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The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 11, 2002 - A3 Most humans only experience mild symptoms (Continued from page A1) Residents urged to take precautions (Continued from page A1) WNV victim in three years is John Stevens, 51, who believes he was infected near his home in Burlington. Health officials believe Stevens, a truck driver, was infected while driving through Mississippi at the end of July. "The person likely con tracted the virus while travel ing outside Canada," said Dr. Nosal. Stevens got the confirma tion from his doctor on Friday and spent the afternoon con ducting media interviews from his home. "It didn't surprise me. I was 100 per cent confident I had this virus," said Stevens, who has made a full recovery and has been told he likely now has full immunity from the virus. Stevens became ill with severe flu-like symptoms -- body aches, fever, chills and "a rash from head to foot" -- in early August. "I was scared," he said. "I thought I might die." Canada's only other con firmed case of West Nile was an elderly Ontario man who died after contracting the virus during a visit to New York City in 1999. Dr. Rau - who is also affil iated with Mississauga's Credit Valley Hospital - says he encounters perhaps one case of encephalitis a month. (There are more common causes for this than WNV.) During the period of August 22-26, however, he encoun tered a "cluster" of seven cases between the two hospi tals. "It was a sleepless week," said Dr. Rau who, after recog nizing this abnormal pattern, contacted public health offi cials in Halton" and Peel Regions. "It was one of the most fascinating weeks in my career." This alert allowed Dr. Rau to bypass traditional protocols and expedite testing of the individuals in question. One reason for the lag time in con firmation is the nature of the testing itself (initial tests are often negative) which requires procedures that simply can't be rushed. Tests for final confirmation on the probable cases are now being conducted at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and results are expected by the end of the week. One case, said Dr. Rau. could be confirmed as early as today. At a press conference Friday afternoon, the province's medical officer of health downplayed the seri ousness of the virus. "I am not concerned about this. I don't view it as signifi cant. I view it as something of interest that keeps you folks in business," Dr. Colin D'Cunha told reporters. "It's a new dis ease in the Canadian context. It has an exotic sounding name, but should that translate into panic? No. I would tell people to keep in mind over 99 per cent of people who get it have mild symptoms and recover normally and natural ly " What the first human cases have done, said Dr. Rau, is make citizens sit up and take notice and realize that the pre ventive measures against mosquitoes may in fact have an impact on their health. As for whether or not he expects more people to con tract WNV, Dr. Rau said cases of encephalitis - caused by the virus or another factor - have already dropped off from the "flurry" at the end of August. Infection may also be lim ited because exposure depends on a specific variety of female mosquito which is in a certain stage of its life cycle when it presents a dan ger. Dr. Rau said the "next wave" of cases could else where, especially if many people in this area have become immune to WNV after contracting the mild, and virtually unnoticeable, form. -- With files from Torstar News Service. CO N STR U CTIO N ZONE · Don't let water, like that bird baths, to stand more than four days. · Remove or drain standing water from containers such as flower pots, wheelbarrows, children's toys, discard ed tires or tin cans. · Don't let water, like that bird baths, y f stand more than four days. · Remove or drain standing water from containers such as flower pots, wheelbarrows, children's toys, discard ed tires or tin cans. · Immediately remove any water col lected on pool covers and tum over wad ing pools when not in use. · Ensure your pool pump is circulat ing water properly. ·Aerate ornamental ponds and stock with fish that eat mosquito larvae. · Keep eaves and gutters clear of debris so water won't accumulate and check flat roofs for standing water. Make sure drainage ditches are not clogged. · Immediately throw away lawn cut tings, raked leaves and other decaying items such as apples or berries in sealed garbage bags. · Tum over compost piles on a regu lar basis. · Fill in any low depression areas in lawns. · If possible, remove dense shrubbery where mosquitoes breed and rest. · Let your neighbours know about potential breeding areas on their prop erties. Barrie Erskine · O ak\iU e Beaver \ D O C T O R 'S rO F F IC E (Dorval Dr. and North Service Rd. W. in Oakville Town Centre I r T H E Signs warn motorists about impending construction on Trafalgar Road. Trafalgar Road's `shave and pave' will cause some lane closures Trafalgar