Health

New Delhi: India’s apex health research body, ICMR, will undertake a study to evaluate the efficacy of two Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) drugs in improving fertility and birth outcomes among women suffering from the ovarian condition. The drugs that have been recommended by experts for this purpose are Metformin and Inositol which are used in the treatment of the condition.

The ICMR has recently invited expression of interest (EOI): “To undertake a multi-centric randomised controlled trial for evaluating the efficacy of Metformin vs Inositol to improve fertility and birth outcomes among PCOS women”.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a complex disorder ranging from mild to severe disruptions in reproductive, endocrine and metabolic functions, with key features including irregular menstrual periods (anovulation), hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance and abnormal gonadotropin secretion.

The prevalence of infertility in women with PCOS is high, varying between 70 and 80 per cent, the ICMR said in the EoI document.

Moreover, PCOS women have been found to have increased prevalence of pregnancy complications and less favourable pregnancy outcomes (live births, miscarriage, pregnancy rate) compared with women without PCOS, it stated.

In contemporary practice, the use of Metformin and Inositol for the treatment of PCOS is widespread.

“However, present evidence on the efficacy of these two drugs in terms of improvement in fertility and other related outcomes is insufficient,” the ICMR said in a document.

A Finnish study suggested that, as compared to placebo, metformin improved the pregnancy rate, live birth rate and ovulation rate in the studied population, the document said.

However, a Cochrane review with meta-analysis including three other smaller studies reported that as compared with placebo, metformin may have only marginal benefit for live birth rate outcome.

Additionally, there is very limited data available globally on the effectiveness of Inositol for PCOS women, especially for birth outcome and cycle regulation.

“Evidence on the efficacy of both metformin and inositol in the Indian context is almost non-existent. To address the knowledge gap and to generate evidence on the management of PCOS for improving birth outcomes in the Indian context, the current ICMR call is being proposed,” the document said.

The ICMR is looking to partner with interested researchers for the development of a multicentre randomised controlled trial for the management of PCOS in Indian women.

The selected researchers shall be invited to join the research team and shall collaborate to develop a full research proposal and roll out the multi-centre research project which will be coordinated by ICMR, the document said.

The research question is “Among women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), how does inositol in comparison to metformin work in terms of efficacy and safety on outcomes including pregnancy conception, menstrual cycle regularisation, and improvement in endocrinological and metabolic parameters?”

New Delhi: The word ‘psychedelic’ evokes images of wild, mind-bending trips straight out of the 1960s. But what if the same ‘trippy’ substances used in drugs like LSD and magic mushrooms could be harnessed to treat mental health issues? A new study may have unlocked the way.

A team at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai have steered a first-of-its-kind study to come out of India, using a psychedelic to identify a neuron that can activate the ventral hippocampus in the brain—which processes emotional information and regulates stress—in a manner that could alleviate anxiety.

“People’s first reaction to psychedelics is often alarmist. But substances like LSD, a synthetic psychedelic, psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms, and mescaline, derived from cacti, have been used extensively by traditional healers for thousands of years—by ancient tribes from the Amazonians to the Incas in Central and South America—long before they became symbols of rebellion,” says Vidita Vaidya, a neuroscientist and professor of biological sciences at TIFR who led the project.

Targeting the ventral hippocampus could help reduce anxiety at both cellular and neural levels, she says. “And using a psychedelic drug as a tool to achieve this opens the door to more targeted treatments for anxiety disorders, as well as the development of psychedelic-inspired medications for treatment-resistant mental health conditions like PTSD and depression without triggering hallucinations,” she adds.

The drug used in their study is a synthetic one called DOI, designed by Alexander Shulgin in 1984. “Because of regulatory hurdles in India, we can’t import LSD or psilocybin to work with. That’s why we worked with DOI, which is potent but isn’t a common street drug and hasn’t been abused like LSD or psilocybin. However, it belongs to the same umbrella of psychedelics which alter states of reality,” says Vaidya, whose journey with DOI dates back to her days as a PhD student. “I’ve looked at it from multiple angles. It has profound, diverse effects — as an antidepressant, it produces hallucinations, reduces anxiety. We’ve also studied its ability to change mitochondria (the energy that cells need to function). Our main question was, how does DOI reduce anxiety?” To confirm that it actually does, the team used an ‘elevated plus maze’— an apparatus with open and closed arms used to measure anxiety in rodents. “We observed whether after being injected with DOI, they’d explore more open and risky areas. And they did. This was the first step, it confirmed that DOI reduces anxiety in rats and mice.”

