It mainly targets the liver, slowly making it stop functioning and die after a period of time. Up to seven days after eating death caps, you'll begin to experience the symptoms of kidney and liver damage. Around this time encephalopathy can also develop, which impacts brain function and can cause permanent damage. If left untreated, death can occur soon after this point. Death cap mushrooms can sometimes be found in city environments and it's fairly common in most parts of the UK, Ireland and Europe according to the Woodland Trust. The mushrooms produce circles of fruiting bodies known as fairy rings which have been incorporated into folklore over the centuries. There are few effective treatments for death cap poisoning. It can range from pumping the stomach to activated charcoal and severe cases may even require a liver transplant. Silibinin can be used to treat the poisoning but usually needs to be given before initial symptoms start to be effective. In 2023, a medical imaging dye was found to block the toxin's effects but it is yet to be tested in humans. Known scientifically as Amanita phalloides, the death cap is responsible for about 90% of mushroom-related deaths across the world. It can easily be mistaken for a variety of edible mushrooms. It can grow up to 15cm wide and 15cm tall with a white cap and an off-white stem. The gills underneath the cap start off as pure white and turn into creams and pinks as the fungus ages. Its cap is dome-shaped when it's young and flattens out as it matures, turning darker in the middle too. It's virtually odourless when young and can smell sickly sweet or even rancid when old. The base of the mushroom is swollen, making it look like it's sitting in a little bag. One incredibly similar mushroom is the false death cap, which is edible according to the Woodland Trust and smells strongly of raw potatoes. However, because of its striking similarities to the real death cap it's best to avoid this mushroom too.
CTV News
07-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
As Ontario tops 1,200 measles cases, experts warn under-immunized B.C. communities at risk
With Canada experiencing its worst year for measles in decades, there are growing concerns for B.C. children living in under-immunized communities. While there have only been eight confirmed measles infections across the province so far this year, neighbouring Alberta has recorded 210 – and Ontario has seen 1,243, including 98 that resulted in hospitalization, since October. There is no reason similar outbreaks couldn't happen locally, according to Dr. Jia Hu of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. 'What's really driving the outbreaks in Alberta, Ontario is that you have measles entering into very unimmunized communities,' said Hu. 'In Ontario, they have communities where the immunization rates are close to zero.' B.C. has its own 'pockets' of low vaccination uptake, Hu noted, including in the Fraser Valley and Interior regions. 'I wouldn't say that our rates are generally higher than Ontario's,' he added. Provincially, the vaccination rate among seven-year-olds was 72.4 per cent in 2023, the latest year for which data is available. That's down from a rate of 90.9 per cent a decade earlier, before the anti-vaccine movement grew in popularity, including on social media. Worst year since 1998 Just a few days into May, Canada has already recorded more measles cases nationwide than it has since 1998, when the disease was declared eliminated in the country. A measles death in Ontario last year also marked Canada's first in 34 years. Hu said the best thing parents can do if they're concerned about their children being exposed to measles is to get them vaccinated. 'Vaccination is both very effective and offers life-long protection,' he said. 'Two doses are close to 100 per cent effective in protecting against measles – even one dose is about 85 to 95 per cent effective.' According to the B.C. Center for Disease Control, it can take up to three weeks post-exposure for a patient to show measles symptoms. Those can include fever, dry cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed days later by a rash that begins at the hairline and spreads rapidly down the body. Officials have asked that anyone suspected to be suffering from measles inform their health-care provider before heading into a clinic, so precautions can be taken to prevent further spread. 'Measles is a serious infectious disease,' Hu said. 'It doesn't just cause the rash and the fever and the cough – it can lead to complications like pneumonia and hospitalization and brain swelling.' Parents unsure of their children's immunization status can check through B.C.'s Health Gateway, or by contacting their family doctor.
