This is a short posting because there wasn’t much news over the holidays. The province didn’t release any data this week, so there’s no BC-specific posting. (The province says they will release data next Thursday.) COVID-19 COVID-Related Excess Sickness and Death This paper from USA (2025-12-23) reports that people hospitalized for COVID-19 had a 2.11… Continue reading 2026-01-02 General
Category: Vaccines
2025-12-26 General
Influenza Transmission 🤧 I just had influenza, so spent some time looking up information about incubation periods and contagiousness to figure out how to keep Spouse from getting sick. O. My. Word. There is so much information that is just plain wrong out there! Almost every web page I visited said that influenza was passed… Continue reading 2025-12-26 General
2025-12-12 General
COVID Long COVID 🚑 This paper from USA (2025-12-03) reports that veterans who were eventually diagnosed with Long COVID had a 34% higher risk of emergency department visits in the six months after their infection compared to those who tested positive for COVID-19 infections but who did not get Long COVID. 🩸 This paper from… Continue reading 2025-12-12 General
2025-12-05 General
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
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
2025-11-21 General
There’s been a lot of news this week, but most of the articles it’s been politicians-in-other-countries-doing-stupid-things. It hasn’t just been the USA, either: UK, Scotland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, and I forget who else all made appearances. That hasn’t left much mindshare for articles about the science and/or Canada. 🙁 COVID-19 Long COVID This paper… Continue reading 2025-11-21 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
2025-10-24 General
COVID-19 Vaccines 🎉 This isn’t about a vaccine exactly, but something that acts like a vaccine — i.e. it prevents you from getting sick. This paper from USA (2025-10-21) describes a small Phase 1 study in healthy adults of a plasmid DNA which, when injected, made the study participants’ cells make tixagevimab and cilgavimab —… Continue reading 2025-10-24 General