Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
An Ottawa-area woman has become the first in the country to test out a new kind of therapy for treatment-resistant infections that happen in some patients who receive hip or knee replacements.
Thea Turcotte, 79, was in the hospital with a life-threatening infection -- 15 surgeries over eight years had failed to clear the bacteria, and all antibiotics failed or caused her toxic side effects. Doctors told her they were running out of options.
"It was very scary, very nerve-wracking," said Turcotte.
By the time Dr. Marisa Azad, an infectious disease specialist at the Ottawa Hospital, saw Turcotte, she was in a crisis, with the infection causing an abscess on her hip with pus pouring out.
"It was terrible," said Azad who is also a researcher at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
"That's when I decided, you know, this is the end of the line here, we have to look at experimental therapies to try and save this poor woman's life," the doctor said.
Turcotte had to make a decision.
"There was no other choice, it was do or die," she said.
Phages are viruses that fight bacteria, long considered a fringe therapy, that have gained new and intense scientific interest because of rising rates of infections that can't be killed.
Azad pushed for an application to test phage therapy, gaining rare, federal permission for a one-patient use.
The phages were supplied by Winnipeg-based Cytophage, a biotechnology company specializing in bacteriophage therapy development.
Billions of phages were infused over two weeks into Turcotte's hip by IV.
"With each dose, signs of inflammation in the body interestingly went down. It was a very nice curve, a downward curve, and these blood markers showed that she responded very well to the therapy after just two weeks," said Azad.
Given that all standard antibiotics failed, or proved toxic, Azad said, "This is a very exciting moment for... Canadian medical research."
It's also a new form of personalized medicine.
Samples of the bacteria behind Turcotte's infection -- methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis -- were sent to Winnipeg to find the correct phage that would target and kill them.
"It took our researchers several weeks to find a match and develop the treatment," wrote Steven Theriault, CEO of Cytophage in an email to CTV News.
Phage scientist Steffanie Strathdee, co-director of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics and the associate dean of Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, says it's an important step.
"Health Canada's been criticized recently for its slow pace and approving compassionate use cases for phage therapy, and seeing Health Canada moving in this direction is terrific," said Strathdee.
Born and educated in Canada, Strathdee has become a fierce advocate for phage research detailed in her book "The Perfect Predator," which describes her journey to save her husband's life with phage therapy.
While it is early days, with Turcotte being monitored closely, Azad says she hopes to test the approach on at least four other patients, who risk losing their limbs or their lives to treatment-resistant joint infections.
Every year, about 130,000 Canadians get a new knee or hip replacement with one to two per cent developing infections.
In these cases, bacteria can stick to the foreign implant itself, creating what doctors call a "biofilm" that becomes difficult to eradicate. It can cause pain, erode bone and tissue, and often lead to revision surgeries to repair the damage around the implants. Occasionally, the entire limb requires amputation.
"I see them every week," said Azad. "They have severe depression, suicidal thoughts, you know, patients sometimes go on to have limb amputation, it's a nightmare," she told CTV News, adding, "I think one of the benefits of studies like this is to show that there is hope."
Phages exist in water, soil, and sewage, and act like viral smart bombs that attack bacteria. They target bacteria and inject their DNA to produce more phages until the microbes explode, expelling billions more phages that search for new targets.
They were co-discovered back in 1917 by French Canadian scientist Felix d'Herelle. He found they were adept at controlling outbreaks of dysentery and typhoid plague.
Phages were abandoned in favour of antibiotics, which could be mass-produced and were much more profitable.
Now, the rise of antimicrobial resistance poses a major threat to global health. Treatment-resistant bacteria was estimated to cause nearly 5 million deaths worldwide in 2019.
Phage research is moving ahead more quickly in Europe and the U.S., where researchers in Maryland reported in January of 2022, that a 64-year-old patient with chronic joint replacement infection was given phage therapy during her operation by IV, and was "able to achieve cure of her prosthetic joint infections."
Other phage treatment studies for infections after joint replacement show no severe side effects, with no signs of infection relapse after two years of follow-up.
Phage therapy, however, remains experimental and not available in Canada outside of clinical trials.
The Ottawa Hospital says it is not currently accepting patient referrals for phage therapy clinical trials, but individuals can search for clinical trials online, "and discuss any trials of interest with their health care provider."
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows. The village has been a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.