Kashechewan children's ailments not a medical emergency: Health Canada

Doctors flown into the Kashechewan First Nation in northern Ontariosay they have identified dozens of children with skin conditions,but say it is not amedical emergency.

The community requested that the doctors visit the Cree community of about 1,800 after photos posted on Facebook showed two children with alarming-looking skin lesions.

The fly-in community is located on the Albany River near James Bay hundreds of kilometres north of Sudbury.

Deputy Chief Amos Wesley saiddoctors told him Wednesday afternoon that there are 34 children, and possibly one adult, witha skin condition.

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NDP Timmins-James Bay MPP Charlie Angus updates us on the skin problems afflicting some children in Kashechewan. Some believe the community's drinking water is to blame, but the government says that's not true.

The diagnoses in the children, aged one to the mid-teens, are scabies, mild impetigo and eczema, said Keith Conn, associate deputy minister of Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health branch.

Conn, however, said there are 26 cases, not 34. It is not clear where the discrepancy comes from.

Most common diagnosis: eczema

Dr. Gordon Green, a family doctor and the chief of staff for theWeeneebaykoAreaHealth Authority, was one of the doctors who visited the community this week.

Green said 23 of the 34 people he examined have eczema.

"Most of it was mild. One of them was sort of moderate to severe and that is one that we will get a second opinion from a dermatologist for," said Green.

Green said other people were diagnosed with acne, psoriasis, and one person had a mild case of impetigo.

"We were so pleased that it was very mild skin conditions andfor the most part the families were handlingthese quite well," added Green.

Green did not say that any of the people he examined had scabies, which Connhadsaid earlier was one of the diagnoses.

Conn said all of those affected have just one of the skin conditions. Earlier, he had said it was not clear whether some of the people were affected by more than one condition.

Green said most of the patients are being treated with creams and have been advised of what can worsen their conditions, such as very hot water and dryness, in the case of eczema.

Three children, including the two in the Facebook photos, are being treated outside the community, said Conn, because their cases were "exacerbated" by conditions at home.

Three other children are being monitored in case they need outside treatment.

"Ifound those images that were posted very alarming, too," said Green. "Those were significant, and when we arrived here we were quite worried that we were going to see many more people with very significant skin conditions, but we did not we were very pleased to announce that we did not see those very worrisome skin conditionsor those that needed emergency followup."

One of the children that appeared in the photos is being treated in Moose Factory, Ont., and doing well, he said. Another is in Timmins and another in Kingston.

People fearful of water supply

As for the underlying causes of these skin conditions, Conn saidhe couldn't get into that.

He would only say that people do seem fearful of their water andare concerned that the treatment plant isn't functioning.ButConnsaidthe waterhas been tested and is clean.

"Health Canada has deployed a secondary run of tests yesterday, so we'll have someresults back in a few days," he said.

The community has been concerned about the water quality issues as being a link or a cause.- KeithConn,First Nations and Inuit Health

"The community has been concerned about the water quality issues as being a link or a cause, but there's been no evidence of such and the community has a regular testing of water quality. They have a water plant that is functioning to standard."

The perception of some community membersthat the skin rashes arelinked to the water is "a trust issue," Conn said. "The water results are meeting provincial and Canada safedrinkingwater guidelines."

A doctor who has worked in the region and was there during an outbreak of skin conditions in 2005 said it's easy for these skin conditions to develop.

Dr. Murray Trusler, whowas chief of staff at the Weeneebayko Aboriginal Health Authority until 2008,has been involved in teleconference calls on the current issues.

The children in the community tend to have skin that is dry and susceptible to eczema, Trusler said.

If they scratch their dry skin, he said, that allows for bacteria to get in and form the scabbing and rashes.Overcrowding also lends itself to spreading the infections, he said.

Other factors that could make children feel itchy would be elevatedchlorine in the water.

However, Alvin Fiddler, the grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said independent testing of the water and plant is the only way to address the community's mistrust.

"One of the immediate things that we're seeking is an outside, independent team to go in there and assess their water, the quality of the water, to assure the community thatit is safe, it is safe for them to drink, and also to continue the house-to-house visits to ensure that other children who may be at risk are getting the attention they need," said Fiddler.

Carolyn Bennett, minister of indigenous and northern affairs, noted that previous water concerns in the community had eroded trust.

"It's going to take a long time to build back the trust, and that's why we're committed to do it," she told CBC's Power & Politics, touting her government's increased funding for indigenous communities, which was announced in Tuesday's budget.

"We want them to know when they turn on the tap that it's clean and that it's tested as often as is necessary to ensure and to build back the confidence."

Eczema triggers

Green said dry air can trigger eczema, andovercrowding can also play a part.

"We're not seeing a medical emergency here, but from a social perspective, we are seeing significant problems," he said.

Green said that many of the people he visited live in overcrowdedhousesin one case, 13 people were living in a three-bedroom house with one bathroom.

He said access to food is expensive and limited, and heating is also very costly.

"This is a difficult place to live. Even buying detergent is very, very expensive up here," he said.

Green said doctors will be visiting the community again in the next few weeks to follow up on patients.

He added that 10 to 20 per cent of people will haveeczemaonce in their life.

"I'm not sure if the numbers we're seeing are higher than that percentage. So this may just be a normal variation."