19-year-old Chinese becomes youngest to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease - WION

A 19-year-old in China has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, making him the condition's youngest-ever documented case, according to a South China Morning Post report.

Researchers at Beijing's Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University claim that over the course of two years, the man's memory rapidly deteriorated. He was no longer able to recollect recent occurrences or where he had put his belongings.

The patient displayed Alzheimer's disease signs, including memory loss and hippocampus shrinkage, which is thought to be a precursor to the illness. He had to leave high school early due to his sickness. 

"The study proposed to pay attention to the early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Exploring the mysteries of young people with Alzheimer's disease may become one of the most challenging scientific questions of the future," the authors said in the paper.

ALSO WATCH | China's development bank offers support to Pakistan

"This is the youngest case ever reported to meet the diagnostic criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease without recognised genetic mutations," the authors added. 

The teenager's performance on the commonly used auditory verbal learning test, which measures immediate memory, short-delay free recall, long-delay free recall, and long-delay recognition, was abnormal, the authors stated.

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CDC issues warning over an increase of drug-resistant bacteria - Crossroads Today

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a health advisory to warn the public of an increase of a drug-resistant bacteria called Shigella.

There are limited antimicrobial treatments available for these particular drug-resistant strains of Shigella and it's also easily transmissible, warned the CDC in the Friday advisory. It's also able to spread antimicrobial resistance genes to other bacteria that infect the intestines.

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Social isolation enhances dementia risk factors: Study - ETHealthWorld

Washington [US]: Social lifestyle determinants, including social isolation, are associated with neurodegeneration risk factors, according to a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kimia Shafighi of McGill University, Canada, and colleagues.

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) is a growing public health crisis, with an annual global cost of more than $1 trillion US. There has been increasing evidence that social isolation is associated with an increased risk of ADRD, but the links between social lifestyle and other known ADRD risk factors are less well understood.

In the new work, the researchers studied data on 502,506 UK Biobank participants and 30,097 people enrolled in the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging. Both studies had questionnaires that included questions about loneliness, frequency of social interaction and social support.

The study found a large array of associations between potentially modifiable ADRD risk factors and both loneliness and lack of social support. Individuals who smoked more, excessively drank alcohol, experienced sleep disturbances, and failed to frequently participate in light to vigorous physical activities -- all known risk factors for ADRD -- had greater odds of being lonely and lacking social support. For instance, in the CLSA, increased regular participation in physical exercise with other people was associated with a 20.1% decrease in the odds of feeling lonely and 26.9% decrease in having poor social support.

Physical and mental health factors previously linked to ADRD, such as cardiovascular disease, vision or hearing impairment, diabetes and neurotic and depressive behaviours, were also associated with both subjective and objective social isolation. In the UKBB, for instance, difficulty to hear with background noise corresponded to a 29.0% increase in the odds of feeling lonely and a 9.86% increase in the odds of lacking social support. The odds of feeling lonely and lacking social support were also 3.7 and 1.4 times greater, respectively, as a function of a participant's score for neuroticism.

The authors conclude that social isolation, which can be modified more easily than genetic or underlying health risk factors, might be a promising target for preventive clinical action and policy interventions.

The authors add: "Given the uncertain impact of social distancing measures imposed by COVID-19, our findings underscore the importance of investigating the multiscale effect of social isolation to inform public health interventions for ADRD."

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H5N1 risk examined by world's leading flu experts - CTV News

The world's leading experts on influenza met this week to discuss the threat posed to humans by a strain of H5N1 avian flu that has caused record numbers of bird deaths around the world in recent months.

The group of scientists, regulators and vaccine manufacturers meets twice a year to decide which strain of seasonal flu to include in the vaccine for the coming winter season, in this case for the northern hemisphere.

It is also a chance to discuss the risk of animal viruses spilling over to humans and causing a pandemic. At this week's meeting, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b was a key topic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and global flu experts told Reuters.

"We are more prepared (than for COVID), but even if we are more prepared, we are not yet prepared enough," Sylvie Briand, WHO director of global infectious hazard preparedness, said ahead of the meeting. "We need to really continue the efforts for a flu pandemic."

