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Category: News

Scientists, clinicians across Canada preparing for future pandemic threats

Nearly $574 million will be doled out to researchers across the country for projects aimed at ramping up Canada’s preparedness for future health emergencies, including the next pandemic, the federal government announced on Monday.

One of the 19 projects is a national network of existing emergency departments and primary-care clinics, called Prepared, that will screen for any new viruses or pathogens that start to appear in patients.

“As a public health specialist and as a practising physician, I would very much anticipate there being another respiratory pandemic in the future. The challenge is we don’t know when it will be or what it will be,” said Dr. Andrew Pinto, Prepared project lead and a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

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What are the most reliable rapid antigen tests?

A new study has analysed 26 RATs from Australia and Canada, finding only six could effectively detect the lowest concentrations of COVID-19.

Patients across the globe have come to rely on rapid antigen tests (RATs) to confirm a COVID-19 diagnosis, but a new Australian study has revealed most are not producing accurate results.

Researchers from James Cook University (JCU) say they were left ‘shocked’ after an analysis of 26 RATs from Australia and Canada found just six were effective at detecting the lowest concentration of COVID-19.

One Canadian test failed to detect the COVID-19 protein entirely at any level of concentration.

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The unlearned lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic

Four years ago this week, there was only one subject on Canadians’ minds: the incipient COVID-19 pandemic. Schools and businesses were locked down in most of the country. The death count was appalling: close to 1,900 in the first full week of the month. In all, about 4,300 Canadians would die that May – with far more brutal waves of infection and death to come.

The story is much different today. Thanks to the rapid development, approval and delivery of vaccines – an amazing human accomplishment that isn’t celebrated enough – COVID-19 has been brought to heel and is now largely seen as just one more viral disease, like the flu or common cold. The availability of home testing kits means most people who become infected by the latest variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can manage the disease at home, and never trouble the health care system.

That’s good, but it hides the troubling fact that it is difficult to discern coherent policies at any level of government for continuing the fight against COVID-19, for dealing with its long-term effects, or for preparing for another pandemic.

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Common diabetes drug lowers SARS-CoV-2 levels, clinical trial finds

Today, researchers from the University of Minnesota published evidence that the common diabetes drug metformin decreases the amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the body and helps reduce the risk of rebound symptoms if given early in the course of non-severe illness.

The study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggests metformin may also help prevent long COVID.

The researchers tested metformin against a placebo in 999 adults infected with COVID-19. More than 50% of the study enrollees were vaccinated, and treatment took place when the Omicron variant was the most dominant strain in the United States.

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N.B. decides against updates to Clean Air Act to improve indoor air quality

Nearly a year after the legislature unanimously passed an Opposition motion to update the New Brunswick Clean Air Act and improve air quality in public buildings to reduce the spread of airborne illnesses, such as COVID-19, the government says it won’t update the act after all.

The Department of Environment and Local Government reviewed the act, which dates back to 1997, and “determined updating was not necessary because protections already exist under other legislation,” such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act, said spokesperson Clarissa Andersen.

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Fall COVID-19 vaccine guidelines are out. Here’s what NACI recommends

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) released its updated guidelines on Friday on the use of COVID-19 vaccines during the upcoming fall season.

Although COVID-19 rates are currently low across the country, NACI said it anticipates a surge in activity during the fall and winter months, aligning with patterns seen in previous years and consistent with the behaviour of other respiratory viruses.

“As COVID-19 activity is expected during the upcoming fall and winter months, and COVID-19 disease can compound the impact on the health system of other fall and winter respiratory viruses, NACI continues to provide early guidance on the use of COVID-19 vaccines to facilitate planning by provinces and territories,” the guidelines state.

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International study highlights best RATs

A ground-breaking study by James Cook University researchers has produced damning findings on several COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) available in Australia and overseas.

The new joint study by JCU and National Research Council Canada analysed 16 RATs approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and 10 by Health Canada, using a JCU-developed COVID-19 protein and its Canadian counterpart as reference materials.

Out of the total 26 RATs compared, only six were found to be effective at detecting the lowest concentration of the COVID-19 reference proteins in the dilution series used for benchmarking.

