Health – Winnipeg Free Press

David Ayares, president and chief scientific officer of Revivicor, holds a package of frozen meat during an interview at the company’s offices in Blacksburg, Va., on May 30, 2024. His company genetically modified pigs, known as GalSafe pigs, so they no longer carry a sugar responsible for alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to red meat. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

Pig transplant research yields a surprise: Bacon safe for some people allergic to red meat

Lauran Neergaard, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:09 AM CDT

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Some people who develop a weird and terrifying allergy to red meat after a bite from a lone star tick can still eat pork from a surprising source: Genetically modified pigs created for organ transplant research.

Don't look for it in grocery stores. The company that bred these special pigs shares its small supply, for free, with allergy patients.

“We get hundreds and hundreds of orders,” said David Ayares, who heads Revivicor Inc., as he opened a freezer jammed with packages of ground pork patties, ham, ribs and pork chops.

The allergy is called alpha-gal syndrome, named for a sugar that's present in the tissues of nearly all mammals - except for people and some of our primate cousins. It can cause a serious reaction hours after eating beef, pork or any other red meat, or certain mammalian products such as milk or gelatin.

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Baby Gourmet Foods recalls organic baby cereal over possible bacteria contamination

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Baby Gourmet Foods recalls organic baby cereal over possible bacteria contamination

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:40 PM CDT

CALGARY - A brand of baby cereal is being pulled from all in-store and online retailers in Canada due to possible Cronobacter contamination.

Calgary-based Baby Gourmet Foods has issued a product recall for its Banana Raisin Oatmeal Organic Whole Grain Cereal, which is sold in 227 g packages.

The bacteria can cause serious or fatal infections to the bloodstream, central nervous system and intestines.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the recall was triggered by agency test results.

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Updated: Yesterday at 5:40 PM CDT

Meet some of the world’s cleanest pigs, raised to grow kidneys and hearts for humans

Lauran Neergaard, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Meet some of the world’s cleanest pigs, raised to grow kidneys and hearts for humans

Lauran Neergaard, The Associated Press 7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:08 AM CDT

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Wide-eyed piglets rushing to check out the visitors to their unusual barn just might represent the future of organ transplantation – and there’s no rolling around in the mud here.

The first gene-edited pig organs ever transplanted into people came from animals born on this special research farm in the Blue Ridge mountains – behind locked gates, where entry requires washing down your vehicle, swapping your clothes for medical scrubs and stepping into tubs of disinfectant to clean your boots between each air-conditioned barn.

“These are precious animals,” said David Ayares of Revivicor Inc., who spent decades learning to clone pigs with just the right genetic changes to allow those first audacious experiments.

The biosecurity gets even tighter just a few miles away in Christiansburg, Virginia, where a new herd is being raised – pigs expected to supply organs for formal studies of animal-to-human transplantation as soon as next year.

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Updated: Yesterday at 8:08 AM CDT

PIgs stand in pens at the Revivicor research farm near Blacksburg, Va., on May 29, 2024, where organs are retrieved for animal-to-human transplant experiments. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

Restaurant critic’s departure reveals potential hazards of the job

Dee-ann Durbin, The Associated Press 6 minute read Yesterday at 5:43 AM CDT

Restaurant critics appear to have the best job in journalism, enjoying meals a few nights a week on someone else’s dime.

But New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells had painted a more complicated picture. In a recent column, Wells announced he’s leaving the beat because the constant eating has led to obesity and other health problems.

“Intellectually, it was still really stimulating, but my body started to rebel and say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Wells told The Associated Press. “I just had to come face to face with the reality that I can’t metabolize food the way I used to, I can’t metabolize alcohol the way I used to and I just don’t need to eat as much as I did even 10 years ago.”

To write a review, food critics usually make two or three visits to a restaurant and bring a handful of dining companions so they can taste as many dishes as possible. If the restaurant has a special focus on wine or cocktails or desserts, they try those, too.

