News from Canada

It's Canada's first film on Long COVID, created by people with lived experience of Long COVID, produced on a volunteer-basis, for the Canadian Covid Society

Justin's Long COVID Story

Long COVID is a new, stigmatized condition, still without a cure or much treatment. Justin Lemphers is one of 400 million people globally, who have experienced this often invisible and debilitating condition. This short film examines Long COVID through a personal lens, with a moving account of what this chronic illness means to one Canadian living in a small, northern town - and the painful recalibration of his expectations and limits, none of which has been helped by an unsupportive healthcare system, still struggling to accommodate this novel condition.
LINK
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Quebec mulls scrapping family doctors for healthy patients

Scenario would have only those deemed more vulnerable assigned a family doctor

Only patients deemed more vulnerable, such as those with complex or chronic conditions such as cancer, mental health issues, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, would be assigned a family doctor.
LINK
 
Mij said:
Quebec mulls scrapping family doctors for healthy patients

Scenario would have only those deemed more vulnerable assigned a family doctor

Only patients deemed more vulnerable, such as those with complex or chronic conditions such as cancer, mental health issues, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, would be assigned a family doctor.
LINK
Click to expand...

If only the ‘already diagnosed’ are allowed a GP, how does anyone with a new onset condition get diagnosed? Isn’t the role of a family doctor much wider than managing long term conditions?
 
An early season flu bug is giving the Maple Leafs as much grief as opposing penalty killers.

“It’s up in the air right now,” head coach Craig Berube said of Nylander’s availability. “Hopefully he’s fine, we’ll see.

“We’ve had more guys (sick) too, but they were able to keep going. We’ve got to watch for it. But it was great to see J.T. out there today and he got through practice. It looked like he was low-energy, but he’s a good pro, got out, had a sweat and I’m sure he’ll feel better later.”

Tavares, who rarely misses games, admitted he dropped a few pounds since before being taken out of Saturday’s lineup against Pittsburgh.

Keep washing your hands :emoji_ok_hand:
 
Definitely not why they suck, though. They suck because they're the Leafs. :laugh:

Ironically Tavares has been promoting some weird amulet that wards off illnesses and radiation, or whatever. I guess it doesn't work.
 
The ICanCME network has been funded for another 5 years, with $2M CAD from CIHR-IMHA. Unsure whether this matters much given that we have seen nothing from it, but given the people involved, it is better that this gets renewed than not. We haven't seen much from the NIH's funding either. The only benefit when everyone is stuck is that no one is behind anyone else.

https://www.icancme.ca/news/icancme-is-renewed/
 
Missed this from August, CIHR has funded a taurine trial at the University of Alberta. They will waste $3.3M on this useless dud. This is scandalous misuse of resources, but what else is new.
Lawrence Richer, a pediatric neurologist and director of the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre, received $3,266,550 to lead a trial testing the efficacy of taurine supplements to treat long COVID symptoms, based on recent promising research by Gavin Oudit, cardiologist and clinician-scientist at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, and others.
Click to expand...
https://www.ualberta.ca/en/folio/20...for-patients-with-hepatitis-c-long-covid.html
 
Ontario man granted euthanasia for controversial 'post Covid-19 vaccination syndrome'

The case is among several highlighted by an Ontario MAID death review committee involving people who weren't terminally ill
LINK
 
This has been posted before, but I thought can also be referenced here.

Canadian Government — COVID-19: Longer-term symptoms among Canadian adults
Fourth report: Summer 2024

Some of the more commonly reported symptoms include:
  • fatigue
  • coughing
  • shortness of breath
  • brain fog
  • general weakness
Click to expand...

Among adults reporting having had a confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, 16.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 15.5%, 18.0%) experienced PCC.

Over half of adults dealing with PCC reported noticeable limitations in daily activities:
  • 21.7% (95% CI: 18.4%, 25.2%) were often or always limited
  • 32.7% (95% CI: 28.9%, 36.6%) were limited sometimes
  • 45.7% (95% CI: 41.6%, 49.8%) were never or rarely limited
Click to expand...
 
University of Alberta: 'Research reveals new clues to the mysteries of long COVID'

'Three groundbreaking studies pinpoint immune cells and proteins linked with the lingering condition — and suggest a possible cause'

'We wanted to find out more about what is going on with long COVID to bring relief to sufferers — especially those patients with the most debilitating symptoms, a condition called chronic fatigue syndrome...” says immunologist Shokrollah Elahi..

"In the blood of the long COVID patients, the team also found higher levels of various proteins related to systemic inflammation — especially galectin-9 and artemin. These two proteins could help solve the mysteries of long COVID, Elahi says, because higher levels galectin-9 in patients are associated with increased inflammation and brain fog.'

“They discovered that the long COVID group had higher levels of immune cells called neutrophils and monocytes that cause inflammation, and fewer protective lymphocytes. They also had more worn-out or exhausted killer T cells, which are a key part of the immune system’s defence against infections.”

