The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has long been a global leader in disease tracking and evidence-based medical guidelines, but recent funding cuts and firings have caused many to wonder whether the institution is still a trusted source. CBC’s Nisha Patel breaks down how some of those changes could put Canadians at risk.
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Topic: researchView all posts for the topic: research
Kids with COVID had a 50% to 60% higher risk of depression, anxiety in 2021, researchers say
Relative to uninfected children, COVID-19 patients aged 8 to 17 years were at a 49% higher risk for new-onset depression or anxiety in 2021, rising to 59% in those with severe illness, according to a University of Utah study published this week in PLOS One.
The researchers mined the Utah All Payers Claims Database to explore the link between COVID-19 infection, illness severity, and risk of depression and anxiety among 154,565 school-aged youth who had private insurance or Medicaid coverage. The average participant age was 10.8 years in 2019, when the study period began, and 48% were girls.
Key contributors to mental illness among children include the pandemic’s direct impacts on daily life, such as school closures, isolation from peers, and disrupted family routines, the authors noted.
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Six Nobel laureates speak out against Trump: ‘The closest analogy is with the Hitler regime’
In recent weeks, EL PAÍS contacted most of the Nobel Prize winners in Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine from the United States over the past 20 years with a questionnaire about Donald Trump’s policies on science, research, and health. The vast majority are established researchers — some even retired — who should not fear retaliation; but only a handful of them agreed to respond.
“Why am I sad?” writes Roald Hoffmann, winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. “We came to the U.S. when I was 11. Even as my parents could not work making full use of their training and talents, the country gave their child, me (and my sister, born here), a chance to get an education and to do wonderful research with talented coworkers from all over the world. If the Trump policies are carried through, the full flow of what I experienced will be very unlikely in the generation of my scientific grandchildren.”
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Environment Canada expands air alerts as wildfire smoke spreads over B.C.
VANCOUVER — Environment Canada’s special air-quality statements for wildfire smoke have now expanded to cover most of British Columbia, with air quality at its worst possible level in parts of the Fraser Valley.
The alerts advise people to limit or avoid outdoor activity and are now in place for all of B.C. outside of Vancouver Island, the Central and North Coast, Haida Gwaii and about a quarter of the province on its northern edge.
An air-quality warning continues to be in effect in Metro Vancouver, covered by orange smoke haze for a third day.
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Public Health Agency of Canada cutting hundreds of jobs
Approximately 320 jobs will be cut at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) as part of a “post pandemic calibration” at the federal department.
The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed to CTV News Ottawa a review of programs will result in job cuts to align department spending with approved funding for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
“As part of PHAC’s post-pandemic recalibration and ongoing efforts to adjust to new salary allocations, the agency must focus resources on government-funded priorities. This means re-prioritizing and streamlining some programs, and in some cases discontinuing work,” a PHAC spokesperson said in an email.
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Florida plans to become first state to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida plans to become the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates, a longtime cornerstone of public health policy for keeping schoolchildren and adults safe from infectious diseases.
State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who announced the decision Wednesday, cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as “immoral” intrusions on people’s rights that hamper parents’ ability to make health decisions for their children.
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Wildfire smoke prompts air quality warnings on B.C.’s South Coast
Air quality warnings have been issued for much of B.C.’s South Coast, where smoke wafting from wildfires on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border has created hazy skies.
Elevated levels of fine particulate matter have been detected across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley as a result, creating a risk of negative health effects.
The conditions are expected to last “a few days, or until there is a change in the weather,” according to a notice posted on the Metro Vancouver Regional District website on Wednesday.
As of the early afternoon, the smoke had pushed Vancouver to the top of a “most-polluted major city” ranking from IQAir, a Swiss company that develops air quality monitoring systems.
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Antihistamine nasal spray prevents COVID-19, study finds
Results from a single-center randomized controlled trial published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine show that azelastine, an antihistamine nasal spray used as a preventive measure, was associated with a 69% reduction of COVID-19 infection.
Azelastine is a widely available over-the-counter treatment for seasonal allergies (hay fever).
“This clinical trial is the first to demonstrate a protective effect in a real-world setting,” said Robert Bals, MD, PhD, a professor at Saarland University in Germany and senior author of the study, in a university press release.
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Horizon resumes mandatory masking as respiratory illnesses rise in N.B.
Horizon Health Network has reintroduced mandatory masking in all patient-facing clinical areas in all of its facilities, starting Wednesday, citing a rise in respiratory virus activity.
All health-care workers, patients, social visitors, and designated support people will be required to wear a medical grade face mask, also known as a surgical or procedure mask, at all times in all inpatient units, outpatient/ambulatory care clinics and emergency departments, and any other clinical setting, including waiting areas.
“With this upward trend, and knowing this time of year historically leads to further increase of viral transmission, Horizon is taking a proactive and precautionary measure,” the regional health authority said in a news release Tuesday.