Road will likely be a place to avoid during the night time hours over the coming weeks. The portion of the road that passes over the Queen Elizabeth Way is scheduled to undergo a facelift, or what the Ministry of Transportation calls a "shave and pave." Starting tonight (Wednesday) around 10 p.m., rotating lane clo sures will begin, to allow crews an opportunity to work on the road. Closures will continue nightly, with the road fully re-opened by 6 a.m. each morning. At times during the road work, access to the QEW will be limited The "shave" portion of the work will be completed first, leaving the road with a rough surface. Following that, paving will be done, but Ministry spokesperson Will MacKenzie couldn't say precisely how long the job will take. YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD WALK-IN MEDICAL CENTRE > Open 7 days a week > All general health concerns > Minor emergency care > Allergy shots > Wart Treatments Dr o n te Fo o t & A n k l e C l in ic F o o t P a in A n k l e P a in K n e e P a in (In s u ra n c e c o v e re d ) > On site lab facilities Open: Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m . Friday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m . Saturday, Sunday, Holidays, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m . F R E E C o n s u lta tio n s (905) 8 2 7 - 3 2 0 0 B R O N T E V IL L A G E M A L L 2441 Lakeshore Rd. W. Oakville P le a se call 905-338-3730 for further in fo rm a tio n " I L i k e th e P la c e , T h e r e a re L o v e ly P e o p le H e r e By B ill Dodge ADVERTISING FEATURE oris B oone moved to Ontario 16 years ago. Originally from Montreal she relocated to Burlington after the french language issue becam e a strong political on e in the 1980's. She retired here, and spent her days socializing with friends and enjoying daily outings. She has on e son, Dennis Brown o f Whitby, 4 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. D Doris gave up her apartm ent and moved in to,Lakeshore Place in Burlington where she enjoyed the people and the daily activities, but missed the ind ep en d en ce that her apartment afforded her. Her suite only had a microwave and did not allow her to bake and cook as she has always enjoyed.' H er niece teaches com puters to the residents at Q u een 's Avenue and recom m ended that she take a look at the facility in Oakville. T he suites all have fully serviced kitchens and Doris saw the opportunity to regain the independence that she enjoyed. "I like to bake muffins and the stove in my studio allows me to do that. I can also prepare my own lunches for myself. I missed that at the other place," says Doris. She can now prepare her own breakfasts and lunches on her schedule and eats dinner in the main dining room . "I have a great bunch to eat with at the Dinner Table." "T he meals are good, there are three choices every night, and if you d o n 't want on e there are always other ch oices." Doris also noted that she likes the security o f the 24 hour medic alert monitoring. "It is just as good as having 24 hour a day nurses available, if you n eed help . there is always Dons Boone som eone there." Unlike other facilities where the nursing staff may be on one floor and not accessible if you can not get to them personally, the monitoring system gets help to you immediately. She has also just recendy taken to the exercise room and has started to ride the stationary bike for a half hour a day and is looking forward to the arts and craft classes starting as well. "T here is always som ething to do and the people here are w onderful." With all the am enities o f hom e Q u een 's Avenue Retirement Residence allows you to have an ind ependent and personal lifestyle. It has eight floors, spacious suites and one bedroom and two bedroom apartments ranging in sizes from 370 to 775 square feet. All are equipped with full kitchens, a sitting area, full bathrooms with walk-in seated showers, and 24 hour m edic alert monitoring. The facility is secure with automatic keyless building door entries and all entries are locked and m onitored by closed circuit television. For m ore inform ation regarding occupancy, visit them at 1056 Q u een 's Ave., or call 905-815-0862 website: www.caretendersinc.com N o th in g Has C h a n g e d Except O u r Future. 131111 Just five years ago, Byk Canada had launched over the next few years. On July 1, 2002 our name will change to ALTANA Pharma Inc. But our commitment to the health of Canadians will not. three employees and the plan to launch a promising new drug called PAN TO LO C .* Today, we have successful products in PANTOLOC and its intravenous form, PANTO® IV. And now, over 150 employees strong, we look to the future with enthusiasm and optimism. Several promising new products, being developed in Canada, for asthma, COPD and gastrointestinal diseases will be ALTANA ALTANA Pharm a Inc. 1275 North Service Road West Suite 705, O akville. ON L6M 3G4 www .altanapharm a.ca t ® are Registered Trademarks of ALTANA Pharma.