Close X
Monday, January 13, 2025
ADVT 
National

B.C. teen with avian flu discharged after weeks in hospital

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Jan, 2025 05:20 PM
  • B.C. teen with avian flu discharged after weeks in hospital

BC Children’s Hospital says a 13-year-old girl with avian flu was discharged Tuesday after weeks in hospital.

The patient was taken to a pediatric intensive care unit with respiratory failure and pneumonia on Nov. 8 and health officials said she tested positive for H5N1 a day later.

A recent medical journal chronicled the teen's hospitalization in Vancouver, which involved tracheal intubation and supplemental oxygen.

Her family says in a statement that the experience has been “life-changing” and that they are grateful to have their daughter home.

They are asking for privacy as they “heal and rebuild” their lives after the traumatic experience. 

The teenager, who has a history of mild asthma and an elevated body mass index, was the first human case of H5N1 in Canada. Health officials have said they don’t know how she got infected. 

A provincial health spokesperson said Thursday they typically refrain from releasing information about patients but recognize "there has been an extraordinary amount of attention and interest from across North America" in this case.

A patient in Louisiana hospitalized with a severe case of avian flu died earlier this week.

The BC Centre for Disease Control said it was comparing the genetic features of the local teenager's avian flu case with that of the Louisiana patient.

MORE National ARTICLES

Anti-Israel war protesters arrested following sit-in at parliamentary building

Anti-Israel war protesters arrested following sit-in at parliamentary building
Fourteen people were arrested on Parliament Hill this morning after staging a sit-in demanding Canada immediately stop sending any weapons to Israel. The protesters from Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the entrance to the Confederation Building, which contains dozens of offices for members of Parliament.

Anti-Israel war protesters arrested following sit-in at parliamentary building

Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report

Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report
A new report says Canada needs to rethink its approach to health care to help manage rising costs as people age. CSA Group, an organization that helps policymakers develop standards around health and safety, says health care currentlycosts about $12,000 per year for each person 65 years and older, compared to $2,700 for each person younger than 65. 

Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report

Defence argues evidence too thin in Ottawa neo-Nazi terrorism trial

Defence argues evidence too thin in Ottawa neo-Nazi terrorism trial
Defence lawyers for an Ottawa graphic designer facing terror charges over his alleged involvement with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division say the evidence against their client is flimsy. Closing arguments are wrapping up in the trial of Patrick Macdonald, who pleaded not guilty to three charges of terrorism and hate speech.

Defence argues evidence too thin in Ottawa neo-Nazi terrorism trial

Cucumbers recalled due to salmonella

Cucumbers recalled due to salmonella
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is recalling field cucumbers – some of which were distributed in B-C – for possible salmonella contamination. The affected products from Mexico may have been labelled “SunFed” or sold loose without a brand name.

Cucumbers recalled due to salmonella

Erratic driver crashes into Nanaimo home

Erratic driver crashes into Nanaimo home
Police in Nanaimo say a driver doing donuts lost control of their vehicle and crashed into a home on Saturday. The R-C-M-P says it's fortunate no one in the home was injured when the vehicle drove over the lawn and was lodged into the foundation, destroyed some brick work and a basement window.

Erratic driver crashes into Nanaimo home

B.C. police discipline ruling voided because officer overseeing investigation retired

B.C. police discipline ruling voided because officer overseeing investigation retired
The disciplinary decision must now be reissued, dragging out the victim's pursuit of justice over how she was treated by colleagues in the wake of the 2019 attack. She called the situation a "screw-up" by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which she said had failed its oversight mission.

B.C. police discipline ruling voided because officer overseeing investigation retired