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We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
We have each had the honor and privilege of serving as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, either in a permanent or acting capacity, dating back to 1977. Collectively, we spent more than 100 years working at the C.D.C., the world’s pre-eminent public health agency. We served under multiple Republican and Democratic administrations — every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump — alongside thousands of dedicated staff members who shared our commitment to saving lives and improving health.
What Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to the C.D.C. and to our nation’s public health system over the past several months — culminating in his decision to fire Dr. Susan Monarez as C.D.C. director days ago — is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced.
Secretary Kennedy has fired thousands of federal health workers and severely weakened programs designed to protect Americans from cancer, heart attacks, strokes, lead poisoning, injury, violence and more. Amid the largest measles outbreak in the United States in a generation, he’s focused on unproven “treatments” while downplaying vaccines. He canceled investments in promising medical research that will leave us ill prepared for future health emergencies. He replaced experts on federal health advisory committees with unqualified individuals who share his dangerous and unscientific views. He announced the end of U.S. support for global vaccination programs that protect millions of children and keep Americans safe, citing flawed research and making inaccurate statements. And he championed federal legislation that will cause millions of people with health insurance through Medicaid to lose their coverage. Firing Dr. Monarez — which led to the resignations of top C.D.C. officials — adds considerable fuel to this raging fire.
Comments closedTopic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines
CVS and Walgreens Clamp Down on Covid Vaccines in Many States
CVS and Walgreens, the country’s two largest pharmacy chains, are for now clamping down on offering Covid vaccines in more than a dozen states, even to people who meet newly restricted criteria from the Food and Drug Administration.
On Thursday, Amy Thibault, a spokeswoman for CVS, said the vaccine was not available at pharmacies in 16 states, citing “the current regulatory environment” and emphasizing that the list could change.
On Friday, CVS issued an update: It could administer vaccines in 13 of the 16 states, and in the District of Columbia, to people who had obtained a prescription from a doctor or other medical provider. (As of Friday morning, its online scheduling tool still did not allow anybody to book an appointment in those places; Ms. Thibault said an update was in progress.) In Massachusetts, Nevada and New Mexico, CVS still cannot offer the shots at all, Ms. Thibault said.
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Kennedy Sought to Fire C.D.C. Director Over Vaccine Policy
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. summoned Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to his office in Washington earlier this week to deliver an ultimatum.
She needed to fire career agency officials and commit to backing his advisers if they recommended restricting access to proven vaccines — or risk being fired herself, according to people familiar with the events.
Dr. Monarez’s refusal to do so led to an extraordinary standoff on Thursday that paralyzed the nation’s health agency, which is still reeling from mass layoffs and a shooting this month that killed a police officer and terrified employees.
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CDC director fired after she ‘refused to rubber-stamp’ Kennedy’s vaccine directives
Susan Monarez, PhD, was fired late yesterday as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after clashing with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccine policy.
The White House fired her after Monarez refused to resign, and the action kicked off a mass resignation wave of three of the CDC’s top officials: Debra Houry, MD, MPH, the CDC’s chief medical officer; Demetre Daskalakis, MD, MPH, head of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Daniel Jernigan, MD, MPH, head of the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. Earlier this week Jennifer Layden, MD, PhD, who led the Office of Public Health Data, also stepped down.
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CDC official in resignation letter says HHS policies ‘do not reflect scientific reality’
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official tasked with overseeing the nation’s vaccine policy resigned from his post Wednesday, shortly after the White House fired the agency’s director.
Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, cited his philosophical differences with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that “challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people,” adding, “Enough is enough.”
“I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health,” he wrote in his resignation letter, which he also posted on social media.
Comments closedTopic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis
Wildfires are reversing Canada’s progress on improving air quality
It’s hard not to forget the 2023 Canadian wildfire season, when more than 16 million hectares of forest were lost, thousands were displaced and smoke suffocated cities across both Canada and the U.S.
And it turns out Canada experienced its worst air pollution levels that year since 1998, according to a new report released today by the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI). At the same time, the report found that pollution levels didn’t change much for the rest of the world in 2023.
If those levels continued for a person’s lifetime, the average Canadian would lose roughly two years of their life expectancy, according to the report.
Efforts have been made around the world, including in Canada, to curb harmful emissions of fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, also known as PM 2.5. But wildfires are reversing those advances — with serious health consequences.
Comments closedTopic: RSVView all posts for the topic: RSV
Ontario to expand RSV vaccine availability for seniors 75 and older this fall
Beginning this fall, all Ontarians 75 and older will be eligible for a free shot that protects against respiratory syncytial virus.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones is scheduled to announce the expansion of public coverage for RSV vaccines on Wednesday, according to a Ministry of Health release that The Globe and Mail obtained in advance.
Until now, the Ontario government only paid for the RSV vaccine for seniors who were 60 and older and considered high risk, such as transplant recipients, dialysis patients and nursing home residents.
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