Briand in a briefing after the meeting said that the recent rise in cases in birds and mammals was "worrying" and that the agency was working with Cambodia after two confirmed human cases of H5N1 were found in one family there. They are trying to determine if the family members were exposed to the virus through the environment - such as exposure to birds or other mammals - or if there was human-to-human transmission.

Disease experts have raised the idea that the virus would need to change for it to be conducive to human transmission.

Experts have been tracking H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b since it emerged in 2020 and recent reports of mass deaths in infected mammals from seals to bears, as well as potential mammal-to-mammal transmission on a Spanish mink farm last year, have raised concern.

However, there have been very few human cases, and the WHO currently assesses the threat to humans as low.

"This is a natural experiment playing out in front of us, and I don't think we are complacent," said Nicola Lewis, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Influenza at the Crick Institute in London. Speaking before the meeting, she said it would include assessments of the situation worldwide.

Experts also discussed potential vaccine development.

WHO-affiliated labs already hold two flu virus strains that are closely related to the circulating H5N1 virus, which could be used by vaccine manufacturers to create a human vaccine if needed. One of them was added after the previous WHO flu meeting in September 2022, and the experts decided at this week's meeting to add another subtype that more closely matches the virus spreading among animals.

A number of companies that produce seasonal flu vaccines can also make pandemic flu vaccines. For example, GSK and CSL Seqirus are already working with the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to test shots based on one of the closely related strains.

Having these strains ready could save about two months in the development of a vaccine, said the WHO's Briand. But getting enough vaccine developed quickly would still remain a challenge in a pandemic situation, the experts said.

Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Mark Potter, David Goodman and Mark Porter

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B.C. government announces $440-million plan to expand cancer care - Vancouver Sun

Premier David Eby says the money will go to expanding service and screening programs. It will also support cancer research, Indigenous patients, and those who must travel for care from rural communities.

File photo of Premier David Eby with Health Minister Adrian Dix. Eby and Dix made an announcement about cancer care on Friday. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /00099318A

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The B.C. government has announced it will spend an initial $440 million on a 10-year-plan to expand cancer care to address the needs of a growing and aging population.

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“Nearly every British Columbian has been affected by cancer in some way, through their own diagnosis or that of a family member or friend,” said Premier David Eby, at a news conference with Health Minister Adrian Dix on Friday.

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Over the next 36 months, the government pledges to expand cervical, lung and hereditary cancer screening, improve vaccination initiatives to eradicate cancers caused by HPV, and expand cervical cancer screening to include more at home tests.

It also plans to modernize paediatric cancer services, expand treatment hours, and better connect people to palliative care.

Eby said the money—which is on top of the annual $971 million budgeted for cancer—will also go to equipment, higher pay for oncologists, and to support Indigenous patients and those who must travel for care from rural communities. Details on many of these initiatives will be released in the coming months, the government said.

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“In this province, we will not accept people’s cancer care being compromised by long wait times,” said Eby. “I’ve asked our health minister to do what it takes so that no British Columbian has their cancer care compromised by long waits. That’s why in the coming months, we will build off this investment with additional funding to support our goals and to deliver care.”

Included in the $440 million is $170 million for a grant for the B.C. Cancer Foundation to support cancer research and attract cancer-care providers needed to provide specialized treatments at B.C. Cancer.

Dix said the plan will help achieve a cancer-free future for more people, accelerate treatment for patients diagnosed with cancer and help thousands more survive their cancer diagnosis. He blamed the waiting time crisis for cancer patients on underfunding by the previous government.

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In 2021, more than 30,000 people in B.C. were newly diagnosed with cancer and more than 11,000 died from the disease, according to the B.C. government.

The government says its 10-year-goals include: securing a cancer-free future for more people, including the elimination of cervical cancer in B.C.; help thousands more people survive their cancer diagnosis and extend the duration and quality of life for those living with cancer; and ensure B.C.’s cancer system delivers modern, evidence-based care.

Meantime, construction for a new cancer centre in Surrey should start this summer. It will be located at 5500-180th Street and will include an oncology ambulatory care unit with 50 exam rooms, 54 chemotherapy treatment spaces and room for six linear accelerators for radiation therapy.

