Peggy Revell
The number of reported cases of the H1N1 virus within Northwestern Ontario continues to grow in the wake of the World Health Organization announcing the virus has reached a pandemic level.
“In the Northwestern Health Unit, we’re monitoring the progression of H1N1 ’flu virus,” Dr. James Arthurs, the health unit’s medical officer of health, said in a teleconference held yesterday with the media.
“Of 1,900 confirmed laboratory cases in Ontario, only 26 have been identified in our region, and only one has been identified in the Thunder Bay region,” he noted.
This includes cases now being reported in both remote First Nations} communities and municipalities within the Northwestern Health Unit, as well as the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, he noted.
Anti-viral medications are available in remote communities to treat those affected, Dr. Arthurs said.
“We’re not now disclosing the number of affected communities, or their names at the request of First Nation chiefs, and we are also not reporting cases based on ethnicity,” Dr. Arthurs added.
“The First Nation communities may chose whether or not to disclose that information about cases in their own jurisdictions.
“The leadership of First Nation communities is also working with Health Canada, working with the public health agency of Canada, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care here in Ontario to address the situation and to identify any support that may be required from Ontario,” Dr. Arthurs stressed.
“I say that because there are many cross-jurisdictional issues that have not been completely clarified and until that time, it is difficult to make public statements across those jurisdictions and we’re trying to speak in a single voice.”
Symptoms of the virus largely remain quite mild, Dr. Arthurs noted, and in some cases are more moderate.
While there have been some severe cases, these appear to be very small in number, he added.
“So, in general, the total symptomatology of the virus has been mild. Most people have actually recovered at home without any medical treatment,” Dr. Arthurs remarked.
Preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus remains the same as what the health unit has been advising all along, Dr. Arthurs noted.
This includes understanding the symptoms, as well as frequent hand-washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, avoiding touching eyes/mouth/face, and avoiding contact with others if sick.