'The researchers observed that galectin-9 is shed by stressed neutrophils — the most abundant white blood cells — in long COVID patients. This released galectin-9 can promote chronic inflammation of by galectin-9 in patients are associated with increased inflammation and brain fog.' The researchers observed that galectin-9 is shed by stressed neutrophils — the most abundant white blood cells — in long COVID patients. This released galectin-9 can promote chronic inflammation by affecting various immune cells, as Elahi’s group reported in a previous study on HIV infection.' They also found that long COVID dysregulates the production of red blood cells, which results in an abundance of immature red blood cells in the blood of these patients.'
 
Last edited:
Schulich School of Medicine: 'Western researchers closing in on treatment for long COVID'

'Both projects are supported by grants from the Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID (SILC), a nonprofit organization founded in 2023..'

“Repurposing existing drugs would help rapidly address the urgent medical needs of long COVID patients and could reduce health-care costs associated with prolonged disability,” said Fraser.

'The international clinical trial will involve 1,200 patients who have been diagnosed with long COVID and participants will be assigned a repurposed drug or a placebo for the study. The researchers will then look at the symptoms, quality-of-life measures and biomarker analysis.'
 
For more on the Schmidt Initiative: https://silc.org/

SILC was recently created and funded by former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt.

Per their website: "The Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid is part of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient and secure world for all.”

Their team includes John T. Redd (Chief Executive Officer), who most recently was a medical officer with HHS; Colin Shepard (Chief Medical Officer), who prior to joining SILC, was a medical officer with the US CDC’s and Prevention’s Office of Readiness and Response; and Adam Tewell (Chief Operating Officer) who joined SILC in October 2024 after a decade at HHS.

Just to share from Eric’s wikipedia page: “In October 2024, he was 52nd richest according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index with an estimated net worth of US$33.8 billion”

https://twitter.com/user/status/1851004997812605307
 
Last edited:
Some info on two funded projects at Western University, Ontario: Western researchers closing in on treatment for long COVID.

The first project aims to identify the patient subtypes – clusters of people with long COVID grouped by shared characteristics – and biological mechanisms of this chronic condition, to help understand why some people are more susceptible to developing the condition. Studying the long COVID in different countries helps to understand geographical variation.
...
A second project will look to find an existing drug that can be repurposed as an effective treatment. The drug targets will be uncovered by integrating the clinical and biological similarities common to all long COVID patients, no matter their geographical regions. A major goal of this work is to provide low-cost drug interventions globally.

Both projects are supported by grants from the Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID (SILC), a nonprofit organization founded in 2023 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to advance clinical care for long COVID patients globally. The organization works to raise the level of long COVID care and understanding around the world, connecting specialists and primary care providers to support patients and share knowledge virtually, in real time.
...
Researchers will now begin a global interventional clinical trial with repurposed drugs that have already been approved by regulatory agencies and are available on the market to target the key signaling pathways related to long COVID – a series of chemical reactions that control the function of cells – identified in the previous project. This would mean a treatment option could be readily available to people worldwide living with this debilitating illness.

The international clinical trial will involve 1,200 patients who have been diagnosed with long COVID and participants will be assigned a repurposed drug or a placebo for the study. The researchers will then look at the symptoms, quality-of-life measures and biomarker analysis.​
 
The National Institute of Public Health of Quebec has recently (document says June 2024 but I had not seen anything about it until a news article was published yesterday) published a study of health care and social workers on Long Covid prevalence. At first I thought it was based on the Statistics Canada survey because the numbers are very similar for the cumulative risk of multiple infections, but it was an independent survey of employees in health care and social work.

The report is only available in French. This is any and all symptoms so it's mostly mild ones. Low response rate, at 5.7% from a 22K sample.

Post-COVID-19 illness among Quebec healthcare workers: frequency, evolution and risk factors
https://www.inspq.qc.ca/publications/3510

Highlights:

This report presents the results of the epidemiological survey conducted during the summer of 2023 among health and social service workers (HSWs) in Quebec aimed at estimating the frequency of post-COVID-19 illness (PCA), as well as its risk factors and the health care desired and received. PCA is defined as the persistence of symptoms for at least 12 weeks following an acute episode of COVID-19.

More than three-quarters of HCWs reported having had at least one episode of COVID-19 between the start of the pandemic and summer 2023.
  • Among HCWs who reported having COVID-19, approximately 15% had symptoms persisting for 12 weeks or more after initial infection. At the time of the survey, an estimated 6% of all HCWs in Quebec were still experiencing symptoms of CPA.
  • The cumulative risk of APC increases with the number of infections from 13% with one infection, to 23% with two infections and reaching 37% for three infections.
  • A quarter of APC cases who had symptoms at the time of the survey had only mild symptoms, 42% had at least one moderate symptom without severe symptoms, and a third had at least one severe symptom.
  • The most common symptoms among PCa cases who had symptoms at the time of the survey were fatigue (72%), shortness of breath (53%), problems concentrating or remembering (50% and 48%), and brain fog (44%).
  • The risk of CPA was higher among certain groups of HCWs: women, those aged 40 to 59 years compared with younger or older individuals, HCWs with chronic respiratory disease, depressive disorder, or obesity, those with economic disadvantage, those from certain racial/ethnic minorities, those with severe COVID-19 (hospitalized cases or outpatient cases with at least three severe symptoms), and those who were infected early in the pandemic during the period of circulation of the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain.
  • Medical care was desired by 67% of APC cases, but obtained by 48% of them, while rehabilitation and psychological follow-up services were desired by a third of the cases, but obtained by only 12% of them.
  • Demand for medical care, rehabilitation and occupational therapy services, and psychological follow-up was two to three times higher among individuals with severe PCa symptoms compared with those with mild symptoms.
Little to no protective effect from vaccination:
The vaccination was not associated with protection against APC in multivariate analyses. Current evidence is contradictory regarding the protective effect of vaccination (42,43).
Click to expand...