More to come….

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World 'not yet prepared enough' as H5N1 avian flu strain keeps spreading, WHO official warns - CBC News

The world's leading experts on influenza met this week to discuss the threat posed to humans by a strain of H5N1 avian flu that has caused record numbers of bird deaths around the world in recent months.

The group of scientists, regulators and vaccine manufacturers meets twice a year to decide which strain of seasonal flu to include in the vaccine for the coming winter season, in this case for the northern hemisphere.

It is also a chance to discuss the risk of animal viruses spilling over to humans and causing a pandemic. At this week's meeting, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b was a key topic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and global flu experts told Reuters.

"We are more prepared (than for COVID-19), but even if we are more prepared, we are not yet prepared enough," Sylvie Briand, WHO director of global infectious hazard preparedness, said ahead of the meeting. "We need to really continue the efforts for a flu pandemic."

Briand in a briefing after the meeting said that the recent rise in cases in birds and mammals was "worrying" and that the agency was working with Cambodia after two confirmed human cases of H5N1 were found in one family there.

They are trying to determine if the family members were exposed to the virus through the environment — such as exposure to birds or other mammals — or if there was human-to-human transmission.

Threat to humans remains low, officials say

Disease experts have raised the idea that the virus would need to change for it to be conducive to human transmission.

Experts have been tracking H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b since it emerged in 2020 and recent reports of mass deaths in infected mammals from seals to bears, as well as potential mammal-to-mammal transmission on a Spanish mink farm last year, have raised concern.

However, there have been very few human cases, and the WHO currently assesses the threat to humans as low.

"This is a natural experiment playing out in front of us, and I don't think we are complacent," said Nicola Lewis, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Influenza at the Crick Institute in London. Speaking before the meeting, she said it would include assessments of the situation worldwide.

WATCH | 'Explosive' avian flu surge hits global bird populations

'Explosive' avian flu surge hits global bird populations

2 months ago

Duration 2:03

Global bird populations are being ravaged by a deadly strain of avian flu, wiping out flocks of domestic poultry and killing wild birds. Some researchers warn the virus could eventually evolve to better infect humans and potentially start a future pandemic.

Experts discussed vaccines, virus strains

Experts also discussed potential vaccine development.

WHO-affiliated labs already hold two flu virus strains that are closely related to the circulating H5N1 virus, which could be used by vaccine manufacturers to create a human vaccine if needed. One of them was added after the previous WHO flu meeting in September 2022, and the experts decided at this week's meeting to add another subtype that more closely matches the virus spreading among animals.

A number of companies that produce seasonal flu vaccines can also make pandemic flu vaccines. For example, GSK and CSL Seqirus are already working with the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to test shots based on one of the closely related strains.

Having these strains ready could save about two months in the development of a vaccine, said the WHO's Briand.

But getting enough vaccine developed quickly would still remain a challenge in a pandemic situation, the experts said.

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World 'not yet prepared enough' as H5N1 avian flu strain keeps spreading, WHO official warns - CBC News
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COVID-19 outbreak declared at St. Joseph's Manor - ElliotLakeToday.com

NEWS RELEASE
ST. JOSEPH'S GENERAL HOSPITAL ELLIOT LAKE
********************************
St. Joseph’s General Hospital Elliot Lake (SJGHEL) would like to advise the public of a COVID-19 outbreak that was declared at our long-term care home St. Joseph’s Manor today by Algoma Public Health. Existing visitation protocols which are limited to designated essential care partners remain in place.

SJGHEL would like to remind everyone there are several things that can be done to protect yourself and others from respiratory viruses:
    ▪    Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based sanitizer.
    ▪    Ensure full immunization including booster doses for those who are eligible.
    ▪    Wear a mask in public spaces.
    ▪    If you are not feeling well, stay home and rest, or contact your primary health care provider.
    ▪    Observe social distancing and respiratory etiquette.
    ▪    Reduce indoor air pollution via adequate ventilation where possible.

For more information on respiratory viruses, please contact Algoma Public Health at 705-942-4646 ext. 5404 or contact your family health care provider.

SJGHEL will update information on the Hospital outbreak as our information changes or more information becomes available.

********************************

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