Heat-related Texas deaths climb after Beryl left millions without power for days or longer

Jamie Stengle And Lekan Oyekanmi, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Heat-related Texas deaths climb after Beryl left millions without power for days or longer

Jamie Stengle And Lekan Oyekanmi, The Associated Press 5 minute read Yesterday at 12:34 AM CDT

SPRING, Texas (AP) — As the temperature soared in the Houston-area home Janet Jarrett shared with her sister after losing electricity in Hurricane Beryl, she did everything she could to keep her 64-year-old sibling cool.

But on their fourth day without power, she awoke to hear Pamela Jarrett, who used a wheelchair and relied on a feeding tube, gasping for breath. Paramedics were called but she was pronounced dead at the hospital, with the medical examiner saying her death was caused by the heat.

“It’s so hard to know that she’s gone right now because this wasn’t supposed to happen to her,” Janet Jarrett said.

Almost two weeks after Beryl hit, heat-related deaths during the prolonged power outages have pushed the number of storm-related fatalities to at least 23 in Texas.

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Yesterday at 12:34 AM CDT

FILE - Keyla Herrera entertains her eight-month-old daughter, Emma, with a movie on her cell phone next to her husband, Edgar, as they sat inside of the cooling center set up inside of Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. As of Thursday, July 18, most Houston residents finally had electricity after more than a week of widespread outages. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Trump campaign releases letter on his injury, treatment after last week’s assassination attempt

Jill Colvin And Bernard Condon, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Trump campaign releases letter on his injury, treatment after last week’s assassination attempt

Jill Colvin And Bernard Condon, The Associated Press 6 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's campaign released an update on the former president's health Saturday, one week after he survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The memo, from Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, a staunch supporter who served as Trump's White House physician, offers new details on the nature of the GOP nominee's injuries and the treatment he received in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

It is the most thorough accounting to date of the former president’s condition since the night of the shooting, which also left one rally-goer dead and injured two others.

According to Jackson, Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear that came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear.”

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Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Melania Trump during the final day of the Republican National Convention Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Here’s what to do with deli meats as the CDC investigates a listeria outbreak across the U.S.

The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Here’s what to do with deli meats as the CDC investigates a listeria outbreak across the U.S.

The Associated Press 4 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — As U.S. health officials investigate a fatal outbreak of listeria food poisoning, they're advising people who are pregnant, elderly or have compromised immune systems to avoid eating sliced deli meat unless it's recooked at home to be steaming hot.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn't mandate a food recall as of early Saturday, because it remains unclear what specific products have been contaminated with the bacteria now blamed for two deaths and 28 hospitalizations across 12 states. This means the contaminated food may still be in circulation, and consumers should consider their personal risk level when consuming deli meats.

Federal health officials warned on Friday that the number of illnesses is likely an undercount, because people who recover at home aren't likely to be tested. For the same reason, the outbreak may have spread wider than the states where listeria infections have been reported, mostly in the Midwest and along the U.S. eastern coast.

The largest number known to get sick — seven — were in New York, according to the CDC. The people who died were from Illinois and New Jersey.

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Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

FILE - This 2002 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a Listeria monocytogenes bacterium, responsible for the food borne illness listeriosis. (Elizabeth White/CDC via AP, File)

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Canada’s airports, hospitals begin returning to normal after global IT outage

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Canada’s airports, hospitals begin returning to normal after global IT outage

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

MONTREAL - Airports, hospitals and police services across Canada continued their gradual return to normal operations on Saturday as they recovered from a global technology outage caused by a defective update to computers using Microsoft Windows.

And as systems around the world continued to come back online, one security expert warned Canadians can expect more disruptions down the road unless industry practices change.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said Friday's glitch felt round the world occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows, adding the resulting outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.

Microsoft released a statement on its official blog on Saturday revealing the extent of the impact on customers.

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Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

Canada’s airports, hospitals and police services are still returning to normal operations a day after a defective update to computers using Microsoft Windows caused a global technology outage. A passenger checks departure times at Trudeau International Airport Friday, July 19, 2024 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Do you really have to wait to go swimming after eating?

