The Directorate of Public Health of Estrie will reveal, Tuesday evening during a public meeting, that a majority of cases of people with amyotrophic side sclerosis (SLA) in the MRC of Val-Saint-François since 2012 resided near a body of water. The cases are not grouped only in the Windsor sector.
It was this municipality which had so far particularly caught attention since a citizen had identified 18 cases of the disease in the sector.
Public health, which sparked an investigation following this report, is now advancing the figure of 20 cases under study
but the checks are not over. Other cases could be added or some may be removed. The incidence rate which is generally retained in the scientific literature is two new cases per year per 100,000 inhabitants.
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Case mapping in the SLA study in the MRC of Val-Saint-François.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Crist
In an interview with Radio-Canada, the medical adviser at the Directorate of Public Health of Estrie, Mélissa Généreux, explains that six of the 20 people with the disease lived in Windsor. All the others [cas] come from other municipalities in Val-Saint-François. It rectifies this perception that many had that the cases are concentrated in Windsor.
Near water bodies
DRE Généreux notes that several cases listed, notably in Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton, Richmond and Windsor, are near water bodies like little Lac Saint-François and the river of the same name. I would say that it still caught our attention
she underlines.
We still have a few studies that have noticed that by border lakes or bodies of water, it would sometimes seem to have more cases.
Some toxins present in blue-green algae are suspected of being a risk factor in the SLA. Exposure to one of these toxins, the BMAA, coming from cyanobacteria, is notably strongly suspected of being the source of Guam Island Syndrome
.
For the moment, no cause and effect link has been proven. We have no risk factor which is officially recognized in connection with the environment
generous dre nuance.
She believes that no hypothesis should not be excluded, because in addition to cyanobacteria, the list of factors [probables] is long
. In particular, there is exposure to certain metals, air pollutants, wild fungi and industrial contaminants. It would be a mistake to stick your nose on a contaminant and forget the range still quite wide of contaminants.
A questionnaire to continue the investigation
A questionnaire will soon be sent to families of people with SLA in order to help public health continue its analysis of plausible environmental factors. Questions about their frequentations of water bodies will be included.
Public health is inspired by a protocol developed by public health in France.
We may come to the conclusion that there is no environmental cause identified to explain the disease in affected people. But if this is the case, we will have made all the efforts required to reach this conclusion
mentions in a written declaration the director of public health of Estrie, Isabelle Samson.
Too many cases in the MRC compared to the rest of the province?
Public health is currently unable to confirm whether there are too many ALS cases in Estrie compared to the rest of the province. It’s easier to say than to do
generous dre slice by invoking the complexity of the approach. first of all, there is no register of people with the disease.
I like it me when things go fast, but to go too quickly, we would jump stages, we would risk arriving at bad conclusions.
There is also no accessible repertoire of all people who have already lived in the MRC of Val-Saint-François since 2012. Information that would make it possible to establish the incidence rate, that is to say the number of cases compared to the entire population. We must call on the health insurance management of Quebec which follows over time the addresses of people and which could give us this famous total number of people that we must put to the denominator to calculate our rate.
Dre generous understands the eagerness of the population to obtain answers and it indicates that they will come soon. We are perfectly aware that it can be anxiety-provoking, it generates concerns, concerns, she underlines. I want to tell the population that if we had [actuellement] of the data which shows us that there is matter to worry [sur un facteur environnemental]they would be the first to know. That [nombre de cas] Maybe completely random, due to chance.
To continue the procedures, a Expanded expertise team
composed in particular of experts in neurology and environment will be formed. A follow -up committee will also be established to keep the community informed. DRE generous indicates that the team wants to be transparent with the population.
An epidemiological study could then be launched if the aggregate is confirmed.
