Cases of influenza, RSV and COVID are decreasing, with influenza cases decreasing faster. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dirk Meissner

B.C. influenza cases down, RSV cases remain high while also declining

Provincial authorities have detected 24 cases of ‘Kraken’ COVID-subvariant

Cases of influenza, RSV and COVID are decreasing, with influenza cases decreasing faster. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dirk Meissner
(Special to Langley Advance Times)

B.C. family shares agonizing wait for care as concern for child’s eyesight mounts

Lack of qualified technician, bureaucracy preventing necessary test from occurring

(Special to Langley Advance Times)
Maureen Keyes with her mom, Ruth Harris, at Vancouver General Hospital. (Maureen Keyes/Submitted)

Questions about care after Abbotsford woman’s burns not taken seriously

Third-degree burns on elderly woman’s legs not given priority at ARH, but they were at Vancouver General Hospital

Maureen Keyes with her mom, Ruth Harris, at Vancouver General Hospital. (Maureen Keyes/Submitted)
Lee-Anne Richardson poses in this Jan. 9, 2023 handout photo. Richardson supports a change in Canada’s national low-risk drinking guidelines, to be released next week, and says a dramatic shift in alcohol guidance would be in line with younger people’s attitudes, many of whom are open about the health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Lee-Anne Richardson

Researchers consider how to ‘denormalize’ drinking culture ahead of new alcohol guide

Canada’s recommendations soon to drop to no more than two drinks a week

Lee-Anne Richardson poses in this Jan. 9, 2023 handout photo. Richardson supports a change in Canada’s national low-risk drinking guidelines, to be released next week, and says a dramatic shift in alcohol guidance would be in line with younger people’s attitudes, many of whom are open about the health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Lee-Anne Richardson
Jessica Peters is a reporter with the Abbotsford News, and an invasive cervical cancer survivor.

OPINION: Cervical cancer awareness didn’t seem important to me, until it was

January is cervical awareness month and a time to understand how devastating the disease really is

Jessica Peters is a reporter with the Abbotsford News, and an invasive cervical cancer survivor.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control

As mpox quickly fades in the US, observers wonder who deserves the credit?

Less than six months ago, mpox was an exploding health crisis. What…

Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
This image provided by Novo Nordisk shows packaging for the company’s Wegovy drug. Children struggling with obesity should be evaluated and treated early and aggressively, with medications for kids as young as 12 and surgery for those as young as 13 who qualify, according to new guidelines released by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. A studypublished in the New England Journal of Medicine in December 2022, found that Wegovy helped teens reduce their body mass index by about 16% on average, better than the results in adults. (Novo Nordisk via AP)

New US guidance suggests using drugs, surgery early for obesity in kids

‘Waiting doesn’t work, we see…a likelihood that they’ll have (obesity) in adulthood’

This image provided by Novo Nordisk shows packaging for the company’s Wegovy drug. Children struggling with obesity should be evaluated and treated early and aggressively, with medications for kids as young as 12 and surgery for those as young as 13 who qualify, according to new guidelines released by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. A studypublished in the New England Journal of Medicine in December 2022, found that Wegovy helped teens reduce their body mass index by about 16% on average, better than the results in adults. (Novo Nordisk via AP)
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses during a news conference with his provincial counterparts after the second of two days of meetings, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. to reactivate its COVID emergency operations centres to prepare for more illness

Expected surge in flu, respiratory illness and COVID cases behind the move at 20 major locations

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses during a news conference with his provincial counterparts after the second of two days of meetings, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Quin and Bryan Bartsch took part in the Step Up 4 Cardiac Health fundraiser in 2022 in Abbotsford, and Quin won the challenge of most ‘laps’. (Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation photo)

Stair challenge at Abbotsford Centre to benefit cardiac care in eastern Fraser Valley

Step Up 4 Cardiac Care fundraiser has choice of grueling stairs or a gentle walking course

Quin and Bryan Bartsch took part in the Step Up 4 Cardiac Health fundraiser in 2022 in Abbotsford, and Quin won the challenge of most ‘laps’. (Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation photo)
Mothers breastfeed their babies during a worldwide breastfeeding event Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007 in suburban Taguig City, south of Manila, Philippines. A Canadian study suggests children who were not breastfed while receiving antibiotics in the first year of life had triple the risk of developing asthma because they lacked specific protective sugars found in human milk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Pat Roque

Kids prescribed antibiotics but not fed breast milk at triple risk of asthma: study

Medications have been linked with disrupting the development of a healthy gut microbiome

Mothers breastfeed their babies during a worldwide breastfeeding event Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007 in suburban Taguig City, south of Manila, Philippines. A Canadian study suggests children who were not breastfed while receiving antibiotics in the first year of life had triple the risk of developing asthma because they lacked specific protective sugars found in human milk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Pat Roque
FILE - This July 6, 2017 file photo shows prescription drugs in a glass flask at the state crime lab in Taylorsville, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Drug coverage for diabetes, heart failure and blood clot prevention expands in B.C.

