Health

Two more measles cases were confirmed Monday in Alberta — one in the Calgary health zone and one in the south zone — and infectious disease experts are watching the situation closely.Both of the latest cases are in people under the age of 18.That brings the total in Alberta's current surge of measles to 23 cases, 22 of which are among people under the age of 18.The total doesn't include one person from Ontario who travelled through Calgary to Taber, Alta., in March."The good news is, it's not exponential at the moment," Craig Jenne, a professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary, said of the Alberta measles situation."The bad news is, it's not fully contained. And there remains the risk of losing control of this, just as we've...

The Coalition Avenir Québec government is proposing restrictions for physicians who want to go from the public to the private health system, but an opposition MNA says the proposal lacks substance.Late last year, the CAQ tabled a bill to force physicians to practise in the public system for at least five years after graduating.Now, it's proposing amendments that would apply to all physicians — not just new ones. With the current rules, Health Minister Christian Dubé says it's too easy for physicians to go "back and forth" between the public and private system. A physician just needs to give the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), the province's health insurance board, a 30-day notice to go from the public to private sector.On Tuesday, Dubé proposed amendments to Bill 83, the pro...

Day 610:00CBC’s You’re My Hero creator uses comedy to show the ups and downs of life with cerebral palsySean Towgood created the Canadian comedy series You're My Hero with the intention to show the audience a more complete picture of people living with disabilities, by using humour as a way to portray the ups and downs of life with cerebral palsy, he says.The show premiered on CBC Gem in 2023, with the aim to shake up prevailing views on what it means to be living with a disability in the 21st century.Ian, the lead character played by Towgood, is an angsty, blunt, unfiltered 20-something navigating the social pressures of life in an unforgiving world not designed for wheels. Like the character he portrays, Towgood has cerebral palsy, uses a motorized wheelchair and is very funny."I wanted ...

Seniors' advocate Susan Walsh says families have been raising concerns about personal care homes for years. (Darryl Murphy/CBC)Newfoundland and Labrador's seniors' advocate says she isn't surprised by the findings in the auditor general's latest report, which highlights concerns of resident deaths, sexual abuse by staff, missing residents and verbal abuse inside some of the province's personal care homes.Auditor General Denise Hanrahan told reporters on Tuesday she has serious concerns about the management, oversight and delivery of the provincial personal care home program.But seniors' advocate Susan Walsh told CBC Radio's On The Go that families have been pointing out those incidents for years."In 2022, when I started this job, I was only in three months and the stories I was hearing fro...

Saskatchewan adults might not have sufficient immunity to the latest measles outbreak and are being asked to check their vaccination records and get a booster shot if needed.Cases of measles, which is highly contagious and can lead to serious complications, have been on the rise across Canada recently and there were three cases in Saskatchewan in March.Although the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is recommending people check their vaccination records, there is one catch — the SHA doesn't have childhood immunization records for anyone prior to 1978."It can be really confusing if you don't have access to those records," said Ryan Meili, a family doctor practicing in Saskatoon. "Maybe you have a history of being told when you were a kid you had measles, but it was never documented." Boost...

Some fungal diseases in humans no longer respond to medicines, which increases the risk of severe illness and death as well disease spread, according to a new report.On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) published what it calls its first-ever report on the lack of tests and treatments for fungal infections.Yeasts, moulds and mushrooms are all examples of fungi. Common toenail infections or vaginal yeast infections are common and treatable, but that's not always the case."Fungal diseases are an increasing public health concern, with common infections — such as Candida, which causes oral and vaginal thrush — growing increasingly resistant to treatment," WHO said.A person holds a head of wheat afflicted with fusarium head blight, a fungal disease of crops. Antifungal agents sprayed ...

This First Person column is by Eyasu Yakob, who is a nursing student in Edmonton. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. I began nursing school in 2021 at the University of Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across Canada, growing attention was being raised around the shortage of nurses as many health-care workers were reporting burnout. I wanted to be part of the solution. I was inspired to join the profession by my father, who worked as a nurse in Ethiopia before immigrating to Canada. Like many internationally educated health-care professionals, he faced barriers in having his foreign nursing credentials recognized in Canada. Instead, he worked multiple precarious, low-wage jobs to support our family. Pursuing nursing allowed me to carry on his leg...

This First Person column is by Eyasu Yakob, who is a nursing student in Edmonton. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. I began nursing school in 2021 at the University of Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across Canada, growing attention was being raised around the shortage of nurses as many health-care workers were reporting burnout. I wanted to be part of the solution. I was inspired to join the profession by my father, who worked as a nurse in Ethiopia before immigrating to Canada. Like many internationally educated health-care professionals, he faced barriers in having his foreign nursing credentials recognized in Canada. Instead, he worked multiple precarious, low-wage jobs to support our family. Pursuing nursing allowed me to carry on his leg...

Community support worker Kyle Arnold says detoxing from drugs is one of the hardest things he's ever done, but seeing dozens of members of Long Lake #58 First Nation going through withdrawal together in a safe space "is absolutely beautiful."Long Lake #58 is an Ojibway community about 300 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont. On Friday, 42 of its members arrived at the NorWester Hotel and Conference Centre — which is partially owned by the First Nation — to participate in a 10-day detox program.The community has booked more than 50 hotel rooms, where participants receive on-site medical and social support and hourly room checks, as they go through withdrawal from alcohol or drugs and prepare for a full treatment program. "Generally when people go into a detox … it's with strangers. Thi...

Prescription drugs have been exempt from tariffs in the past. But Donald Trump looks poised to change that as early as April 2. That could result in shortages for critical drugs for Americans, warn experts. Bupropion, used to treat major depressive disorder; ibalizumab, for patients with multi-drug-resistant HIV; and sotalol, to treat a life-threatening heart rhythm problem: those are just some of the drugs mostly manufactured in Canada and sent to the U.S. that might be impacted by the tariffs.A research letter published in JAMA Monday looking into the potential impact on tariffs on Canadian pharmaceuticals identified hundreds of drugs made in Canada for the U.S. market. Dozens of those drugs are only, or predominantly, manufactured in Canada, say the authors. "These drugs are vital to Am...