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Do you really have to wait to go swimming after eating?

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 2 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

Did your parents warn you against jumping in the pool right after eating? They were misguided.

In most cases, there’s no need to wait at least 30 minutes after eating to go for a swim, doctors say.

That old warning stems from worry that people might drown or struggle because blood will be diverted to their full stomachs instead of their muscles.

In reality, people still have plenty of blood flowing to their muscles after eating, said Dr. Matthew Badgett of the Cleveland Clinic. A former high school swimmer, Badgett used to eat a couple of bananas and drink some water or Gatorade before he raced.

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Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

FILE - Children cool off at the Hamilton Fish pool, July 18, 2017, in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan. In most cases, there’s no need to wait at least 30 minutes after eating to go for a swim, doctors say. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Alberta town takes action fighting crime, addressing homelessness, addictions issues

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Alberta town takes action fighting crime, addressing homelessness, addictions issues

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

COLD LAKE, ALTA. - In Cold Lake, Alta., drivers leaning through windows at the McDonald’s drive-thru have been ambushed by people running by and snatching food right out of their hands.

At the Tim Hortons, a worker was attacked for confronting someone who smeared feces all over the bathroom walls.

At the Home Hardware, customers have opened display garden sheds to find people living inside.

Police have found makeshift homes in storm sewers.

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Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

Leona Heisler poses for a photo in Cold Lake, Alta., on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fakiha Baig

In Montreal, services for the vulnerable trigger backlash, but no easy solutions

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

In Montreal, services for the vulnerable trigger backlash, but no easy solutions

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

MONTREAL - Officials in Montreal are struggling to get the public on board with the city's approach to treating people with severe addiction and homelessness, as those social crises become fodder for political attacks.

In Montreal's St-Henri neighbourhood, a supervised consumption site that also provides transitional housing for homeless people with addiction or mental health issues has nearby residents fuming because it's located near an elementary school. A few kilometres away, in downtown Montreal, another supervised drug use site has helped turn part of the district into what has become known as "crack alley."

The city is feeling the heat from residents, and in response will hold public consultations on how to integrate services for vulnerable people within urban areas. Montreal's mayor is also getting criticized by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who held a news conference outside St-Henri's Maison Benoît Labre on July 12, saying the mayor is forcing children to go to school near a "drug den."

But there are no easy solutions, according to experts, who say people with severe drug addiction need services like supervised consumption sites — where they can be treated if they overdose — or else they risk dying on the streets.

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Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

Demonstrators hold a protest against the construction of a supervised drug-use site in Montreal on Sept. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Thomas MacDonald

Two deaths linked to listeria food poisoning from meat sliced at deli counters

Jonel Aleccia, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Two deaths linked to listeria food poisoning from meat sliced at deli counters

Jonel Aleccia, The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

At least two people have died and more than two dozen were hospitalized in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning linked to meat sliced at grocery store deli counters, federal health officials said Friday.

At least 28 people in a dozen states have gotten sick, though the largest number, seven, were in New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The people who died were from Illinois and New Jersey. Samples were collected from May 29 to July 5 and so far, all of the people known to be part of the outbreak have been hospitalized.

Many of the people in the outbreak reported eating meats that were sliced at grocery store deli counters. So far, there's no information showing that people are getting sick from prepackaged deli meats, the CDC said. People most commonly reported eating deli-sliced turkey, liverwurst and ham, officials said. CDC doesn't have enough information to say which deli meats are the source of the outbreak.

Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches and tiredness and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Symptoms can occur quickly or to up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. The infections are especially dangerous for people older than 65, those with weakened immune systems and pregnant people, who can have miscarriages. This outbreak includes people aged 32 to 94, with a median age of 75. One pregnant person got sick, but retained the pregnancy, officials said.