But there were still gaps in understanding “where in the brain” this was happening. “When my student Prachi Tiwari expressed her desire to delve deeper into this for her PhD thesis, I told her, ‘this is a meaty problem that’ll need multiple approaches,’ but she was determined,” says Vaidya.

What started five years ago as a challenge, grew into a collaborative effort that extended far beyond their TIFR lab as a multi-institutional study with researchers from Cornell, Yale, and Columbia universities, all working together. “So, it became an international effort as we brought in peers from all these universities to conduct experiments that our collaborators could help us answer faster,” says Vaidya. After several trials on rodents, the ventral hippocampus was identified as a key target for DOI in reducing anxiety.

But they still faced a challenge. “It’s a part of the brain with millions of different cell types. We suspected it might be a specific group of neurons but weren’t sure,” says Vaidya. That’s when Cornell helped identify a “PV-positive neuron” that was hyperactive when the drug was present.

Vaidya broke it down with a simple analogy: “Think of the brain as a map of Mumbai. We knew that DOI worked, kind of like knowing something is happening in a busy city like Mumbai. But we didn’t know exactly where. So, we had to search neighbourhood by neighbourhood—until we found Marine Drive, which represents the ventral hippocampus. Even then, it wasn’t just any building, but the specific Art Deco ones. That’s our PV-positive neurons. Once we knew that, we could target just those neurons, to get the anxiety-reducing effect without needing the whole drug.”

The discovery was significant, given that these neurons reduce anxiety without triggering hallucinations. “By understanding how these psychedelics work at a deeper level, we can design drugs that target those parts of the brain responsible for reducing anxiety without unwanted effects like hallucinations. Some colleagues are already designing psychedelic-inspired drugs that don’t produce hallucinations or motor effects.”

Vaidya, whose scientific career has centred on the ‘neurobiology of emotion’ has been discussing her findings with experts at NIMHANS, to move the research from lab to clinical trials. “But India currently lacks clinical trials for psychedelic-assisted therapy…Australia, Europe and the US are moving forward with major, carefully controlled trials,” says Vaidya.

Biju Viswanath, additional professor of psychiatry at NIMHANS, specialising in the effects of psychotropics on neural stem cell lines, said current medications for anxiety and depression take weeks to be effective and leave patients at risk during that waiting period. “Especially since around 50% of patients don’t respond to existing pharmacological treatments,” he said. “Exploring a new class of agents using animal models is a promising approach.”

But he cautions that clinical trials in India may still be far off due to their high abuse potential. Vaidya shares his frustration. “Our regulatory knots make it hard to conduct this kind of research in India,” she says, as she prepares to present this research at the 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Neurobiology of Psychedelics at Rhode Island. “We need to stop playing catch-up…Right now, we have too few psychedelic researchers. That’s not good for a nation facing a growing mental health crisis.”

Convenience store firms that operate thousands of outlets across Canada are taking the federal government to court to overturn regulations that restrict the sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies.

Mac’s Convenience Stores Inc. and Couche-Tard Inc., both subsidiaries of Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., claim in an application in Federal Court that Health Canada’s rules restricting the sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies are unfair and unconstitutional.

Parkland Corp., which operates gas station convenience stores under the On the Run brand, claims in its own court application that the limit to pharmacy-only sales will increase demand for illegal products “that youth already have access to, and will continue to have access to through the contraband market.”

Parkland claims illegal nicotine replacement therapy products “are more dangerous than regulated” products, and the rules will “have the effect of increasing — not decreasing — the risk of injury to health.”

Mac’s and Couche Tard’s application makes a similar argument, that since the minister didn’t ban sales of the products to minors, mandating that they be sold at pharmacies will “at best, perpetuate identified risks of injury to health” for those who buy other forms of nicotine replacement therapy, or it could aggravate the risks for those who turn to the black market for their product.

Only one nicotine pouch product has been approved for sale by Health Canada, Imperial Tobacco’s Zonnic pouches.

4:01
Federal government moves to restrict the sale of nicotine pouches

The pouch is a small bag that contains nicotine used in the mouth and Health Canada says Zonnic is a form of nicotine replacement therapy, which can help a person quit smoking by temporarily relieving cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

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Mac’s Convenience Stores and Couche Tard’s Montreal-based legal team said their client would not comment on the court case.

Simon Scott, Parkland’s vice-president of corporate affairs, said in a statement that the company’s stores have “a proven track record of responsibly and safely selling age-restricted products, including alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets. (Nicotine replacement therapies) are no different.”

Scott said that removing them from convenience stores won’t stop youth from accessing them, and instead “hinder access by adult customers who are trying to reduce their use of tobacco.”

Health Canada declined to make anyone available for an interview due to “the complexity of the file.”

Federal Health Minister Mark Holland announced in August that the sale of Zonnic pouches would be restricted to pharmacies due to concerns over “recreational use by people who do not smoke, and, in particular, youth under 18 years of age.”

Holland’s ministerial order also banned advertising “that could be appealing to youth,” and limited nicotine pouch flavours to mint and menthol.

2:03
Holland warns tobacco companies to ‘stay the hell away’ from kids

“Nicotine pouch flavours like berry frost or tropical breeze are not going to be allowed to be sold anywhere,” Holland said in an interview with The Canadian Press in August. “What I’m hoping to see is for these products to be used for what they’re intended to do — to help people stop smoking — and to stop dead in its tracks the explosion of these products that we’re seeing in youth.”

Quebec and British Columbia both restricted the sales of Zonnic pouches before Holland’s order,  allowing sales only at pharmacies behind the counter.

In a statement issued after the new restrictions were announced, Imperial Tobacco called Holland’s order “unprecedented.”

Eric Gagnon, the company’s vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs, said it was an “extreme abuse of power” to impose the rules on the company’s Zonnic pouches.

“These rules do not apply to any other smoking cessation product and singling out Zonnic is a personal attack on our company by Minister Holland and will only make it more difficult for adult smokers to quit,” Gagnon said.

Gagnon said the new rules would lead to people buying illicit products widely available online.

&copy 2024 The Canadian Press

One of Canada’s largest oil companies, Imperial Oil Ltd., has been ordered by Ontario to pay $1.125 million for a slop oil spill at its Sarnia, Ont. site in April 2021 that sickened nearby residents.

The fine, levied by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, is the most substantial penalty under the Environmental Protection Act on public record since 2007.

It is part of a recent push by the provincial and federal governments to crack down on petrochemical companies that pollute in Sarnia.

The area is known as Chemical Valley: there are 62 large facilities within a 25-kilometre radius. Many of those who live alongside it, particularly members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation to the south, which is surrounded by industry, have worried the emissions from these plants are making them sick.

According to an agreed statement of facts filed in the Ontario Court of Justice in Sarnia, the April 15 Imperial Oil spill occurred as a result of a three-month-long leak in a steam line that eventually bored a hole in a nearby slop oil line, releasing 1,150 litres of slop oil on the ground.

Slop oil is a waste product that typically consists of a mixture of crude oil, water and waste solids. It contains various contaminants, which may include hydrogen sulphide. If leaked into the ground or air, it can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and lungs, as well as cause headaches and dizziness.

At 3:52 p.m. on that Thursday afternoon, a resident called the Ministry’s Spills Action Centre hotline to report a strong odour and a headache. Members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation, which is located roughly one kilometre downwind of the refinery, posted on Facebook about a “terrible” smell, like “burnt rubber.”

Court documents indicate a dozen people reported, “some or all of eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches and nausea… that restricted their movements and activities, and caused them concern for their health and safety.”

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Imperial Oil and Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks conducted air monitoring in the area after the leak was discovered but did not detect elevated levels of hydrogen sulphide, benzene or gas vapour.

On account of the spill and the impact to the community, the Ministry charged Imperial for the leak under the Environmental Protection Act, and on Sept. 16, 2024, the petrochemical company pleaded guilty.

