Bonnie Henry

The ‘detective work’ behind tracking legionella, Quebec’s silent killer

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Eric Labbe/Le Soleil

ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY

Sept. 1, 2012 – Globe and Mail

The trickiest thing about legionella, the deadly bacterium that has killed nine people in Quebec City and sickened 158, is that it could be anywhere.

It’s entirely possible there’s a species in your nasal passages right now. Chances are you’ll be fine.

But for the very old, the very young, smokers or people with battered immune systems, inhaled bacteria can cause severe pneumonia that can kill up to a third of those it infects.

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Canada’s pandemic response needs work, federal health agency says

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Photo by Henry Romero/Reuters

April 3, 2012 – Globe and Mail

ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY

There are still serious shortcomings in the way public-health bodies communicate with physicians, nurses and pharmacists on the front lines of a pandemic, says the Public Health Agency of Canada.

And almost three years after a flu pandemic put the country on high alert, the federal agency has put out a call for a new strategy to improve communication with clinicians during pandemic response.

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