COVID-19
This is the “primary” concern of the Dr Luc Boileau currently. “All our indicators show us that the contagion in the community continues to be at a level that we consider high,” he said.
Quebec is not facing a major wave of COVID-19, he qualifies. But the infection has been progressing since May. The positivity rate was 21.2% in the week of May 1er september.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Dr Luc Boileau, National Director of Public Health
“Our hospitalizations of patients with or for COVID increased by 27% last week,” says Dr.r Boileau. People aged 70 and over are the most affected.
As of September 4, there were 1,465 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Of these, 168 were in hospital due to the disease.
Another sign that the disease is spreading is that outbreaks are multiplying in the health network. “Around 40% of our hospitals and at least a quarter of CHSLDs are experiencing outbreaks,” says Dr.r Boileau.
Quebec’s national director of public health encourages people at risk (60 years and older, immunocompromised people, pregnant women, etc.) as well as health care workers to receive the new vaccine this fall. Moderna and Pfizer have developed new products adapted to the family of variants that are circulating (the KP).
When will there be a vaccination campaign? The Dr Boileau cannot specify the date at this time. “Quebec, like the other provinces in Canada, is waiting for a decision from Health Canada to approve these vaccines.”
In addition, the “old” vaccines will be removed from vaccination centers as of September 14. It will then be impossible to make an appointment to be vaccinated before the arrival of the next vaccines. Appointments already scheduled will be postponed.
Little reminder: if you have flu-like symptoms, such as fever, it is best to stay home and isolate yourself. The Dr Boileau then recommends wearing a mask when people “feel good,” ideally for “7 to 10 days.”
Whooping cough
Quebec has so far reported 13,123 confirmed cases of whooping cough, a much higher number than usual. The disease, which is characterized by coughing fits, spikes every four or five years, according to Dr.r Boileau.
“If you take the years 2015 to 2019, before the pandemic, we had about 7 [cas] per 100,000, and now we’re at 140 per 100,000, he said. That’s 20 times more.”
In Quebec, the bacterial infection has so far affected young people aged 10 to 14 in about a third of cases. “A quarter [des gens infectés] are adults,” says Dr.r Boileau. Children under 1 year old, who are most at risk of complications, were not spared: 258 cases were reported among them. Some had to be hospitalized.
There are signs [que la propagation est] going down. But we have to be careful because it’s back to school. There could be a rise.
The Dr Luc Boileau, National Director of Public Health
The Dr Boileau encourages parents of babies to have them vaccinated against whooping cough at the ages of 2 months, 4 months and 1 year (a booster is offered when they start school).
Pregnant women should also reach out to the end of their pregnancy, “even if they are already vaccinated, even if they had done it in their life.” The vaccine allows “to stimulate the production of antibodies and to give them to the baby who will be born.” Its effectiveness lasts “a few years.”
Whooping cough is treated with antibiotics.
Measles
Public Health has counted 53 cases of measles between January and the end of July. There are no “active cases” at this time. “Measles requires constant monitoring, we must ensure that our children are well vaccinated,” says Dr.r Boileau. But the surge we had during the spring is really behind us.”
Vaccination remains the best way to protect against this disease, which manifests itself by fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes as well as rash.