CTV News
07-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
As Ontario nears 1,400 measles cases, experts warn under-immunized B.C. communities at risk
With Canada experiencing its worst year for measles in decades, there are growing concerns for B.C. children living in under-immunized communities. While there have only been eight confirmed measles infections across the province so far this year, neighbouring Alberta has recorded 210 – and Ontario has seen 1,383, including 98 that resulted in hospitalization. There is no reason similar outbreaks couldn't happen locally, according to Dr. Jia Hu of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. 'What's really driving the outbreaks in Alberta, Ontario is that you have measles entering into very unimmunized communities,' said Hu. 'In Ontario, they have communities where the immunization rates are close to zero.' B.C. has its own 'pockets' of low vaccination uptake, Hu noted, including in the Fraser Valley and Interior regions. 'I wouldn't say that our rates are generally higher than Ontario's,' he added. Provincially, the vaccination rate among seven-year-olds was 72.4 per cent in 2023, the latest year for which data is available. That's down from a rate of 90.9 per cent a decade earlier, before the anti-vaccine movement grew in popularity, including on social media. Worst year since 1998 Just a few days into May, Canada has already recorded more measles cases nationwide than it has since 1998, when the disease was declared eliminated in the country. A measles death in Ontario last year also marked Canada's first in 34 years. Hu said the best thing parents can do if they're concerned about their children being exposed to measles is to get them vaccinated. 'Vaccination is both very effective and offers life-long protection,' he said. 'Two doses are close to 100 per cent effective in protecting against measles – even one dose is about 85 to 95 per cent effective.' According to the B.C. Center for Disease Control, it can take up to three weeks post-exposure for a patient to show measles symptoms. Those can include fever, dry cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed days later by a rash that begins at the hairline and spreads rapidly down the body. Officials have asked that anyone suspected to be suffering from measles inform their health-care provider before heading into a clinic, so precautions can be taken to prevent further spread. 'Measles is a serious infectious disease,' Hu said. 'It doesn't just cause the rash and the fever and the cough – it can lead to complications like pneumonia and hospitalization and brain swelling.' Parents unsure of their children's immunization status can check through B.C.'s Health Gateway, or by contacting their family doctor.
CBC
18-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Concern grows over low measles vaccination rates in parts of B.C.
Social Sharing Scientists are raising the alarm over low measles vaccination rates in parts of B.C. as concern grows over outbreaks in Ontario and Texas. Health officials in Ontario say there have been 350 cases of the virus in the province since late October — with 173 of those infections reported within the last several weeks — and in late February, an unvaccinated Texas child lost their life in the first U.S. measles death since 2015. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine — which is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases — is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old for the first shot, with the second coming between the ages of four and six. However, the Okanagan and Kootenay-Boundary regions of B.C. showed less than two-thirds of seven-year-olds were up to date with their measles shots in 2023, the latest year on record, well below the recommended 95 per cent rate to achieve herd immunity. Across B.C., as a whole, the percentage of seven-year-olds who were up to date with their shots has been dropping steadily for over a decade, and the province as a whole saw only 72 per cent coverage in 2023. The province has thus far reported four travel-related cases of the virus this year, all of which are related to air travel to Southeast Asia. Scientists say it's more imperative than ever that people check the vaccination status of their children, especially as measles is incredibly contagious and has high hospitalization rates for those who aren't vaccinated. "I think we do have areas and school districts where there are enough unprotected children that measles could take off if it gets introduced here," said Caroline Colijn, a Canada 150 Research Chair in mathematics at Simon Fraser University. Last month, Colijn and her co-authors published a modelling study on measles to see what happens when the respiratory illness is introduced to a community, and what level of vaccination coverage or previous immunity from infection is needed to prevent outbreaks. The SFU scientist says that measles is so infectious that if there's an exposure in a room, anyone who's not immunized will go home with measles — and symptoms may not appear for seven to 10 days afterwards, making contact tracing difficult. BCCDC says rate likely higher Jia Hu, the interim medical director for immunization programs at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, says that while B.C.'s measles vaccination uptake looks low among children, actual rates are likely a bit higher given some residents may have just moved to the province and others are not registered in the provincial immunization registry. Still, he acknowledges that rates are lower than where public health officials want them to be for the preventable disease — which was considered eradicated in Canada in 1998. WATCH | Health authority urges British Columbians to check measles vaccinations: Health authority says to check children's vaccine status, amid rising measles cases 11 hours ago Duration 2:01 Vancouver Coastal Health is reminding parents to check their children's vaccine status. It comes with measles on the rise globally and outbreaks in Ontario and Texas. As Michelle Ghoussoub reports public health officials are warning vaccination rates in B.C. are worryingly low. Hu says that the pandemic disrupted many childhood vaccine schedules, which could explain the downturn in vaccination rates. He added the data shows that many seven-year-olds in B.C. were eligible for their second measles shot at the peak of the pandemic. WATCH | Travel-related measles cases confirmed in B.C.: More travel-related measles cases confirmed in B.C.'s Lower Mainland 10 days ago Duration 1:53 "I also think, more worryingly, that there probably has been a decline in people's willingness to get measles-containing vaccine or any vaccine for that matter, right?" he said. "In the aftermath of the pandemic, we've seen, you know, a lot more, vaccine hesitancy." Hu says that officials had a responsibility to increase the measles vaccination uptake, by reaching out to community leaders in places where people could be vaccine hesitant. "I think the combination of information and vaccine availability would really help increase uptake for other communities where I think vaccine hesitancy is more entrenched," he said. Hu says that vaccines are the best way to prevent a disease that has high hospitalization rates — with the doctor saying that at least 10 per cent of Canadian cases have led to hospitalization. Colijn says that Canadians have perhaps collectively forgotten how bad measles is, and says the disease can cause brain swelling and immune system damage in children who are not protected. "We don't want to have to rediscover how bad these are and then rediscover how to prevent them," she said of childhood diseases. "We've already been down that road."
