Don’t get this stuck to your shoes

By Ken MacQueen - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 3 Comments

C. Gattii has spread to B.C.’s Lower Mainland and Washington state

Getty Images/ Guanggan Hu/ Michael Smith Labora

If you go down to the woods today you might want to hold your breath. A deadly microscopic fungus first detected in 1999 in some of the most scenic forested parks of Vancouver Island is spreading, mutating and gaining strength, warns an international study released last week. The fungus, Cryptococcus gattii (C. gattii), was once thought to exist only in the tropics. Today, its “epicentre” is Vancouver Island, but it has spread to B.C.’s Lower Mainland, to Washington state and to Oregon, where a “highly virulent” strain has been found, says Duke University microbiologist Edmond J. Byrnes III, the study’s lead author. Climate change is the suspected cause of the spread. Some 220 people in B.C. have fallen ill since 1999, one of the highest rates in the world. Fifty cases have been reported in the U.S. About 40 people have died in both countries.

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Swine flu fiasco

By Cathy Gulli - Monday, October 19, 2009 at 11:26 AM - 233 Comments

Everyone needs the H1N1 vaccine. Few plan to get it. What you need to know. What you need to do.

In a few weeks, every adult in Canada will decide if they (and their children) will get the ﬂu vaccine to protect against H1N1. At the best of times, it seems the decision of whether or not to get the seasonal ﬂu shot is tough to make. Only about one-third of Canadians do each year. Now, with the pandemic vaccine arriving in doctor’s ofﬁces in November, Canadians are being asked to get a second shot this fall.

But will they? Probably not. A recent poll shows that, as of the ﬁrst week of October, only one in three Canadians plan on getting the H1N1 vaccine, according to Harris/Decima. That’s down from 45 per cent in late August. Experts say this reﬂects the public’s growing apathy toward the pandemic in light of seemingly contradictory information about H1N1 (which is commonly referred to as swine ﬂu, even though it’s a combination of ﬂu viruses from pigs, birds and humans). People are being bombarded by “on the one hand” and “on the other hand” studies and recommendations. “There is confusion,” says Dr. Sarah Kredentser, president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. “And I think it’s warranted confusion, because the messages keep changing.” Continue…
‘Virus hunter’ Bonnie Henry on H1N1

By Cathy Gulli - Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 10:40 AM - 2 Comments

The risk of running out of infection meds, and the perils of pedicures and dirty organic produce

Dr. Bonnie Henry is a physician, preventative medicine specialist, and epidemiologist—or “virus hunter.” Before becoming the director of public health emergency management at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, she fought outbreaks of SARS in Toronto and the Ebola virus in Uganda. Dr. Henry is leading emergency preparedness for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Her new book, Soap and Water & Common Sense, documents our constant battle against viruses, bacteria and other bugs, including the new pandemic strain of H1N1. Continue…