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Respiratory season ends, B.C. launching spring COVID-19 vaccination campaignProvincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry at the Legislature in Victoria, British Columbia, March 28, 2025. She has grey hair, and she is not wearing a mask during the ongoing pandemic. Photo: Government of British Columbia. The image is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 generic licence.
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Respiratory season ends, B.C. launching spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign

Published March 28, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Brenna Owen

Respiratory illness season is over, British Columbia’s top doctor said Friday, but the province is set to launch a spring COVID-19 immunization campaign and wants everyone to ensure they’re fully protected against measles.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said B.C.’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit the lowest level since 2020, with about 40 people in hospital, while cases of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, have also been declining.

Still, Henry said there have been resurgences in spring and summer in the past, and the province is focused on protecting people at the highest risk of serious illness.

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

University of Waterloo students raise awareness about Long COVID

Published March 27, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News
Published on:
By Jeff Pickel

Although COVID-19 no longer makes daily headlines, some are on a mission to spread awareness about the impact the virus is still having on the community.

The University of Waterloo hosted a silent walk on Thursday to raise awareness about the condition known as Long COVID – when the impact of an infection is still being experienced months after the fact.

Those who have or had Long COVID, and supporters of loved ones with it, were among those on hand.

Continue readingUniversity of Waterloo students raise awareness about Long COVID
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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

US cutting Gavi vaccine alliance aid may cause ‘over a million deaths’

Published March 27, 2025

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Published by: France 24 / AFP
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Paris (AFP) – The United States cutting funding to Gavi, an organisation that provides vaccines to the world’s poorest countries, could result in more than a million deaths and will endanger lives everywhere, the group’s CEO warned on Thursday.

The news that Washington is planning to end funding for Gavi, first reported in the New York Times, comes as the two-month-old administration of President Donald Trump aggressively slashes foreign aid.

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

‘Something was wrong with my brain’: How covid leaves its mark on cognition

Published March 27, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Washington Post
Published on:
By Richard Sima

In March 2020, Hannah Davis fell ill, and everything changed. Her respiratory symptoms were mild, but the neurological and cognitive fallout was frightening.

“I could tell very early on that something was wrong with my brain,” she said after getting sick with covid-19.

And Davis had quantitative proof — her score for processing speed on a cognitive test dropped from the 96th percentile right before the pandemic to the 14th percentile after her coronavirus infection.

Continue reading‘Something was wrong with my brain’: How covid leaves its mark on cognition
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Topic: wastewater monitoringView all posts for the topic: wastewater monitoring

Measles ‘inevitable’ in Ottawa, expert warns as Ontario outbreak spreads

Published March 26, 2025

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on:
By Elizabeth Payne

Ottawa Public Health has begun monitoring wastewater for evidence of measles in the city as the highly infectious disease continues to surge throughout Ontario.

That makes Ottawa one of the only communities in the province and across Canada using wastewater as a possible early warning signal for measles. Ottawa Public Health says the tool is promising for detecting measles, but the research is limited and “many unknowns remain”.

There have been no cases in Ottawa so far this year but Dr. Gregory Rose, who is director of infection prevention and control at Queensway Carleton Hospital, warns that it is only a matter of time.

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Topic: wastewater monitoringView all posts for the topic: wastewater monitoring

Amid Canada’s largest measles outbreak in more than a decade, experts say this COVID-era tool could help

Published March 26, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Jennifer La Grassa

As Canada deals with its largest measles outbreak in more than a decade, health experts say a COVID-era tool could help tame the spread.

Wastewater surveillance, which involves testing sewage samples for viral pathogens, became essential during the pandemic. The data helped overwhelmed health officials map out COVID-19’s path and better predict the trajectory of cases.

At the time, it was praised as a critical public health tool that could serve as a warning system to keep Canadians safe from future harmful infections. And as the current measles outbreak surpasses 500 cases in Canada, experts say this is the moment where leaning into regional wastewater surveillance would be most helpful.

Continue readingAmid Canada’s largest measles outbreak in more than a decade, experts say this COVID-era tool could help
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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

CDC is pulling back $11B in Covid funding sent to health departments across the U.S.

Published March 25, 2025

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Published by: NBC News
Published on:
By Brandy Zadrozny

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pulling back $11.4 billion in funds allocated in response to the pandemic to state and community health departments, nongovernment organizations and international recipients, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement. “HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.”

HHS oversees 13 agencies, including the CDC, which is tasked with protecting the nation’s health. Notices began going out Monday, and awardees have 30 days to reconcile their expenditures. Figures are subject to change.