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Trump Threatens to Shut Down Pandemic Preparedness Office Launched by Biden

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign criticized Donald Trump on Tuesday for saying that, if elected, he would close an office in the White House tasked with making sure the country is better prepared for the next pandemic.

In an interview with TIME published Tuesday, Trump said he would disband the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR), which opened last summer after Congress approved a bill in 2022 with bipartisan support to mandate its creation. The office most recently responded to an outbreak of bird flu in dairy farms, coordinating with the Food and Drug Administration to ensure milk remains safe to drink, and working with farmers to contain the virus.

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Two more COVID deaths in New Brunswick

Two 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.

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New Brunswick mulls future of COVID-19 rapid tests, as virus kills 2, hospitalizes child under 4

New 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.

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What we’re starting to learn about H5N1 in cows, and the risk to people

The H5N1 bird flu virus has been around for decades, and the damage it wreaks on chickens and other poultry is well documented. But the recent discovery that the virus has jumped into dairy cattle — whose udders seem to be where the virus either infects or migrates to — has dumbfounded scientists and agricultural authorities.

Questions for which there are pretty clear answers when it comes to birds are suddenly unsettled science in cows. How are they getting infected? Are they transmitting the virus cow to cow, or are human actions — activities that are part of the day-to-day of farming — serving as an unrecognized amplifier of viral transmission? In the interface between infected cows and humans, how might people be at risk? Does consuming milk laced with live H5 virus pose a hazard?

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Mask rules being relaxed at Manitoba health-care facilities

Mask requirements for health-care workers are being loosened at Manitoba facilities starting next month.

In a memo to staff issued last week, Shared Health Chief Operating Officer Monika Warren writes the requirement to mask during direct care interactions will be lifted in most areas starting May 1.

She notes health-care workers are required to wear PPE according to approved protocols, including if respiratory symptoms are present.

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There’s never a good time to drink raw milk. But now’s a really bad time as bird flu infects cows

Scientists who know about the types of pathogens — E. coli and Salmonella among them — that can be transmitted in raw milk generally think drinking unpasteurized milk is a bad idea. But right now, they believe, the danger associated with raw milk may have gone to a whole new level.

“If I were in charge, for the moment I would forbid the selling of raw milk,” said Thijs Kuiken, a pathologist in the department of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, who has done research on H5N1 and the damage it inflicts for about two decades.

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Scientists discover higher levels of CO2 increase survival of viruses in the air and transmission risk

A new study has revealed for the first time the vital role carbon dioxide (CO2) plays in determining the lifespan of airborne viruses – namely SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

It clearly showed keeping CO2 levels in check helps to reduce virus survival, and therefore the risk of infection.

The research, led by the University of Bristol and published today in Nature Communications, shows how CO2 is a major factor in prolonging the life of SARS-CoV-2 variants present in tiny droplets circulating in the atmosphere.

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Cattle testing for H5N1 bird flu will be more limited than USDA initially announced

New federal rules aimed at limiting the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus among dairy cattle go into effect Monday, but detailed guidance documents released Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reveal its mandatory testing order is less stringent than initially described.

While that is easing concerns from farmers and veterinarians about the economic and logistical burden of testing, it leaves questions about how effective the testing program will be at containing additional outbreaks.

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Canadian officials considering ‘pre-pandemic’ vaccines as bird flu spreads through U.S. livestock

As H5N1 bird flu spreads rapidly through livestock and other animals across the U.S., Canadian officials are exploring stockpiling “pre-pandemic” H5N1 vaccines as a precaution.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) has not been detected in any Canadian livestock and the risk of transmission for the general public is considered low, but the recent rapid spread of the virus through livestock and elsewhere in the U.S. has public health officials around the world on high alert.

Health experts are urging people not to drink raw, unpasteurized, milk and to make sure meat is thoroughly cooked, but they say the real potential risk from bird flu is not from food, but from the possibility that changes to the virus enable it to jump from animals to humans. That could create a potential influenza pandemic because human immunity to the virus is expected to be minimal.

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