More than 30,000 patients to now have access to coverage from 2023 changes

FILE - This July 6, 2017 file photo shows prescription drugs in a glass flask at the state crime lab in Taylorsville, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
A passenger checks her phone as an Air China passenger jet taxi past at the Beijing Capital International airport in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. China will drop a COVID-19 quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from abroad starting Jan. 8. The National Health Commission announced the change Monday, Dec. 26, 2022 as part of the latest easing of China’s once strict virus control measures. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Wastewater off flights from China to Vancouver will soon be tested for COVID-19

Pilot project coming into effect alongside new federal mandate for COVID tests

A passenger checks her phone as an Air China passenger jet taxi past at the Beijing Capital International airport in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. China will drop a COVID-19 quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from abroad starting Jan. 8. The National Health Commission announced the change Monday, Dec. 26, 2022 as part of the latest easing of China’s once strict virus control measures. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Masked travellers with luggage line up at the international flight check in counter at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. An expert says Canada’s requirement of a negative COVID-19 test of travellers from China will not help in preventing new variants or the spread of the virus. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Andy Wong
Masked travellers with luggage line up at the international flight check in counter at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. An expert says Canada’s requirement of a negative COVID-19 test of travellers from China will not help in preventing new variants or the spread of the virus. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Andy Wong
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam attends a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Tam says COVID-19 is still circulating at a “relatively high level” and other strains of influenza may surge in the new year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Dr. Theresa Tam on preparing for the next battle with COVID-19, and future epidemics

Country’s top public health official urging Canadians to ‘remain vigilant’

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam attends a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Tam says COVID-19 is still circulating at a “relatively high level” and other strains of influenza may surge in the new year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
(Pixabay photo)

Report shows B.C. has honoured pledge to deliver pandemic-postponed surgeries: Dix

99.2 per cent of surgeries stalled by second or third waves of the virus have been completed

(Pixabay photo)
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks in the press theatre at the legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday, March 10, 2022. The British Columbia government is extending its COVID-19 wage top-ups for staff at seniors facilities, but the restriction that limited those workers to one work site has been lifted. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C. government continues the pandemic wage top-up for care home workers

Province renewing its commitment to ‘temporarily fund the increases’

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks in the press theatre at the legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday, March 10, 2022. The British Columbia government is extending its COVID-19 wage top-ups for staff at seniors facilities, but the restriction that limited those workers to one work site has been lifted. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
A patient receives an influenza vaccine in Mesquite, Texas, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. The flu has returned with a vengeance after being absent for a couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s hitting children especially hard. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-LM Otero
A patient receives an influenza vaccine in Mesquite, Texas, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. The flu has returned with a vengeance after being absent for a couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s hitting children especially hard. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-LM Otero
A nurse prepares a flu shot at the Salvation Army in Atlanta, Feb. 7, 2018. The B.C. Centre For Disease Control says there are signs influenza is on a “steady decline” in the province, although case numbers remain high and positive tests rates for respiratory syncytial virus continue to rise. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, David Goldman

B.C. disease centre says flu shows signs of decline, with no new deaths of children

171 new hospital admissions last week for patients with COVID-19, a slight decrease

A nurse prepares a flu shot at the Salvation Army in Atlanta, Feb. 7, 2018. The B.C. Centre For Disease Control says there are signs influenza is on a “steady decline” in the province, although case numbers remain high and positive tests rates for respiratory syncytial virus continue to rise. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, David Goldman
Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos leaves a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Health ministers agree on improving health care, but premiers holding out: Duclos

The ball is in the premiers’ court, Canada’s health minister says

Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos leaves a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Chief science advisor Mona Nemer speaks during a news conference, Thursday, April 23, 2020 in Ottawa. Nemer released the recommendations of a taskforce established in the summer to respond to post-COVID condition, or long-COVID, today ahead of the release of her full report. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Canada’s chief science adviser releases recommendations to combat long-COVID

No consensus on the definition of the condition, but firm acknowledgement that it exists

Chief science advisor Mona Nemer speaks during a news conference, Thursday, April 23, 2020 in Ottawa. Nemer released the recommendations of a taskforce established in the summer to respond to post-COVID condition, or long-COVID, today ahead of the release of her full report. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld