An international team of health and medical researchers including workers at the WHO, working with economists and modeling specialists, has found that the use of vaccines to prevent or treat disease has saved the lives of approximately 154 million people over the past half-century.
In their study, published in The Lancet, the group used mathematical and statistical modeling to develop estimates for lives saved due to vaccines and then added them together to find the total.
Comments closedDoctors say COVID-19 cases are spreading rapidly in Alberta, putting strain on hospitals. Chelan Skulski has the details.
Comments closedAfter trending downward for several months, COVID-19 is on the upswing in Alberta once again.
The province’s respiratory virus dashboard shows a number of key indicators, including case counts, hospitalization numbers and positivity rates, are ticking up.
“Many jurisdictions in Canada have seen a slight bump in late April in the number of COVID cases, the positivity rate and also in their wastewater monitoring,” said Dr. Dan Gregson, an infectious diseases specialist in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.
Comments closedTwo New Brunswickers aged 65 or older died from COVID-19 between April 14-20, according to new data from the province.
The news was included in its weekly update on COVID and influenza.
Seventeen people required hospital treatment for COVID between April 14-20, and one patient needed intensive care. There were two lab-confirmed COVID outbreaks in undisclosed facilities.
Comments closedNew Brunswick is mulling the future of its COVID-19 rapid point-of-care testing program, as the virus claimed two more lives and hospitalized 17 people, including a child under four.
“Demand for rapid tests has been steadily declining since last fall, and the province is currently determining its next steps with regards to the COVID-19 tests,” said Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard.
He made the comment in response to questions from CBC News about how much longer the province will continue to offer free rapid test kits and whether it’s considering phasing them out.
Comments closedAbout 2 million people in England and Scotland say they are experiencing long Covid, figures reveal, with many reporting their symptoms have lasted two years or longer.
The findings were released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and cover the period from November 2023 to March 2024, revealing of those who reported having long Covid, about 1.5 million people – about three-quarters– felt their day-to-day activities were affected, while 381,000 people – about a fifth – said their ability to undertake such activities had been “limited a lot”.
Comments closedCOVID-19 has killed two more New Brunswickers, while a child under four and two youths aged five to 19 are among those hospitalized by the flu, Tuesday’s Respiratory Watch report shows.
“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and number of deaths) remained stable during the current reporting period,” April 7 to April 13, the report says.
Influenza activity decreased slightly, it says.
The two people who died from COVID during the reporting week were both aged 65 or older.
Comments closedHastings Prince Edward Public Health officials reported eight new high-risk cases as of April 17 in the region, the same as in the previous reporting period.
The health unit also reported eight active high-risk cases, the same as in the last health unit report.
There were no new deaths attributed to COVID-19 leaving the number of deaths since the pandemic to 150 in the region.
Comments closedMpox cases in Ontario are on the rise, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is warning local doctors and nurses.
The province has reported 26 cases so far in 2024, with OPH noting in its Wednesday statement that four had been confirmed in Ottawa.
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is a rare viral disease that is typically endemic in some central and west African countries.
Comments closedA New Brunswicker aged 45 to 64 has died from COVID-19, while the flu sent eight people to the hospital, including two youth aged five to 19, updated data from the province Tuesday shows.
“COVID-19 activity remains moderate,” according to the Respiratory Watch report. “Some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) decreased slightly during the current reporting period, between March 31 and April 6.
Influenza activity remained “relatively stable,” it says.
Comments closedThe number of people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 rose slightly this week as the province began rolling out its latest vaccination campaign.
There were 141 test-positive COVID patients in hospitals across the province as of Thursday, according to the latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. That’s an increase of nine – or about 6.8 per cent – from last week’s total.
Comments closedOttawa is back in high-risk respiratory territory because of an increase in new hospitalizations.
COVID-19 and RSV trends are generally seen as low in the weekly respiratory update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH).
Flu wastewater readings and hospitalizations remain very high as this flu season stretches into spring.
OPH said there were 17 new COVID, flu and RSV hospitalizations the week starting March 24, and 27 the week starting March 31.
Comments closedCOVID-19 became the second leading cause of death globally in the year after it was declared a pandemic, according to a study published in the Lancet.
While heart disease remained the top killer, COVID “radically altered” the main five causes of death for the first time in 30 years, displacing stroke, the publication said. In 2021, 94 in every 100,000 people died from COVID, on an age-standardized basis.
Comments closedThree more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19, and one child died of influenza, according to data from the province updated Wednesday.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have slightly increased, while influenza hospitalizations remained steady in the period of March 17 to March 23, according to the provincial Respiratory Watch report.
“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) increased slightly,” the report says.
The person who died of influenza was four years old or younger.
People born recently in England and Wales can expect to spend fewer years of their life in good health than those born over a decade ago, official figures show.
Covid-19, healthcare delays and an increase in long-term sickness are likely factors in this decline. But the Office of National Statistics figures also reflect deeper social issues like widespread inequality, say experts.
Comments closedThe number of patients with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals declined to its lowest level of 2024 in the latest data update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
There were 133 test-positive patients in provincial hospitals as of Thursday, according to the BCCDC. The last published update to show a total lower than that was in August of last year, when the BCCDC reported just 76 patients hospitalized.
This week’s hospitalized population is less than half of what it was around this time last year. The final published update of March 2023 showed 294 patients in B.C. hospitals.
Comments closedExperts worry a recent rise in long COVID cases — fueled by a spike in winter holiday infections and a decline in masking and other measures — could continue into this year.
A sudden rise in long COVID in January has persisted into a second month. About 17.6% of those surveyed by the Census Bureau in January said they have experienced long COVID. The number for February was 17.4.
Compare these new numbers to October 2023 and earlier, when long COVID numbers hovered between 14% and 15% of the US adult population as far back as June 2022.
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