Continue readingCDC is pulling back $11B in Covid funding sent to health departments across the U.S.
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I traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the two health systems stack up.A red emergency sign at a hospital. Photo: Pixabey.
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Topic: healthcareView all posts for the topic: healthcare

I traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the two health systems stack up.

Published March 25, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Canada Healthwatch
Published on:
By Code Black

After more than a decade practicing emergency medicine in the United States, I very recently began working shifts in Canada. The differences hit me immediately, and are profound.

What follows are a series of working hypotheses — early impressions shaped by firsthand experience and years of health policy work in the U.S. I expect they will evolve with time, but they already point to important contrasts in how both countries approach medicine, physician autonomy, and the doctor-patient relationship.

Continue readingI traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the two health systems stack up.
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

COVID-19 vaccination reduces risk of ‘long COVID’ in adults

Published March 25, 2025

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Published by: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
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COVID-19 vaccination reduced the risk of developing ‘long COVID’ by approximately 27% in adults fully vaccinated before infection, according to a literature review carried out…

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

Long Covid office ‘will be closing,’ Trump administration announces

Published March 24, 2025

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Published by: Politico
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By Sophie Gardner, Alice Miranda Ollstein

The Trump administration is shuttering HHS’ long Covid office as part of its reorganization, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO.

The email was sent Monday by Ian Simon, the head of the Office of Long Covid Research and Practice. It said the closing is part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ reorganization.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

COVID-19 spring vaccine appointments open for high-risk Nova Scotians, New Brunswickers

Published March 24, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
Published on:
By Natalie Lombard, Sean Mott

Nova Scotians and New Brunswickers at the highest risk for severe illness from a COVID-19 infection can now book an appointment for a spring vaccine.

The dose will be available from March 31 to June 30 in Nova Scotia. Children aged six months to 11 years can get the vaccine until June 17.

The New Brunswick spring campaign will run from April 7 to June 30. People will be able to book appointments starting March 28. For children under the age of 12, the vaccine will be available until June 21.

Nova Scotia says it is following recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization for the spring dose.

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Topic: AIDSView all posts for the topic: AIDS

UN warns millions more will die from AIDS after US cuts

Published March 24, 2025

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Published by: DW
Published on:
By Alex Berry with AFP, Reuters

The UNAIDS program head has said millions more will die as a result of the sudden cuts to funding by the Trump administration. She also warned that the AIDS pandemic could return to 1990s levels.

The head of the United Nations program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, said on Monday that over 6 million additional deaths from the disease are expected after the US slashed its funding.

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Topic: United KingdomView all posts for the topic: United Kingdom

Young people with long Covid ‘battle’ for NHS care

Published March 22, 2025

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Published by: BBC News
Published on:
By Michela Riva, Jordan Davies

Young people living with debilitating symptoms caused by long Covid have described feeling abandoned and having to “battle” to access NHS support.

Kaylee, 17, a once promising gymnast who hoped to represent her country, developed the virus on her 12th birthday and still experiences symptoms including dizziness and shortness of breath, causing her to miss school and give up on the sport she loves.

Two million people in the UK have long Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics.

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

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

Published March 20, 2025

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Published by: CBC Radio / Quirks and Quarks
Published on:
By Sonya Buyting

COVID may no longer be considered an official global emergency, but mounting scientific evidence suggests every COVID infection a person gets increases their risk of developing long-term health issues.

“There is no such thing as a COVID infection without consequence,” says long COVID researcher, David Putrino, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

The long-term effects can show up as long COVID, with symptoms such as shortness of breath, digestive problems, fast or irregular heartbeats, extreme fatigue and brain fog, or as silently accumulating cellular or organ damage.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

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

Published March 20, 2025

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Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Hannah Alberga

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 PatientsA man with glasses, black shorts, and a grey long-sleeved top looks at his smartwatch as he runs alone on a road at sunset. In the background: green fields and trees. Photo: Benoît Deschasaux / Unsplash.
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

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

Published March 20, 2025

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Published by: Complexity Science Hub
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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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Topic: pollutionView all posts for the topic: pollution

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

Published March 19, 2025

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Published by: The Guardian
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By Oliver Milman, Dharna Noor, Aliya Uteuova

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.

Continue readingTrump’s EPA aims to cut pollution rules projected to save nearly 200,000 lives: ‘People will be hurt’
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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Kennedy’s Alarming Prescription for Bird Flu on Poultry Farms

Published March 18, 2025

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Published by: The New York Times
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By Apoorva Mandavilli

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.

Continue readingKennedy’s Alarming Prescription for Bird Flu on Poultry Farms
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