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Month: August 2025

Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Do you have long COVID? Here’s how to tell, and what we know about the condition so far

Published August 16, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Toronto Star
Published on:
By Kevin Jiang

It has been more than five years since the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet innumerable Canadians are still living with the consequences months or even years after their initial infection.

Much remains unknown about long COVID, or Post COVID Condition (PCC), despite the ailment affecting millions of Canadians and leaving thousands out of work. But as research continues to develop, scientists have gleaned some pieces of the puzzle.

Here’s what we know so far about what long COVID is, why it happens and how to tell if you have it.

Continue readingDo you have long COVID? Here’s how to tell, and what we know about the condition so far
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Topic: Trump regimeView all posts for the topic: Trump regime

Eli Lilly says it will raise drug prices in Europe to ‘make them lower’ in U.S.

Published August 14, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: STAT
Published on:
By Elaine Chen, Daniel Payne

Eli Lilly said Thursday that it would increase the prices of medicines in Europe and other developed markets “in order to make them lower” in the U.S., an apparent response to the Trump administration’s calls to do so. It singled out the list price of its popular weight-loss drug in the U.K. as part of that effort.

The announcement is among the first moves by a major drugmaker to raise prices abroad in order to lower them in the U.S., in line with President Trump’s agenda. But it’s not clear if these actions would actually increase the amount of revenue that Lilly earns abroad, since governments and private providers that cover drugs often negotiate discounts off the list prices. Lilly did not immediately announce any new price reductions in the U.S.

Continue readingEli Lilly says it will raise drug prices in Europe to ‘make them lower’ in U.S.
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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

‘Distracting the public’: group of health professionals call for RFK Jr to be removed

Published August 13, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Guardian
Published on:
By Melody Schreiber

A grassroots organization of health professionals have released a report outlining major health challenges in the US and calling for the removal of Robert F Kennedy Jr from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The report from Defend Public Health, a new organization of about 3,000 health professionals and allies, is an attempt to get ahead of misinformation and lack of information from health officials.

In an effort to keep making progress in public health, Defend Public Health’s report was slated to coincide with that of the anticipated second US report to “make America healthy again” (Maha). The first Maha report was released in May, and a second report was expected this week – but amid turmoil at the health agencies, it has reportedly been delayed for several weeks.

Continue reading‘Distracting the public’: group of health professionals call for RFK Jr to be removed
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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Funding Changes Might Leave BC’s Long-COVID Patients in the Lurch

Published August 12, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Tyee
Published on:
By Michelle Gamage

Upcoming changes to B.C.’s Medical Services Plan could affect how thousands of long-COVID patients access care.

Starting Sept. 1, MSP is capping all online group medical visits to just 20 patients, to “ensure there can still be a one-on-one interaction between each patient and the attending physician,” the Health Ministry told The Tyee.

Most long-COVID care in B.C. is currently delivered through large online group telehealth sessions from the Bowen Island-based BC Centre for Long COVID, ME/CFS, and Fibromyalgia, or BC-CLMF, which currently has over 5,200 patients — with 25 more referred every day, Dr. Ric Arseneau told The Tyee.

Continue readingFunding Changes Might Leave BC’s Long-COVID Patients in the Lurch
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Topic: researchView all posts for the topic: research

Lab-made sugar-coated particle blocks Covid-19 infection — Possible new treatment on the horizon

Published August 11, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Swansea University
Published on:

Groundbreaking research led by a Swansea University academic has revealed a synthetic glycosystem — a sugar-coated polymer nanoparticle — that can block Covid-19 from infecting human cells, reducing infection rates by nearly 99%.

The glycosystem is a specially designed particle that mimics natural sugars found on human cells. These sugars, known as polysialosides, are made of repeating units of sialic acid — structures that viruses often target to begin infection. By copying this structure, the synthetic molecule acts as a decoy, binding to the virus’s spike protein and preventing it from attaching to real cells.

Unlike vaccines, which trigger immune responses, this molecule acts as a physical shield, offering a novel approach to infection prevention.

Continue readingLab-made sugar-coated particle blocks Covid-19 infection — Possible new treatment on the horizon
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Topic: war on scienceView all posts for the topic: war on science

RFK Jr.’s war on mRNA vaccines breeds distrust, threatens Canada’s access to development: experts

Published August 8, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – Canadian doctors and scientists say Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s defunding of mRNA vaccine research and development projects will have negative health effects in Canada and around the world.

“I think that Canadians do need to understand that this and a lot of the changes that Kennedy is making to vaccination policy in particular are definitely going to affect Canadians,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.

Unlike other vaccines, mRNA vaccines can be made very quickly. They can also be easily modified to fight new viruses and adapt to changing strains — something that we saw as new variants emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rasmussen said.