The court fined Imperial $900,000, levied a victim fine surcharge of $225,000, and gave the company 90 days to pay. The maximum fine to a corporation for this type of violation is $6 million on a first conviction and $10 million for subsequent convictions. Imperial Oil reported $4.9 billion in net income for the full year 2023, down from $7.34 billion in net income in 2022.

The proceeds will go to Lambton County, where Imperial is located — and not Aamjiwnaang First Nation, which was in the path of the odours, according to a spokesperson with the Ministry.

“When spills or environmental misfortunes occur in Chemical Valley, it’s obvious that residents of Aamjiwnaang First Nation are directly impacted,” Chief Janelle Nahmabin said.

“There have been instances in Canada where agreements are made between the local municipality and a First Nation in regards to sharing funds resulting from environmental fines. This would certainly be beneficial to Aamjiwnaang as many are aware of our environmental struggles.”

The victim surcharge fine will go to the Ontario Victims’ Justice Fund to support services for victims of crime.

“We regret this incident, and we accept the fine imposed by the court,” said Kristina Zimmer, public affairs manager with Imperial Oil. “Imperial has since made changes to its equipment maintenance plan by modifying the criteria used to prioritize repairs to mitigate the risk of a reoccurrence of the same incident.”

In the past year, Aamjiwnaang First Nation has been exposed to elevated levels of cancer-causing benzene that the Ontario government says were emitted from another neighbouring plant, INEOS Styrolution, prompting the declaration of a state of emergency and an evacuation order.

As recently as this week, some community members were, once again, temporarily relocated over renewed concerns of benzene exposure. INEOS has said it plans to shut down the facility by June 2026, and that it didn’t breach emissions limits which were in place last spring.

Imperial Oil was also fined $647,909 in 2021 for nine separate leaks of sulphur dioxide two years earlier.

23:05
Canada’s Toxic Secret: A troubling trend of leaks and spills in the Sarnia area

In 2017, following a Global News investigation into concerns that spills and leaks from industrial plants were making the people of Aamjiwnaang sick, the Ontario government launched a multi-million dollar health project to examine the possible connection between air pollution and public health.

The final report, released earlier this year by the Sarnia Area Environmental Health Project, found an increased risk of cancer, particularly leukemia, because of exposure to air pollution. The report also found acid gas flaring, which can cause spikes in sulphur dioxide levels, can pose health risks to people with breathing difficulty.

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Updated COVID-19 vaccines are starting to roll out to some high-risk Canadians, but others will have to wait a little while longer before these new shots are offered to them.

Last month, Health Canada approved Pfizer and Moderna’s latest COVID-19 vaccines targeting the most recent variants of the virus.

Both shots are approved for everyone aged six months and older.

The new mRNA vaccines from both pharmaceutical companies target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron that was dominating COVID-19 spread earlier this year.

While additional offshoots, particularly KP.3.1.1, now are spreading in Canada, they’re closely enough related that the vaccines promise cross-protection.

As of Sept. 27, Moderna’s updated Spikevax shot was available for those six months of age and above, while Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated Comirnaty was available for those 12 years of age and older, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. 

In Ontario, the new vaccines are only being distributed to high-risk and priority populations through public health units, participating pharmacies and participating health care providers, according to the province’s health ministry.

“The updated COVID-19 vaccine will be available for all eligible individuals 6 months of age and older starting October 28, 2024,” Ontario’s Ministry of Health told Global News in an emailed statement on Friday.

A pharmacist at Sam’s IDA pharmacy in Toronto told Global News they’re expecting the new vaccines after Thanksgiving.

1:30
Health Canada approves Moderna’s latest COVID-19 vaccine

Manitoba’s fall campaign will roll out on Oct. 15, and the health minister will be sharing more details about that, including preparations for flu, RSV and COVID-19 in the near future, a provincial spokesperson said.

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“It’s important to note that flu shots are already available through many sites such as public health offices, medical clinics, access centers, pharmacies, vaccine clinics, and nursing stations,” the spokesperson added.

Like Ontario, Yukon is also currently prioritizing its high-risk population, including those aged 60 years and above and people living in long-term care facilities.

Starting Oct. 15, health centres will begin offering flu and the updated COVID-19 vaccines to the general population, with a wider rollout planned on Nov. 1, according to Yukon’s department of health and social services.

