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Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Ontario sees another sharp rise in measles cases while outbreaks grow in Quebec, Alberta

There’s been another sharp increase in Ontario measles cases as the province begins to release weekly reports on the infectious disease.

Public Health Ontario is reporting 470 measles cases since an outbreak began in October. That’s an increase of 120 cases since March 14.

The spread resulted in 34 hospitalizations, including two people who needed intensive care. Most of those hospitalized were unvaccinated kids, including one of the intensive care patients.

The outbreak expansion adds to the growing concern of rising measles cases in different parts of the country, including in Quebec where there are 40 cases and Alberta where there are 13, according to the latest data.

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Smartwatch Data: Study Finds Early Health Differences in Long COVID Patients

People who later experienced persistent shortness of breath or fatigue after a COVID infection were already taking significantly fewer steps per day and had a higher resting heart rate before contracting the virus, according to a CSH study published in npj Digital Medicine. This may indicate lower fitness levels or pre-existing conditions as potential risk factors

Between April 2020 and December 2022, over 535,000 people in Germany downloaded and activated the Corona Data Donation App (CDA). Of these, more than 120,000 voluntarily shared daily data from their smartwatches and fitness trackers with researchers, providing insights into vital functions such as resting heart rate and step count.

“These high-resolution data served as the starting point for our study,” explains CSH researcher Katharina Ledebur. “We were able to compare vital signs in 15-minute intervals before, during, and after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

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Trump’s EPA aims to cut pollution rules projected to save nearly 200,000 lives: ‘People will be hurt’

A push by Donald Trump’s administration to repeal a barrage of clean air and water regulations may deal a severe blow to US public health, with a Guardian analysis finding that the targeted rules were set to save the lives of nearly 200,000 people in the years ahead.

Last week, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provoked uproar by unveiling a list of 31 regulations it will scale back or eliminate, including rules limiting harmful air pollution from cars and power plants; restrictions on the emission of mercury, a neurotoxin; and clean water protections for rivers and streams.

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Kennedy’s Alarming Prescription for Bird Flu on Poultry Farms

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official, has an unorthodox idea for tackling the bird flu bedeviling U.S. poultry farms. Let the virus rip.

Instead of culling birds when the infection is discovered, farmers “should consider maybe the possibility of letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it,” Mr. Kennedy said recently on Fox News.

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3 vaccine doses cut long-COVID risk by over 60%, analysis suggests

In a Swedish cohort, the risk of long COVID was much lower for vaccinated than unvaccinated participants in the year after infection, even when restricting the analyses to subgroups based on variant, age, sex, and previous infection status, estimates a study published last week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Karolinska Institutet researchers in Stockholm analyzed data from five registries to compare rates of persistent COVID-19 symptoms, or post-COVID condition [PCC], in adults infected from January 2021 to February 2022 by vaccination status in the 14 days before infection. Follow-up was 365 to 660 days.

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Trump’s staggering offensive against science

The blitzkrieg launched against science by the Trump administration is unprecedented, and all the more shocking as it comes from a democratic country. The brutality of the layoffs of civil servants, the halting of funding and the blocking of research programs is astounding. The Orwellian dimension of the move came to light with the publication of a list of terms that must no longer be used in research and working papers – climate, pollution, injustice, reference to gender or race… So much so that some scientists are beginning to devise different phrases to pass Trump’s censors.

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Long COVID sufferers converge outside the Vancouver Art Gallery to protest for better support

Crowds of people suffering long COVID rallied outside the Vancouver Art Gallery Saturday afternoon to raise awareness of the debilitating effects felt by those still battling the disease.

People had gathered to call on the government to assist with funding for further research into symptoms and treatments, disability support, public awareness, and training for medical staff.

Via placards and speeches, protesters described their own various experiences and asked passers by and others in attendance to send letters to their MLA’s and MP’s, requesting support.

According to Statistics Canada, 3.5 million Canadians continue to suffer symptoms five years after the global outbreak of COVID-19.

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Long COVID: “The small epidemic that has emerged from the pandemic”

“There are people who don’t believe that,” says Valérie, who was in front of the Quebec National Assembly on Saturday to mark the International Long COVID Awareness Day. After catching COVID-19 just over three years ago, she has never recovered.

After her brief visit to the public awareness event organized by the Canadian COVID Society on Saturday, “it’s the rest of my day coming to an end,” says Valérie. When she returns home, she knows that she will have to stay in bed and avoid all contact.

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Radio | The silent, long-term effects of COVID, and more…

Beyond long COVID — how reinfections could be causing silent long term organ damage

It’s now been five years since the COVID pandemic stopped the world in its tracks. The virus is still with us, and continues to make people sick. As many as 1 in 5 Canadians have experienced symptoms of long COVID, but scientists are finding that beyond that, each infection can also lead to long term silent cellular and organ damage. David Putrino, who’s been studying COVID’s long term effects at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, says even mild or asymptomatic COVID infections can lead to a wide range of silent long term heath impacts — compromising our immune, vascular, circulatory, renal, metabolic, gastrointestinal systems and even cognitive function.