CBC
17-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Under the microscope: Looking at B.C.'s wastewater surveillance for viruses
Testing wastewater for diseases and viral activity gained prominence during the pandemic, but scientists are concerned that funding for such work could be threatened. Monitoring wastewater for pathogens — and even illicit and prescription drugs — was around for decades before the pandemic, but the method of estimating virus levels gained public attention at the peak of the pandemic when it was unclear how much disease was circulating. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) stepped up its surveillance and now regularly monitors the wastewater from around the province to gauge virus levels — not just for COVID-19, but also for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Scientists say they hope Canada continues to fund that work. Ontario ended its COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program in July 2024 and a research vacuum is looming south of the border. "Before the pandemic, there was no routine use of wastewater data," said Natalie Prystajecky, an environmental microbiologist at the BCCDC. "That was this huge innovation that occurred because of the pandemic." Prystajecky has worked on the wastewater program since the pandemic began in 2020, and has been monitoring the other respiratory pathogens since 2022. Humans who contract COVID-19 will shed traces of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes the disease — in their feces, and authorities collect multiple samples per week to show trends in virus loads over time. During the Omicron wave of the pandemic in late 2021, B.C.'s testing capacity became overwhelmed — which is when the wastewater monitoring dashboard became one of the more reliable sources of information about virus levels in the community. "That data became available publicly, and it seemed like the public really ... was able to understand it and relied on it," Prystajecky said. The researcher said that the wastewater surveillance program, which expanded outside Metro Vancouver during the pandemic, is now in a place where researchers can better deal with the next pandemic. How does it work? Jesse Shapiro, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at McGill University, was among many researchers who analyzed wastewater samples shipped to labs around the country. There, he says a "bunch of chemistry" is done to take wastewater from test tubes and concentrate it into substances that can then be sequenced to find genetic code. The microbiologist said that, initially, trying to find the signals for a novel virus like SARS-CoV-2 would have been like finding a needle in a haystack. But as scientists gained better testing methods, it became a lot more cost effective to detect how much virus was circulating and what variants were more dominant. "An advantage of wastewater surveillance is that it can be incredibly effective, because those lab methods are actually not very expensive at all," the professor said. Future of wastewater surveillance Shapiro was part of the Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network (CoVaRR-Net), a cross-Canada network of researchers that was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and produced a number of studies on COVID-19 and other viruses. However, the funding for the program ended this month, and other wastewater surveillance programs have been removed in provinces like Ontario. WATCH | Ontario ends wastewater testing program: Health minister defends Ontario's decision to end its wastewater testing program 8 months ago Duration 0:57 Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the province increased wastewater surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now returning to a "normal state of affairs." "We are seeing fewer programs like this continuing to be run," Prystajecky acknowledged. "[In] these next stages, we're starting to really think about the best and most meaningful way of using wastewater surveillance." Prystajecky said she is now using the data to look at gut-based pathogens like norovirus and salmonella, as well as antimicrobial resistance among pathogens. Shapiro said he hopes that Canada is moving toward a future where there's more open data sharing based on wastewater surveillance, with academics on hand to interpret the data and make public health recommendations. "It's incredibly important for things like surveillance of bird flu, H5N1, emerging pathogens, things that are spreading," he said. "If you don't look, you won't find it." As the U.S. government moves to cut funding to the National Institute of Health and Center for Disease Control, which are both heavily involved with wastewater surveillance, Shapiro said there's an opportunity for Canada to fill the looming void and fund science research more broadly. "I think it's actually quite essential for Canada and other countries to step up and not just be entirely reliant on the U.S. for this kind of thing," he said.
