Week 3: Chickenpox and Chai lattes

Sunlight count: 4h 32min (Sunrise 11:24  Sunset 15:56)

Temperature: -12 C and snowing. Wind chill -17 C. (Still warmer than the seasonal normal temperatures of high: -18 and low -27 C!)

Medical highlight: There's an outbreak of Chickenpox in Inuvik! We traced the first few cases back to the baptist church sunday school, but it's spread beyond that now, infecting both previously immunized and unimmunized kids. The varicella vaccine, typically given at 12 months of age, has been a part of the regular childhood schedule of immunizations in most provinces for over 10 years now. In NWT, it was recommended just earlier this year to include a second "booster" shot of the vaccine just before children enter kindergarden, as there is evidence that the immunity wanes over time, but this hasn't seen universal uptake yet I don't think.  A one-dose varicella vaccination has been shown to reduce the incidence of varicella disease by 64%, which is substantial, but still means that some kids who get vaccinated will get the disease. However, it's generally understood that kids who are vaccinated but still get the chickenpox generally have a less severe form of the disease, with fewer hospitalizations, deaths, and less risk of zoster ("shingles") in the long run. And this is what we've seen - these immunized but infected kids have a rash but do not look unwell or get a fever. It's generally a pretty mild disease, especially if you get it when young, which is why when we were kids our parents all made us go over and play with other infected kids. The main reason for immunizing is to prevent the serious (but rare) complications of pneumonia, encephalitis, and secondary skin infections. I hadn't seen a case of chickenpox since I was a kid, so it was good to remember to keep it on the differential for the kid with a rash.

Musings for the week: I thought this would be a good time to take you on a little tour around town. We've been able to get out and explore a little bit, mostly on the weekends, and there are a few things to keep us entertained here. It's a small town to be sure, but it does have enough tourists and a steady stream of business people coming through to support a commercial downtown. The constant sunrise/sunset lighting with the sun always on the horizon also gives amazing lighting for photos this time of year!

Out for a walk. Thanks to Kara Schneider for lending me the warm coat!

Cafe Gallery - our Saturday afternoon hangout

There's an amazing little coffee shop, Cafe Gallery, that serves up home baked goodies, yummy soups and sandwiches, in addition to espresso based coffee drinks and a delicious Spicy Ginger Chai Latte.

The 'Smarties' Houses! 

There are very colourful groups of houses here. You can also see the 'Utilidors' to the right of the houses in this photo: these are the covered above-ground pipe systems that flow between all the buildings here (no way to bury them in the permafrost!)

The old school building. 

The Sir Alexander Mackenzie school opened in 1959 and served as the residential school for the western Arctic. There was one wing with an adjacent residence run by the Anglicans, and one wing with it's own residence, run by the Catholics. Historically, the 'Anglican' kids were mostly Inuvialuit (Inuit) and the 'Catholic' ones were mostly Gwich'in (Dene Indian) people. This school, and the other secular school in town, both closed in 2012 and a $110 million new school opened last fall - known as the new 'superschool'.

The MacKenzie Hotel. And Inuvik's one stoplight.

The MacKenzie Hotel is a long-time fixture in town, although the management has changed hands a few times I gather. There is a decent restaurant and a pub-style bar on the main floor, which is always a good place to grab a Lead Dog Ale (on the rare weekend we aren't on call!)

The 'Igloo Church' (Our Lady of Victory)

The Igloo Church is known to have the best acoustics in town, and hosts a number of concerts throughout the year. Last Wednesday I got to see Harry Manx play here. He is an incredible artist who lives on Salt Spring Island, who plays guitar, slide guitar, banjo, and sitar in a wild mix of musical styles. I highly recommend checking him out on cbc: http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Harry-Manx

The post office. All addresses are a PO box here.

The sketchiest restaurant in town

A news stand?

The most northern Mosque in the world.

The Midnight Sun Complex

We've been getting out fairly regularly to the gym at the community sports complex. A monthly pass gets you a swipe card with 24 hour access to the equipment. There's also an amazing pool (which I haven't made use of yet), and squash courts! There's a good group of people here who play squash so we've been getting out most weekends. Not the sport I was expecting to be popular up north, but it's pretty awesome.

That's all for this week. Next weekend is the annual Christmas Arts & Crafts sale - people from all over the region bring in handmade clothing, arts and crafts to sell in the community centre gym. Apparently it's an easy place to spend a few thousand dollars... any requests?!