Recommended Reading 🙌🧴🍞🦠🤢 This older article (2019-12-10) reports on a simple experiment that a schoolteacher did with her class: she took slices of bread and had kids handle them after various hand hygiene techniques. Tongs? The bread was immaculate. No handwashing? Covered with mold. Spoiler: hand sanitizer is not as good as washing with soap… Continue reading 2025-12-05 General
Category: Transmission
2025-11-28 General
COVID-19 COVID-Related Excess Death and Sickness 🫀 This paper from Sweden (2025-11-18) reports that getting COVID-19 increases your risk of cardiovascular diseases. Compared to people who did not catch COVID-19, people who did get COVID-19 infections had: People who were hospitalized for COVID-19 had a 10.77 times risk of all-cause mortality compared to never-COVIDers (AKA… Continue reading 2025-11-28 General
2025-11-14 General
I want to remind people again to get a flu shot this year. There’s a new substrain — H3N2 subclade K — which apparently is more contagious and nastier if you catch it. The flu shot isn’t hugely effective against infection but it has some effectiveness (especially for children!), and even if it doesn’t stop… Continue reading 2025-11-14 General
2025-11-07 General
COVID-19 Long COVID 💉 This paper from USA (2025-11-01) reports that vaccination cuts the risk of Long COVID in adolescents by 36%. This paper from Alberta (2025-11-07) (and this press release on the paper) reports on differences between men with Long COVID and women with Long COVID. The study notes that testosterone normally helps keep… Continue reading 2025-11-07 General
2025-10-31 General
COVID-19 Long COVID 🎉 This paper from USA (2025-10-21) reports that 74.3% of Long COVID patients in a Phase 1 study of rapamycin showed significant improvements in fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and orthostatic intolerance. COVID-Related Excess Death and Sickness 🫄 This article about this paper from USA (2025-10-30) reports that babies who were exposed to SARS-CoV-2… Continue reading 2025-10-31 General
2025-10-18 General
COVID-19 Really really long COVID 🍆 This paper (2025-10-11) says that COVID-19 won’t just f you up, it’ll f your children up if you are male. They infected male mice with COVID-19 and then looked at their offspring. All of their children were exhibited more anxious behaviours than children of uninfected daddy mice. (Fortunately, the… Continue reading 2025-10-18 General
2025-10-06 General
NB: I am travelling, so this is going to be shorter than normal. I have stopped talking about some things because I decided to focus (mostly) on things that are more actionable. For two examples: papers about vaccine trials or biomarkers for Long COVID. For both, it takes a looooooong time for the papers to… Continue reading 2025-10-06 General
2025-09-21 BC
Vaccines Who is going to be able to get a COVID-19 vaccination in BC? As I mentioned in the 2025-08-11 post, NACI says — if I understand correctly — that higher-risk people should get two doses per year and lower-risk people (basically health people under 65) may get one dose per year. However, I’m seeing… Continue reading 2025-09-21 BC
2025-09-13 General
COVID-19 Vaccines 💰 This preprint (2025-09-04) estimates that the return on the investment in developing COVID-19 vaccines was between $59.8–$475 per dollar invested. COVID-Related Excess Death and Sickness This paper from USA (2025-09-08) reports that children who had COVID-19 infections were more likely to have new-onset depression afterwards. Compared to children who did not have… Continue reading 2025-09-13 General
2025-09-05 General
COVID-19 Government This article (2025-09-03) says that Public Health Agency of Canada will be laying off about 300 people, about a tenth of its headcount. That article plus this article (2025-01-23) report that the PHAC headcount: Vaccines 💉 Okay, folks. Last week I told y’all that Americans could get vaccines in Ontario and Quebec, but… Continue reading 2025-09-05 General