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BC’s Measles Vaccination Rate Is Lower Than in Gaines County, Texas

In Gaines County, Texas, where a measles outbreak has killed one six-year-old and one adult, the measles vaccination rate among kindergarteners is just 82 per cent, according to reporting by The Atlantic.

That’s a higher measles vaccination rate than children have here in B.C.

Just under 82 per cent of two-year-olds have gotten one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, and around 72 per cent of seven-year-olds have gotten both doses, according to the B.C. Childhood Immunization Coverage Dashboard’s 2023 data, which is the most recent data year available.

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A 19-year-old athlete now spends his days bedridden because of long COVID

Struck down by long COVID for the past year, a great athlete and CEGEP student remains hopeful even if he has to spend his days lying down doing nothing, because the slightest effort completely exhausts him.

“Deep down, I think I’ll heal completely, but it’s going to take time. I trust science,” says Ludovic Bégin, with a weak voice on the other end of the line.

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International Long COVID Awareness Day 2025

International Long COVID Awareness Day – COVID-cautious walk

Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Where: Ottawa City Hall (meet at the entrance, Laurier Avenue side)

Join us for a walk on International Long COVID Awareness Day, Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 7 pm. The route is wheelchair-accessible.

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Another 100 new long COVID cases each month

The Québec network of clinics for long COVID still receives, each month, a hundred new patients, who sometimes have to wait up to six months before they can be treated.

“The problem now is that we have an accumulation of complex cases. It’s difficult to get new cases into treatment because we can’t finish with some patients,” says Simon Décary, Chair of the Long COVID Clinics Steering Committee.

Around 5% of people who contract COVID will still experience sequelae between three months and one year after infection. And around 1% of the population will have severe functional limitations to the point of needing services, says the physiotherapist.

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Federal government cancels deal with US company to make COVID-19 vaccine in Montreal

The federal government has cancelled a deal with vaccine maker Novavax to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine in Montreal, the company said in a filing with the U.S. securities regulator.

Novavax told the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Canadian government cancelled the deal March 7 after the company failed to meet a Dec. 31, 2024 deadline to get regulatory approval for a COVID-19 vaccine using ingredients made at the federally-owned Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Montreal.

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Long COVID, “is it going to be like this for the rest of my life?”

Five years after COVID-19 disrupted the daily lives of many people in the country, some are still dealing with the lingering after-effects of this virus, whose symptoms are most often similar to those of the flu and fade after a few days. For Marie-Noëlle Claveau, the effects of long COVID persist, years later.

The singing professor and coordinator of the music program at Collège d’Alma has been dealing with the consequences of this disease since November 2023. Since then, she has been on sick leave and is being monitored at the long COVID clinic at the Jonquière Hospital.

“Let’s just say that the years 2023 and 2024 were quite difficult, but I can say that progress continues to be made slowly but surely,” says Marie-Noëlle Claveau.

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Lives on hold: Thousands of Quebecers suffering from long COVID five years after pandemic began

Roxanne Major was working as an auxiliary nurse in a seniors’ residence two years ago when a COVID-19 outbreak spread through the home, infecting staff and residents.

Asked to replace a colleague who fell ill, Major took extra precautions. She disinfected her medication cart three times and wore a mask, full gown, gloves and protective glasses.

Despite her efforts, Major soon tested positive herself. Following a brief attempt to return to work the next week — the dizziness and exhaustion were too much — she was granted 10 days off to recover.

Two years later, Major, 40, has yet to return to the job she loved for 19 years. As she said in a recent interview, “everything went upside down.”

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Made-at-McMaster inhaled COVID-19 vaccine begins phase-2 human trial

Researchers at McMaster University have started a phase-2 clinical trial on a next-generation, inhaled COVID-19 vaccine.

The AeroVax study, supported by $8M in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), will test needle-free vaccines developed to provide protection from SARS-CoV-2.

Led by Fiona Smaill and Zhou Xing, members of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR) at McMaster, the multi-centre trial will evaluate the new vaccine in a broad study group, while also confirming safety.

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Life has gone back to normal. But those with long COVID continue to suffer

When Nathanael Rafinejad first moved to Montreal, they loved the city’s nightlife and worked as a bartender and a waiter while studying business management.

But after catching COVID-19 in January 2022, the 29-year-old is now mostly confined to their apartment.

“I feel completely cut off from the world most of the time,” said Rafinejad. “I can’t walk anymore. I cannot stand for more than a few seconds at a time. I can’t sit for a long time. I have to use a wheelchair every day.”

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