Researchers have uncovered a link between COVID-19 and blood markers linked to faulty proteins in the brain.
In an analysis led by researchers at Imperial College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute, scientists found that people who had previously had COVID-19 were more likely to have increased levels of biomarkers linked to faulty amyloid proteins – a known hallmark for Alzheimer’s disease.
Comments closedFalse narratives in a new $2-million report on COVID 19 in Alberta send Albertans the wrong signals, said a former chief medical officer of health for the province.
An adjunct professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, Dr. James Talbot said the 269-page report released late last Friday cherry-picks information and includes unproven ideas, including that the vaccine is ineffective and potentially harmful.
“We’ve given literally billions of doses of this vaccine around the world with the best surveillance we’ve ever had. This is one of the safest, most effective vaccines that we’ve ever had,” he said.
Comments closedThe Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan has been awarded a $24 million grant to help develop a vaccine to protect against wide-ranging strains of coronaviruses.
VIDO’s funding flows from Norwegian-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) into its ongoing development of its pan-sarbecovirus vaccine.
Comments closedComments closedI think it was a waste of time. It was a waste of money. And under no circumstances should the recommendations be implemented until there’s been a full and expert public discussion of the report.
Public Service Confidential is a workplace advice column for federal public servants. The following question has been edited for clarity and length.
I am an immunocompromised federal public servant with multiple chronic illnesses. I still work from home, but HR wants me back in the office three days a week the moment they can give me a private office beside the bathroom. My doctor wrote a letter to counter the accommodation, saying it’s not appropriate and even less beside a bathroom with the shared environment, and it could put my life at risk of getting sick with complications. So I am fighting to keep my full-time telework agreement.
Comments closedAn Alberta government task force has recommended that the use of COVID-19 vaccines be halted unless more information is provided about risk, in a report rife with suggestions that run counter to mainstream scientific consensus.
The $2-million task force’s final report, released Friday, touched on several points common with disinformation campaigns such as the effectiveness of public health restrictions and masking, while also recommending some government authority over media.
Comments closedResearchers have discovered a molecular signature of Long Covid in children, detectable through a blood test and diagnosable with 93% accuracy using AI.
This breakthrough signifies a major advancement in pediatric healthcare, offering hope for early detection and tailored treatments.
Comments closedResearchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo and Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University said that they have developed a peptide that can bind to the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 to prevent COVID-19 infections.
The peptide, which is a short chain of amino acids, has shown effectiveness in experiments involving various coronavirus strains attempting to infect human cell lines and hamsters.
Researchers hope to conduct a physician-led clinical trial for possible preventive and therapeutic treatment.
Comments closedSaskatchewan’s Ministry of Health has enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for the province’s high-risk population this spring, but would not confirm whether it plans to purchase more doses in the future.
The province has more than 100,000 doses, all of which were provided through the federal government’s procurement process.
Ottawa has been paying for the shots and distributing them across the country since they became available. Earlier this month, the Public Health Agency of Canada quietly announced that practice would come to an end.
Comments closedA new study that identified 475 patients with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), also known as long COVID, revealed that nearly 85% (403) of these patients had multiple COVID-19 infections over the course of a four-year period (March 2020 to February 2024). Additionally, vaccination independently reduced the risk of long COVID in patients who had received the vaccination prior to contracting the infection.
Comments closedNew results from the National Institutes of Health’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER)-Adult Initiative suggest that 4.5% of COVID-19 survivors have myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), compared with less than 1% of their uninfected counterparts.
ME/CFS, which can be triggered by viral and non-viral infection, causes severe fatigue for at least 6 months and may entail impaired memory, brain fog, dizziness, and muscle or joint pain. Physical or mental activity exacerbates symptoms, which aren’t fully relieved by rest.
RECOVER-Adult is a longitudinal observational study conducted at 83 sites in 33 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC, to research post-COVID conditions such as ME/CFS and long COVID.
Comments closedThe future of Alberta’s COVID-19 vaccination program is unclear with federal funding set to end this summer.
Ottawa has been paying for the shots and distributing them across the country since they became available.
But the Public Health Agency of Canada quietly announced, last week, the provinces and territories will take over purchasing their own supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
Comments closedThe feasibility of bringing back wastewater surveillance in Hamilton to detect emerging infectious disease is being examined by city staff.
“One of the benefits of wastewater sampling is that it’s a really cost-effective tool for public health concerns,” said Dr. Robin Lennox, a Hamilton family physician. “It can be tailored to identify specific pathogens of concern based on what a local community actually identifies as their priorities, so it can look at anything from respiratory viruses to sexually transmitted infections.”
Comments closedA new coalition of more than 700 public health professionals, scientists and activists signed an open letter to oppose Senate confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, saying his “fringe” views and inexperience would put the country at serious risk from severe infectious diseases.
The letter from the coalition called “Defend Public Health” said Kennedy’s “unfounded, fringe beliefs could significantly undermine public health practices across the country and around the world.”
Comments closedComments closedSimply put, COVID-19 infections weaken our immune systems. This makes us more prone to reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, infections with other viruses (e.g. RSV), reactivation of dormant viral infections (e.g. shingles, Herpes-Zoster virus), bacterial infections (Group A strep,TB) and even rare fungal infections. To make matters worse, the infections themselves may also be more severe. Being infected with SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses or bacteria at the same time can also make things worse, in adults as well as children.
TORONTO – Federal funding for COVID-19 vaccines will stop this year and the provinces and territories will be responsible for buying them, as well as determining the timing of the vaccinations, the Public Health Agency of Canada says.
The agency published the information online on Friday, along with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s COVID-19 vaccine guidance for 2025 through to the summer of 2026.
Comments closedVANCOUVER – New data shared by British Columbia’s Centre for Disease Control shows the province has one of the worst flu rates in Canada, as a holiday-season spike in respiratory illnesses continues.
But the data also shows the province has one of the lowest COVID-19 test positivity rates in the country, at about half the national rate.
Dr. Jennifer Vines, interim medical director for public health response at the B.C. CDC, says respiratory illness has been “steadily climbing” over the past several weeks, with RSV and influenza “driving the increase right now.”
Comments closedComments closed“(COVID) isn’t just respiratory. We know that it affects other organs – not just the lungs, but the heart, the brain and other (organs). So there needs to be a much greater focus on prevention, and what does that look like based on what’s been learned about the circumstances and risk factors leading up to those deaths?”
“Related to that is there needs to be a greater effort at awareness and outreach to the general population on COVID – that this is not just the flu. And we know that science continues to progress here. It’s now well understood that the more (times) people get COVID, the greater their chance of long COVID.”