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Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

B.C. hospitals pivot to paper amid CrowdStrike global technology outage

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

B.C. hospitals pivot to paper amid CrowdStrike global technology outage

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

VANCOUVER - About 50,000 devices in British Columbia hospitals and health facilities were impacted by the CrowdStrike global technology outage, forcing staff to pivot to using paper to manage everything from lab work to meal orders, the province's health minister said.

Adrian Dix said experts began immediately working on the problem, which has impacted computers running Microsoft Windows, and that the systems are beginning to come back online.

Dix said Friday that 30,000 of the impacted devices belonged to health authorities in the Lower Mainland and the event had "a profound impact on staff" across the province, but they did everything possible to limit the impact on patients.

"Say you're opening an urgent and primary care centre at eight in the morning, and your systems are affected. You have to adapt and then try and keep it as normal as possible," he said.

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Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

B.C. Minister of Health Adrian Dix waits to speak during an announcement in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Two more bird flu cases reported in Colorado, but elsewhere a study finds no asymptomatic infections

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Two more bird flu cases reported in Colorado, but elsewhere a study finds no asymptomatic infections

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Friday announced two more bird flu cases among farmworkers, but they also said a new study in Michigan suggested the virus is not causing silent infections in people.

Last month, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services launched a study of workers who were around cows sickened by the bird flu. The researchers drew blood from 35 people.

One goal was to determine if there were people who never had any symptoms but did have evidence of past infections. None of the blood testing showed antibodies that would indicate such infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.

Meanwhile, two more infections tied to a Colorado poultry farm were reported, bringing the total to six. It's the largest outbreak of human bird flu infections in U.S. history, and accounts for most of the 11 cases reported to date. Ten of those cases occurred this year, all among farmworkers and all with mild symptoms.

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Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

FILE - This 2005 electron microscope image shows an avian influenza A H5N1 virion. (Cynthia Goldsmith, Jackie Katz/CDC via AP, File)

Tech outage halts surgeries, medical treatments across the US

Martha Bellisle And Devi Shastri, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Tech outage halts surgeries, medical treatments across the US

Martha Bellisle And Devi Shastri, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

Alison Baulos says her 73-year-old father was about to head to a Kentucky hospital for open-heart surgery when it was abruptly canceled early Friday morning. His was one of the many operations and medical treatments halted across the country because of a global technology outage.

“It does really make you just realize how much we rely on technology and how scary it is,” Baulos said from her home in Chicago.

The major internet outage disrupted flights, banks and businesses, as well as medical centers, around the world. The outage was caused by a faulty software update issued by a cybersecurity firm that affected its customers running Microsoft Windows.

The American Hospital Association said the impact varied widely: Some hospitals were not affected while others had to delay, divert or cancel care.

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Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

This photo provided by the family in 2024 shows Gary Baulos, left, with his daughter, Alison, and her daughter, Athena, at the Art Institute of Chicago. Alison Baulos says her 73-year-old father was about to head to a Kentucky hospital for open-heart surgery when it was abruptly canceled Friday morning, July 19, 2024. His was one of the many operations and medical treatments halted across the country Friday because of a global technology outage. (Courtesy Alison Baulos via AP)

Patients in the dark on wait time data

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 19, 2024

For a government that ran on “fixing health care” and slashing long wait times for surgical procedures, the recent cancellation of cataract surgeries is bad news for the provincial NDP.

At least one patient, Ann Bowman, 72, spoke out this week after her cataract surgery was cancelled. She received a letter three weeks ago from her surgeon saying the provincial government did not renew its contract with a private clinic where she was supposed to have the procedure done on July 17. Her surgery will be rescheduled, but no date has been set.

Vision Group is one of the private clinics the province contracts with to perform surgeries. The province is being cagey about that contract and others the previous Progressive Conservative government signed on with.

The Manitoba government has been contracting with private clinics for certain medical procedures for decades, including cataracts. It’s unclear whether the new NDP government, which has stated often that it is no fan of private health care, will continue with those contracts or try to reduce the province’s reliance on them.

July 22, 2024

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