Continue readingRFK Jr.’s war on mRNA vaccines breeds distrust, threatens Canada’s access to development: experts
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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

HHS scraps further work on life-saving mRNA vaccine platform

Published August 6, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CIDRAP
Published on:
By Mary Van Beusekom

In what experts say will hobble pandemic preparedness, US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday announced the dismantling of the country’s mRNA vaccine-development programs—the same innovation that allowed rapid scale-up of COVID-19 vaccines during the public health emergency.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine-development contracts totaling just under $500 million, including an award to Moderna/University of Texas Medical Branch for a vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu now sweeping the world. That grant was terminated in late May.

Contracts awarded to Emory University and Tiba Biotech were cancelled, and agreements with Luminary Labs, ModeX, and Seqirus have been scaled back.

Continue readingHHS scraps further work on life-saving mRNA vaccine platform
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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada likely to lose measles elimination status as outbreak continues: expert

Published August 6, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News
Published on:
By Pauline Chan

Canada is at risk of losing its measles elimination status as an outbreak that started in New Brunswick last year continues to grow.

Measles has been considered eliminated in Canada since 1998, and the country saw an average of 91 cases annually before October 2024, when the outbreak began. The designation means that, within a certain geographical region, there has been no sustained measles transmission over 12 consecutive months.

Since then, of the 4,394 measles infections nationwide, Health Canada data shows that most individuals were exposed to the virus domestically (94 per cent) and were not vaccinated (88 per cent).

Continue readingCanada likely to lose measles elimination status as outbreak continues: expert
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Topic: wildfiresView all posts for the topic: wildfires

What’s all this wildfire smoke doing to your health? Here’s what experts have to say

Published August 6, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Heather Kitching

People who breathe air polluted with large amounts of wildfire smoke visit hospital emergency rooms more often for respiratory symptoms, according to a Canadian emergency room physician and chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance.

Rates of heart attack and cardiac arrest also increase after a couple of days of exposure, Dr. Courtney Howard said.

“So don’t just attribute that feeling of heaviness in your chest to asthma,” said Howard, who works in Yellowknife and is president of the Northwest Territories Medical Association.

“If you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease especially, go see your friendly local emergency department.”

Continue readingWhat’s all this wildfire smoke doing to your health? Here’s what experts have to say
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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development

Published August 6, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Associated Press
Published on:
By Amanda Seitz

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a statement Tuesday that 22 projects, totaling $500 million, to develop vaccines using mRNA technology will be halted.

Kennedy’s decision to terminate the projects is the latest in a string of decisions that have put the longtime vaccine critic’s doubts about shots into full effect at the nation’s health department. Kennedy has pulled back recommendations around the COVID-19 shots, fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, and refused to offer a vigorous endorsement of vaccinations as a measles outbreak worsened.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta’s Perverse New Barriers to COVID Vaccines

Published August 5, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Tyee
Published on:
By Andrew Nikiforuk

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s radical new rules for COVID immunization pose a genuine threat to the elderly, the working poor and pregnant moms.

Smith, who revived her ailing political career by peddling conspiratorial COVID theories, has designed a program that is not only punitive but discriminatory, bureaucratic and Soviet in nature.

“This policy is so bad that it’s actually worse than their usual failure to plan properly,” said James Talbot, the province’s former chief medical officer of health. “In fact, it is so bad it looks like they are actually planning to fail.”

Here are the three basic tenets of any successful public health program: make it available, make it accessible and make it affordable. Smith turns all three upside down.

Continue readingAlberta’s Perverse New Barriers to COVID Vaccines
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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Bird Flu May Be Airborne on Dairy Farms, Scientists Report

Published August 4, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The New York Times
Published on:
By Apoorva Mandavilli, Emily Anthes

The bird flu virus that has beset dairy farms since early last year may be spreading through the air in so-called milking parlors and through contaminated wastewater, as well as from milking equipment, scientists have found.

The Department of Agriculture has said that the virus spreads primarily from milking equipment or is carried by dairy workers and vehicles traveling between farms.

But in the new study, scientists found live virus in the air of milking facilities, suggesting that cows and farmworkers might have become infected by inhaling the pathogen. The virus may also spread by water used to clean cattle barns or contaminated with discarded milk.

Continue readingBird Flu May Be Airborne on Dairy Farms, Scientists Report
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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Wildfire smoke blanketing Ottawa could linger into Tuesday

Published August 4, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News
Published on:
By Ted Raymond

Environment Canada says a cloud of wildfire smoke that is covering the nation’s capital could hang overhead into Tuesday.

A special air quality statement is in effect for much of the region as smoke continues to affect most of southern and eastern Ontario.

“The wildfire smoke may persist into tonight and possibly Tuesday before finally easing,” Environment Canada says. “Air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour.”

Continue readingWildfire smoke blanketing Ottawa could linger into Tuesday
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