Family, community shocked by Nunavik man’s TB death

There are still active cases of TB elsewhere in Kangiqsualujjuaq, where a young man died of the infection in 2017. The community saw a major TB outbreak in 2012. (FILE PHOTO)

The family of a young Nunavik man who died of tuberculosis last year says his death came as a shock.

The 22-year-old man was discovered by family members on the evening of June 3, 2017 at his home in Kagniqsualujjuaq. He was found dead, lying on the couch in front of the television.

He had last been seen alive that morning.

“It was shocking,” said one of the family members who discovered the man, and who did not want their family’s name made public.

This is the first TB-related death seen in Nunavik in many decades.

Relatives initially thought the man’s death was related to a heart problem he suffered. But a preliminary pathology report indicated that TB was somehow involved.

Family members were screened, but none were found to be carriers of the infection.

There are still active cases of TB elsewhere in the community, which has struggled with TB since a major outbreak in 2012.

In a report prepared by coroner Jean Brochu, completed in December 2017, Brochu concludes the cause of the man’s death was pulmonary tuberculosis.

The coroner found the man’s lungs were heavy; the two upper lobes of lungs were “completely consolidated, with abscesses.”

According to the report, the man had been in contact with someone diagnosed with TB, but he did not follow recommendations to visit the health centre to be screened.

The report noted that the man was a smoker and had a serious dependence on alcohol.

It is possible, the report concludes, that heavy drinking and smoking masked the symptoms of TB: coughing, night sweats, fatigue and general changes to his health.

But the coroner’s report also noted there was no alcohol in the man’s system at the time he died.

TB went unnoticed in another young Inuk: Ileen Kooneeliusie, a 15-year-old girl from Qikiqtarjuaq who was reportedly diagnosed with the infection the same day that she died in January 2017.

Federal health authorities have teamed up with the territorial government to host a major screening clinic in that Nunavut community, where an estimated 10 per cent of the population is currently infected with TB.

In Nunavik, health officials sit on the federal task force which is working to create a framework designed to eliminate TB across Inuit Nunangat.