No major differences between variants or drop over time aside from the original variant. A rough average of 10% is mostly holding from the beginning.

Affection-post-COVID-19-chez-le-personnel-de-la-santé-du-Québec-10-31-2024_10_14_AM.png
 
Risk of long COVID reaches 37% after three infections, according to INSPQ
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2116352/covid-longue-sras-cov2-pandemie-risque

According to theINSPQ, about 16% of health care workers surveyed reported symptoms for more than 12 weeks after a COVID-19 infection. For some, symptoms resolved after a few months, but 6% of all health care workers in Quebec still had persistent COVID-19 symptoms in the summer of 2023, or about 24,000 people.
...
According to Sara Carazo, these data paint a good picture of the prevalence of long COVID at the provincial level and are consistent with many other studies, including the Canadian COVID-19 Antibody Health Survey . (New window), which show that the prevalence rate of long COVID is around 15%.
...
The Ministry of Health reminds that vaccination could also prevent long COVID and that the vaccine is offered free of charge to anyone aged six months and over who wants to receive it.​

The Ministry of Health does not appear to have read the report, which shows otherwise.

It was during her second infection that Mélanie Champagne developed her long COVID. After being bedridden for two weeks, she noticed that her symptoms were not going away. Mélanie, who previously ran four times a week, now lives with a range of incapacitating symptoms: extreme fatigue, congestion, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to noise.
...
"It's like I'm an old cell phone that doesn't charge. If I do absolutely nothing all day, my battery charges to 20-25% maximum. If I'm unfortunate enough not to rest, it takes me a week to recover."
...
The INSPQ also notes that among people who still have long COVID, more than half have symptoms that have persisted for more than a year.

Among those whose disease resolved, the average duration of their symptoms was seven months.
...
A Canadian review found that nearly 20% of people with long COVID were off work for more than six months.

Persistent symptoms of [long COVID] are linked to significant work absenteeism that may require adjustments by insurers and theCNESST, the report says, adding that limited access to rapid self-tests complicates long-term compensation claims.
...
While the Quebec government boasts of having opened 15 post-COVID and Lyme disease clinics, the data from theINSPQshow that resources are insufficient.​

Early last year, an ME/CFS clinic was opened at the major regional research hospital. My referral was rejected, they only take people with LC-flavored ME/CFS. I guess that's why: too much demand.

​
 
The BC Minister of Health Bonnie Henry recently said "If you've had covid recently, you've had a boost to your immunity. So that's a good thing."

No, getting covid is NEVER a good thing. It won't help or improve your immune system.
 
Canada needs a national COVID-19 inquiry now
Fisman, David; Horton, Jillian; Oliver, Matthew; Ungrin, Mark; Vipond, Joseph; Wright, Julia M.; Zoutman, Dick

BACKGROUND
We are now in the fifth year of an ongoing pandemic, and Canada continues to experience significant surges of COVID-19 infections. In addition to the acute impacts of deaths and hospitalizations, there is growing awareness of an accumulation of organ damage and disability which is building a “health debt” that will affect Canadians for decades to come. Calls in 2023 for an inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic went unheeded, despite relevant precedent. Canada urgently needs a comprehensive review of its successes and failures to chart a better response in the near-and long-term.

MAIN BODY
While Canada fared better than many comparators in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clearly still in a public health crisis. Infections are not only affecting Canadians’ daily lives but also eroding healthcare capacity. Post-COVID condition is having accumulating and profound individual, social, and economic consequences.
An inquiry is needed to understand the current evidence underlying policy choices, identify a better course of action on various fronts, and build resilience. More must be done to reduce transmission, including a serious public education campaign to better inform Canadians about COVID and effective mitigations, especially the benefits of respirator masks. We need a national standard for indoor air quality to make indoor public spaces safer, particularly schools. Data collection must be more robust, especially to understand and mitigate the disproportionate impacts on under-served communities and high-risk populations. General confidence in public health must be rebuilt, with a focus on communication and transparency. In particular, the wide variation in provincial policies has sown mistrust: evidence-based policy should be consistent. Finally, Canada’s early success in vaccination has collapsed, and this development needs a careful post-mortem.

CONCLUSIONS
A complete investigation of Canada’s response to the pandemic is not yet possible because that response is still ongoing and, while we have learned much, there remain areas of dispute and uncertainty. However, an inquiry is needed to conduct a rapid assessment of the current evidence and policies and provide recommendations on how to improve in 2025 and beyond as well as guidance for future pandemics.

Link | PDF (BMC Medicine) [Open Access]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom