British Columbia teen had no underlying health conditions and had been exposed to dogs, cats and reptiles, officials say

Summary

A teenager in British Columbia is critically ill with Canada’s first suspected human case of H5N1 bird flu, experiencing rapid deterioration and acute respiratory distress.

The teen, who had no farm exposure, developed symptoms on November 2 and was hospitalized on November 8.

Health officials are investigating the infection source and testing contacts, though no additional cases have been found.

While H5N1 transmission between humans remains rare, the virus is spreading in animals across North America, raising concerns of potential future outbreaks.

  • cheers_queers@lemm.eeEnglish
    841·
    2 days ago

    I’ve had my eye on this situation for months. i have a really bad feeling, not gonna lie. and having a vaccine denier in the white house again is REALLY bad timing.

    • zephorah@lemm.eeEnglish
      381·
      2 days ago

      Trump isn’t the direct problem, RFK is. RFK is batshit and somehow still managed to receive up to 15k votes in some states. And then trumps lazy potato ass throws RFK a job favor not caring how it plays out since RFK won’t be touching his health.

      Flu is a uniquely adaptive virus. It’s why we don’t have a universal vaccine, and why King picked it as his death virus in The Stand. That said, like with H1N1, they can batch those vaccines out rather quickly.

      Extra info regarding general yearly flu shots: There are a lot of flus. If two different flus meet in the night a third type of flu will be born. So each year, science runs the odds and picks the 3 most likely flus and puts them into that year’s flu vaccine. They’re pretty good at getting it right. Even when they’re 100% correct, flu #4, #5, or #6 can still get through. The biggest misconception is thinking “the” flu or “the” flu shot references a single virus is it’s entirety.

      As with most things human, it’s a probability game.

      H5N1 vaccine can be produced and handed out rather quickly, as they were with H1N1.

      • cheers_queers@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        2 days ago

        yeah I’m aware. I’m unfortunately getting well aquainted with the healthcare system, so this will impact me greatly I’m sure

    • cmbabul@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      I think we do already have a vaccine for this, now obviously Trump can fuck with its supply but there’s still some time. If you live in a blue state you might be ok yourself

      • rayyy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        1 day ago

        If you live in a blue state

        He might screw with supplies to blue states like he did the last time or even restrict vaccines to drive up the price.