Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press

Amid a rise in measles cases in other countries and a handful of confirmed cases in Canada, the national public health agency "strongly advises" everyone check that they're fully immunized against measles, especially before travelling.

About one in nine Canadian adults have had long-term symptoms from COVID-19 infection, according to a Statistics Canada report issued Friday. 

That amounts to 3.5 million Canadians, it said. 

Almost 80 per cent of those people with long-term symptoms have them for six months or more, the report said, including 42 per cent who had them for a year or more. 

Health Canada has granted approval to lift a ban on blood donations from people who lived or travelled in the United Kingdom, Ireland or France for long periods of time in the 1980s and 1990s, Canadian Blood Services said Wednesday. 

The ban was adopted more than two decades ago by blood agencies in many countries to prevent the transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease — the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or "mad cow disease."

A new toll-free, three-digit suicide prevention helpline launched across Canada on Thursday morning.

People having suicidal thoughts or other mental health distress can now call or text 988 to reach a trained responder 24 hours a day, seven days a week — no matter where they live in the country.

Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) says people should get another COVID-19 vaccine booster in the fall if it's been at least six months since their last dose or COVID-19 infection. 

It says the booster doses will be new formulations updated to target more recent, immune-evasive variants. 

NACI continues to strongly recommend that anyone five years of age and older who hasn't yet been vaccinated should be immunized with a primary two-dose series of an mRNA vaccine. 

The season for pool parties, beach excursions and trips to the cottage has begun. Sadly, some of these events turn tragic each year and drowning is the second leading cause of preventable death for children under 10 years old in Canada. 

Here are some tips from the Lifesaving Society of Canada on how to keep your kids — and yourself — safe:  

When kids are in the water, they should always be within arm's reach of an adult. It only takes seconds for a child to drown. 

When Samantha Mackey was diagnosed with celiac disease a few years ago, she was relieved that there was something she could do to finally stop feeling sick. 

But the diagnosis also "turns your life upside down," she said.  

"I can remember, you know, once standing in a supermarket and just wanting to cry because being so overwhelmed by the amount of effort that goes into just a basic need of groceries,” said Mackey, who lives in Conception Bay South, N.L.

Canada's chief public health officer says COVID-19 is still circulating at a "relatively high level" and other strains of influenza may surge in the new year.

At the same time, governments need to invest in preparing for and preventing future epidemics, Dr. Theresa Tam says.

Canadian superstar Céline Dion's Instagram announcement that she has been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome is sparking questions about the rare and widely unknown disease. 

The condition is a "neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease," according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in the U.S.  

The name doesn't do justice to the pain and life-changing symptoms the syndrome causes, said Tara Zier, founder of the Stiff Person Syndrome Research Foundation.