Global News reached out to PHAC and all other provinces and territories about the rollout of the new COVID-19 vaccines, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) strongly recommends the most recently updated COVID-19 vaccines for previously vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection or severe COVID-19 illness.

These include everyone aged 65 or older, long-term care home residents, pregnant people, those with underlying medical conditions and people from Indigenous communities.

All others six months of age and older who are not at an increased risk for COVID-19 infection or severe disease may also receive updated vaccines this fall, NACI says.

0:32
Provinces told to get rid of existing COVID-19 vaccine doses

Some experts have cautioned about a surge in COVID-19 activity in Canada this fall.

“I think from what we’ve seen, we are expecting there’s going to be a significant amount of COVID in the fall and winter,” said Allison McGeer, an infectious disease physician at Sinai Health in Toronto, in a pervious interview with Global News.

McGeer said that since “COVID is still a concern in Canada,” people should get vaccinated.

“There’s still very clearly a benefit to getting your shot when they’re available in Canada to protect you through the winter,” she said.

PHAC says older versions of the COVID-19 vaccine are no longer authorized nor available for use.

Health Canada had recently directed provinces and territories to withdraw and destroy all remaining supplies of the previous XBB vaccines before the new KP.2 formulated supplies could be shipped.

Novavax’s updated protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the JN.1 variant, is also approved but PHAC is not ordering them due to a low demand.

— with files from The Canadian Press and The Association Press

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The World Health Organization approved on Thursday the first mpox diagnostic test for emergency use to expand access to medical testing urgently.

The agency granted approval for emergency use of Abbott Laboratories unit’s PCR test, Alinity m MPXV assay.

The test enables detection of mpox virus DNA from human skin lesion swabs, the agency said, adding that it was designed for use by trained clinical laboratory personnel.

The agency said it was evaluating three new mpox diagnostic tests for its emergency use listing (EUL) and was also in discussions with other manufacturers to expand the availability of mpox diagnostic tools.

2:25
Health Matters: Single mpox vaccine 58% effective, study says

Swiss drugmaker Roche ROG.SandU.S. diagnostics firm Labcorp LH.N are among companies working to enhance laboratory testing capacity for mpox.

The EUL procedure is a risk-based assessment of unlicensed vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to expedite their availability during public health emergencies.

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In August, WHO asked manufacturers to submit their products for an emergency review and has been in discussion with them about the need for effective diagnostics, particularly in low-income groups.

—Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi

An Ontario child has died of rabies after being exposed to a bat, a health official says.

According to Dr. Malcolm Lock, acting medical officer of health for the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, the child woke up with a bat in their room but the parents did not seek a rabies vaccination.

“Rabies is still an entity. It’s still circulating,” Lock said during a meeting of the Norfolk County board of health on Wednesday.

“The case that we had here, it was a child and basically they woke up with a bat in the room, the parents looked at the child and didn’t see any signs of a bite or scratches or saliva and didn’t seek getting the rabies vaccine so unfortunately, that child is now deceased.”

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Lock added, “Nearly all the cases that we’ve had result in death so it’s extremely important that people that have any form of exposure seek the proper medical attention.”

He did not specify when that death occurred. Last month, Ontario documented its first human case of rabies in 60 years in Brant County, west of Hamilton. 

Information about the person infected was not shared at that time.

There have been fewer than 30 human cases of rabies in Canada since 1924, with the last known case occurring in B.C. in 2019 due to a rabid bat.

According to Health Canada, the last human case of rabies transmitted from a non-flying animal was in 1967. Since then, all human cases have been from exposure to bats or due to exposure to the disease while in another country.

The last known case of rabies in Ontario was in 2019, with the most recent case reported in 2012 due to exposure outside of the country.

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

German emergency personnel in full protective gear shut down two railroad tracks at Hamburg’s central station on Wednesday after two passengers were suspected of having contracted the deadly Marburg virus.

A 26-year-old medical student and his girlfriend developed flu-like symptoms while on a train from Frankfurt, according to local reports. The train was evacuated after health authorities suspected they had contracted the Marburg virus — a rare disease that has a fatality rate as high as 88 per cent.

The suspicion arose because the student had recently arrived by plane from Rwanda, where he had been in contact with a patient later diagnosed with the virus, local media reported. The passengers later tested negative for the deadly and contagious virus.

But the emergency response raises the question: what if it had been Marburg?

Rwanda is currently grappling with an outbreak that began Sept. 27. According to the health ministry, the death toll has risen to 11, with at least 36 confirmed cases.

“Marburg virus is a very severe infection. It’s found in Africa and it’s very similar to the Ebola virus,” explained Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital.

“We know there’s been periodic outbreaks of Marburg virus for the last few decades. Whenever there’s an outbreak of this, it’s taken extremely seriously because it can be potentially fatal in a short period of time.”

While the situation in Hamburg was ultimately a false alarm, Bogoch said local and international health agencies are staying vigilant as the outbreak in Rwanda progresses.

Here’s what you need to know about the virus.

Marburg is a virus from the same family as Ebola.

It causes hemorrhagic fever and has an average fatality rate of 50 per cent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), although rates have been as high as 88 per cent in previous outbreaks.

Symptoms typically include a sudden high fever and extreme headache, as well as vomiting and diarrhea, followed by uncontrolled bleeding.

1:23
Marburg outbreak: 8 dead in Rwanda from virus, health officials say

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as needles or contaminated bed sheets.

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The virus was first identified in Marburg, a city in Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia, in 1967, after laboratory work with African green monkeys from Uganda led to human infections, according to the WHO. Since then, there have been outbreaks and sporadic cases in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, the WHO said.

1:52
WHO says 4 high-risk contacts identified after case of Marburg virus reported in Guinea

The virus spreads to humans from prolonged exposure to mines or caves where fruit bats live, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It can also spread between humans, through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, or with surfaces or materials contaminated with those fluids, such as blood. It is not airborne.

“It’s a communicable infection. So the longer it takes to enact infection prevention and control measures, the more people who can get infected, the bigger the outbreak can get,” Bogoch said.

“And sadly, the more people (who) will also come to this illness.“

There are no approved vaccines or treatments for Marburg.

Early supportive care with rehydration and symptomatic treatment improves survival, the WHO said.

Although there is no approved vaccine, on Thursday Rwandan health officials announced they will begin clinical trials of experimental vaccines and treatments in the coming weeks.

“This is part of our efforts to help people recover quickly by utilizing vaccines and medicines specifically developed to fight this outbreak, currently in the final phase of research,” the country’s health minister, Sabin Nsanzimana, told Reuters.

“We are collaborating with the pharmaceutical companies that developed these, alongside the World Health Organization, to expedite the process through multilateral collaboration.”

The WHO said it was working with the government and had held a meeting of industry, academic and government partners to speed up access to vaccine and treatment doses for trials.

Four vaccine candidates have been evaluated for potential use in trials by the WHO, but only one, made by the Sabin Vaccine Institute non-profit, has data from early-stage human trials showing it is safe and led to an immune response.

Further testing of the vaccines outside of outbreak settings is not possible because of the risks involved.

Several treatments could be trialled, including Gilead Science’s remdesivir, an antiviral used during the pandemic to treat COVID-19 and originally developed to treat Ebola, which is related to Marburg.

“While there is no antiviral drug dedicated to Marburg or no licensed vaccine, there are candidate drugs and candidate vaccines that possibly have efficacy,” Bogoch said.

“Sometimes those would be used in these outbreaks in an ethical manner study and evaluate if this could help quell an outbreak and generate data to support future outbreaks.”

Outbreaks of Marburg virus are largely in Africa. There have not been any cases in Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reported.

As long as precautions are taken, there is a low risk of contracting Marburg virus disease in a country where the disease is present, PHAC added.

The virus has also been a nationally notifiable disease in Canada since 2000. As a nationally notifiable disease, Marburg virus disease cases are reported to PHAC through national surveillance systems.

PHAC said it also works closely with its national and international partners, including the WHO, to track any Marburg outbreaks.

Although the virus has not spread to Canada or the United States, Bogoch said it is still important to control it as it is a highly contagious disease.

“We know, for example, from a related virus, the Ebola virus, there was a massive outbreak in West Africa in 2014 spanning multiple countries. And it’s very difficult to get those under control when the size of the outbreak is so large,” he said.

“One of the big concerns is not just spread throughout other parts of Rwanda, but also across borders, especially in areas where contact tracing and isolation and medical care might be a little more challenging.”

He emphasized that the best approach is an “all hands on deck” strategy to contain the outbreak quickly and prevent its spread both within Rwanda and to neighbouring countries.

— with files from Global News’ Katherine Ward and Reuters 

The federal government’s decision to not provide Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine this respiratory virus season raises health equity concerns, experts and advocates say, as some Canadians look to the U.S. to get the shot.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said it won’t provide the protein-based vaccine called Nuvaxovid because the manufacturer required a minimum order that far exceeds last year’s uptake of the vaccine.

The health agency said 125,000 Nuvaxovid doses were ordered in 2023, but only 5,529 were administered. This fall, it will only supply provinces and territories with the reformulated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

But some Canadians who say they are immunocompromised and have had adverse reactions to the mRNA vaccines are calling the decision unfair.

Among them is 64-year-old Linda Wilhelm, who has rheumatoid arthritis and takes immunosuppressive drugs for the chronic inflammatory disorder. The Bloomfield-N.B. resident said she received six mRNA COVID-19 vaccines over a three-year period, but her last shot caused a flare-up in her joints that lasted eight months.

1:57
Health Matters: Updated Novavax COVID-19 shot approved by Health Canada

Wilhelm said the flare-up was so bad that she even had trouble brushing her hair or chopping vegetables.

After searching for Nuvaxovid at various pharmacies and public health clinics, she said she eventually got a dose in April at a pharmacy in Saint John, N.B., and had no adverse reactions.

“And now, again, I have no options,” Wilhelm said, adding that she’s considering driving across the border to Maine to get the updated Nuvaxovid shot.

Barry Hunt made the cross-border trip last month from Port Ryerse, Ont., to a pharmacy near Buffalo, N.Y., where he paid US$200 to get the Novavax vaccine.

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The 61-year-old, who has a lasting joint infection from a knee surgery complication, said he had a six months-long adverse reaction to his fourth mRNA shot that caused tightness in his chest and fatigue.

But he acknowledged that most people seeking Nuvaxovid don’t have the means to travel to the U.S. to get it.

“I think it’s unfair to people who can’t afford it. I think it’s ridiculous to both pay taxes here in Canada for universal health care under the Canada Health Act and not be able to access a non-mRNA vaccine,” Hunt said.

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, said some people may be sensitive to some components of mRNA vaccines but overall they are safe for immunosuppressed people.

“It’s disappointing that Novavax won’t be available here because I think it could increase vaccine uptake just by virtue of overcoming objections to mRNA vaccines, whether based in truth or not,” she said in an email.

Other experts say research also shows that, except in very rare circumstances, it is safe for people taking immunosuppressive drugs to get an mRNA vaccine, even though some patients report flare-ups of their conditions.

4:43
Canada’s top doctors say unvaccinated, those without booster could benefit from Novavax vaccine

Specialists often ask patients with autoimmune diseases to stop taking their medications while they get vaccinated to ensure they can mount a good immune response, and the absence of medication may be what’s actually triggering the flare-ups rather than the mRNA vaccine itself, said Dawn Bowdish, an immunology professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Still, Nuvaxovid is “clearly less what we call reactogenic, meaning you’re less likely to feel poorly or have a sore arm or have any of those side-effects that some people … get from vaccines,” said Bowdish, who has worked with immunocompromised people in clinical studies on mRNA vaccines.

Novavax’s vaccine, reformulated to target the recently circulating JN.1 subvariant of Omicron, was authorized by Health Canada in September.

People who have concerns or had a bad immunization experience should have access to Nuvaxovid, Bowdish said, because it’s crucial they get some kind of vaccination against COVID-19, which is especially dangerous for the immunocompromised.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said people worried about getting an mRNA vaccine should consult their health-care provider.

Those who are medically unable to receive an mRNA vaccine should protect themselves by practising hand hygiene, wearing a well-fitting mask and improving indoor ventilation, the agency said.

“That response is absolutely appalling,” said Michelle Burleigh, co-chair of the Canadian Immunocompromised Advocacy Network, which sent a letter to the federal government in July urging it to procure Novavax.

