The province only gave numbers for flu A, flu B, RSV, and COVID-19 for the week ending 4 Jan 2025, but that’s enough to see that flu finally beat out RSV for the most prevalent respiratory disease. COVID-19 levels look still relatively low-ish, though the wastewater graph looks like they are going up slightly. Mitigation… Continue reading 2025-01-10 BC
2025-01-10 General
I want to talk for a moment about human metapneumonia virus (HMPV). It is NOT some strange new virus which is killing people in China — again. HMPV has been circulating for at least sixty years, I have almost certainly had it, you have probably had it. BC has been tracking it for years: I… Continue reading 2025-01-10 General
2025-01-03 General
❗❗❗RECALL!!! There was a housecat in Oregon which died after eating Northwest Naturals Feline Turkey Recipe raw & frozen pet food which was infected with bird flu. THIS PET FOOD IS ALSO SOLD IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. DO NOT FEED YOUR CAT THIS FOOD. (Yes, there has been a recall.) COVID-19 This paper from Germany (2024-12-23)… Continue reading 2025-01-03 General
2025-01-03 BC
RSV is significantly up, and is now slightly above last season’s peak. Flu is up significantly; COVID-19 is still low-ish but it has risen slightly. COVID-19 is only about a quarter of respiratory illnesses right now. Wastewater looks about as stable as it gets. For information about the Fraser teen who was hospitalized for bird… Continue reading 2025-01-03 BC
2024-12-27 General
NB: No BC post this week because the are not publishing new data until 3 Jan 2025. This post is kind of short because for some reason there has been less news the past few days. Happy Holidays! Recommended Reading This article from USA (2024-12-26) talks about three issues to watch in global health: H5N1,… Continue reading 2024-12-27 General
2024-12-20 BC
Note: The province will not give another update until 3 Jan 2025. There are about 20% more respiratory illnesses than were reported last week. However, they also increased last week’s figures, so this week is about the same as what they now say we had last week. 🙁 The COVID-19 numbers don’t get revised as… Continue reading 2024-12-20 BC
2024-12-20 General
Recommended Reading ⭐❗❗This article (2024-12-17) talks about how cats might be an effective “mixing vessel” and transmission vector for the next pandemic. TL;DR: Cats have avian and mammal receptors and get very very close to humans on a regular basis. COVID-19 Long COVID ⭐ This preprint from USA (2024-12-11) reports that people who went on… Continue reading 2024-12-20 General
2024-12-13 BC
COVID-19 keeps going down! All the numbers (yes, including wastewater) are almost as low as they were 18 months ago. (COVID-19 is NOT “seasonal”!) RSV is up, and is still the most common respiratory infection. Flu is rising a bit more quickly than it had been, but it still is at a pretty low level.… Continue reading 2024-12-13 BC
2024-12-13 General
⭐❗❗ This review paper (2024-12-10) reports that pathogens — including some really nasty ones — hang around in semen from days to years. They found 22 different pathogens which had been reported in semen, including HIV, Zika, Ebola, mpox, COVID-19, Lassa fever, dengue, Hep E, mumps, West Nile, adenovirus, Marburg, and some I’d never heard… Continue reading 2024-12-13 General
2024-12-07 BC
The COVID levels — on all measures — keep going down for no obvious reason. I don’t care why, I think it’s awesome! I haven’t seen levels this low since summer 2023. Flu is creeping up, but RSV is this report period’s leader. Charts From the BC CDC Situation Report: Comparison vs. Other Influenza-Like-Illnesses, from… Continue reading 2024-12-07 BC