“It’s great if somebody has the financial means and ability to travel to the U.S., but this causes a real health equity issue because there are a lot of Canadians who are not in a position to afford $200 for a vaccine in the United States or have the ability to get there.”

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Health Matters: Status of COVID-19 in Canada

Bowdish said she’s also aware of people travelling to the U.S. to get Nuvaxovid and that’s “really problematic.”

Although the latest data suggest flare-ups of certain conditions are unlikely to be a direct result of the mRNA vaccine, it’s still important to accommodate patients, she said.

“If a person’s personal experience was, ‘I got vaccinated and I had a flare that put me in bed for two months and … I missed a part of life,’ how on earth do you counter that while being respectful over their autonomy and knowing their own bodies?”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Although we’re only a few weeks into fall, it’s already time to start thinking about the winter ahead and the increased darkness we Canadians will soon have to endure.

Daylight saving time 2024 will come to an end on Nov. 3, so consider this your one-month warning.

Canadians in most time zones can “fall back” on Saturday, Nov. 2 this year before they head to bed, as the clocks roll back in the wee morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 3, while most people are sleeping.

(The Yukon, most of Saskatchewan and some parts of British Columbia and Quebec stay on standard time.)

Nowadays, most digital and Wi-Fi-connected devices will roll back automatically, but it never hurts to check your clocks on Nov. 3, and save yourself the embarrassment of showing up to work late on Monday.

For years, Canadians tired of this twice-yearly, time-travelling switch have argued that daylight saving time should be permanent across Canada.

Peter Graefe, an associate professor of political science at McMaster University, previously told Global News it wouldn’t be an easy switch, unless all provinces — and even our neighbours to the south — were to sign on.

“It’s difficult because it’s a collective action problem,” he said.

“If all the provinces and the states move at the same time, then we’re all in the same relationship with each other. Whereas if just certain provinces were going to move, then suddenly they would be off-kilter with their neighbouring states and provinces.”

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Health and Safety impacts of daylight saving time

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According to some historians and archivists, DST originated around 1908 and 1909 in what is now Thunder Bay, Ont.

But the province where it likely began has indicated that it wants to end the time-change system. In 2020, the Ontario legislature unanimously passed a private member’s bill called the Time Amendment Act, which sought to make DST permanent.

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While some jurisdictions in Canada, including the Yukon and Saskatchewan, have permanent DST, Graefe said many will look to Canada’s most populous province as a bellwether.

“I suspect other provinces would see whether the sky fell or not if Ontario was to be the first mover,” he said.

But Ontario is looking for cues south of the border. The 2020 bill had one key stipulation — Ontario would only move on DST if New York and Quebec did.

“Economic problems would be caused if you have a single mover rather than having everyone move together,” Graefe said.

British Columbia, too, took a big swing in this direction with a 2019 law that would make the change permanent, but it did not set a date for the change. The province said it wanted to align with Washington, Oregon and California. All three West Coast states have passed their own bills to remain permanently on DST.

Proponents of permanent DST saw some hope in 2022, when the United States Senate voted to make the change permanent. However, Werner Antweiler, associate professor at UBC Sauder School of Business, told Global News that the bill, dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act, has not made any further progress.

“The efforts are stalled until the U.S. Congress passes the enabling legislation,” he said. “That then triggers the existing legislation in several U.S. states, and ultimately decides the fate of our own legislation in places (such) as B.C. that are waiting to move to adopt year-round DST if/when it aligns with the U.S. states in the same time zone.”

The idea behind the clock shift is to maximize sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, as days start to lengthen in the spring and then wane in the fall. The logic is that by springing forward and falling back, people add an hour of sunlight to the end of the workday. But the benefits of this change are controversial, and the shift can have measurable impacts on health.

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Sleep expert offers tips to manage time change

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Doctors from the University of Turku in Finland have suggested that the risk of strokes and heart attacks increases by seven per cent following the time change.

And earlier this year, a report published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health noted that the annual switchover in March disturbs the circadian rhythms of Canadians.

“The March switch to DST is the one that induces the most disruptions since it forces a misalignment of the photoperiod that will continue through the next 8 months,” the report read.

“The potential one hour loss of sleep can contribute to the immediate negative impact of DST on daytime functioning, physical and mental health issues, as well as reduced overall performances.”

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