Devon McDonald

Cord blood cytokines/chemokines linked to delays in toddlers exposed to SARS-CoV-2 prenatally - Pediatric Research Pediatric Research - Cord blood cytokines/chemokines linked to delays in toddlers exposed to SARS-CoV-2 prenatally

Unfortunately this is paywalled 😡

But the summary will give you the essence...

Cövid is terrible for infants💔💔

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@airspotrob.bsky.social @airspothealth.bsky.social

My Airspot order was lost in transit by Sendle.

I haven’t had any success reaching out for support via email or your online support form.

Please help.

Diagram showing the ancestry of Nimbus (NB.1.8.1). The evolution of NB.1.8.1 has including three recombination events, including XBB (Kraken) and BA.2.86 (Pirola) lineages.

Evolutionary tree of SARS-CoV-2 variants showing the small fraction of diversity covered by every variant with a Greek letter except "Omicron", and the enormous diversity within "Omicron", including Nimbus NB.1.8.1.

Meet "Nimbus", aka SARS-CoV-2 variant NB.1.8.1.

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Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation

Hey HCWs! Science continues to advance on AGMPs (non-existence of)
"The results indicate that both CPAP and HFNC have no clinically meaningful impact on aerosol emission. their use does not cause greater concentrations of aerosols when compared to normal breathing in healthy participants."

Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation

“CPAP and HFNC have no clinically meaningful impact on aerosol emission. Therefore, the use of CPAP or HFNC does not expose healthcare personnel to greater concentrations of aerosols when compared to normal breathing”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Incredible how quickly Yunlong Cao & co provide us w/info on the latest emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Already, we have great data on BA.3.2 (the divergent saltation lineage detected in South Africa & the Netherlands & NB.1.8.1, an emerging contender for global dominance. 1/9

Risk of post-acute symptoms among adults: A comparison study of severe COVID-19, pneumonia, and influenza Background A retrospective cohort study was undertaken to assess the relationship between initial disease severity of COVID-19 and the risk of post-acute symptoms. The COVID-19 cohort was compared aga...

Risk of post-acute symptoms among adults: A comparison study of severe COVID-19, pneumonia, and influenza
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Long COVID has unique symptoms, persistence not seen in flu, pneumonia, research suggests

Long COVID has unique symptoms, persistence not seen in flu, pneumonia, research suggests www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/lon...

Schools cut covid-19 sick days by 20 per cent using HEPA air filters Placing HEPA air filters into classrooms in the Bradford area of the UK reduced the number of covid-19-related absences among students by more than 20 per cent

Both this result and @cathnoakes.bsky.social CLASS-ACT study results have been presented at conferences with publications still pending as far as I can see.
www.newscientist.com/article/2398...

Air filters in classrooms reduce sick days by more than 10 per cent Putting air filters in classrooms seems to boost student attendance, which may be due to them reducing levels of air pollution, pollen, pathogens or all three

Air filters in classrooms reduce sick days by more than 10 per cent
www.newscientist.com/article/2478...

A brightly lit classroom with several students sitting at desks. In the foreground, slightly out of focus, is a tall, white Philips air purifier. The students in the background are wearing masks and appear to be engaged in learning. A headline overlaid on the image reads "Air filters in classrooms reduce sick days by more than 10 per cent" in large white font, above smaller text that says "Putting air filters in classrooms seems to boost student attendance, which may be due to them reducing levels of air pollution, pollen, pathogens or all three." The source is credited to New Scientist, 29th April 2025, with an image credit to Arne Dedert. A purple banner at the top left reads "CLEAN AIR NEWS" and "Michael Le Page" is written in white text to its right. A stylized hand icon is visible in the top right corner.

🙌 Great news in New Scientist. An experimental study shows that air filters in classrooms:

Reduced absence by:
👩‍🏫 12.5% or 1.3 days per pupil

Reduced PM2.5 by:
🚸 32%

Air filtration is a simple way to improve life for everyone. So what's stopping the government?!

Human Source Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Aerosol Transmission to Remote Sentinel Hamsters We tested human-generated bioaerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via building ventilation by directing ward-extract air to caged hamsters. Over 58% of anima

“These results support the concept that viral bioaerosols generated from patients remain infectious over long-distance transport through a building ventilation system.”

In a facility purpose-built to study TB transmission.
academic.oup.com/ofid/article...

Firefighters, first responders, nurses, and doctors rely on *NIOSH-approved* respirators. (During the pandemic we saw *many* counterfeit respirators going to hospitals.) The program that certifies respirators was eliminated.

This is so Canadian. Body Break doing a special elbows up get out to vote segment.

For what it’s worth, here’s the editorial I sent the Globe and Mail April 5. The Globe took a pass.

Balancing Individual Rights and Community Health Requires Knowledge of History

COVID infection tripled the risk of inflammatory heart diseases and was associated with 68% increased risk of any cardiovascular symptoms in kids with normal hearts.

Study period March 2020 to September 2023. Minimum 6 month followup.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I just heard the disappointing news that a @nationalacademies.org study on far UV to reduce transmission of respiratory infections was canceled.

www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/cli...

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Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers

Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers

www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/stu...

RSV tied to higher risk of death in adults; severe RSV linked to prematurity in kids

RSV tied to higher risk of death in adults; severe RSV linked to prematurity in kids
www.cidrap.umn.edu/respiratory-...

The simple metal box that could change the world - Healthy Debate This quiet, repairable metal air cleaner is an inexpensive long-term disease prevention tool for public spaces.

This is the way
healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...

Trump’s cronies aren’t what broke public health The structural blind spots that undermine medical progress and how to fix them.

So @mark-ungrin.bsky.social nails it

We have a significant cultural problem in academic medicine in Canada, and it ties a lot of the dysfunction and pseudo-science together.

canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/04/18/t...

Trump’s cronies aren’t what broke public health The structural blind spots that undermine medical progress and how to fix them.

canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/04/18/t...

Research links #COVID to poor kidney outcomes in US youth

Children and adolescents were at higher risk for new-onset mild and moderate chronic kidney disease from 2020 to 2023.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...

I had been doubtful that we were going to have a "this is the crisis moment" with Trump, as opposed to "everything about this is a destructive catastrophe."

But the Abrego Garcia case is the crisis moment.

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The slope isn't slippery; the frog isn't gradually getting boiled. Within its first hundred days the Trump administration has openly asserted the right/ power to seize and imprison anyone— including political dissidents, including citizens— and deprive them of any legal recourse at all.

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What makes a good public health leader? Canada is searching for a new Chief Public Health Officer. Leadership matters, especially in a crisis.

canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/04/13/w...

Common respiratory illness may triple death risk in adults within a year, shows study Adults with respiratory syncytial virus-associated acute respiratory infection (RSV-ARI) are likely to be at a 2.7-fold higher risk of death within one year, warned a study HEALTH & WELLNESS

I repeat: there’s no such thing as “just a cold”. The flu is even worse. Then there’s COVID.
sambadenglish.com/miscellany/h...

Not sure why there’s so much pushback to the idea that Covid and flu are immune suppressive

I’m sitting in a wonderful talk at @escmid.bsky.social about „VAPA“ (virus associated pulmonary aspergillosis). Opportunistic infection that occurs after Covid and flu due to immune injury

Poilievre tweet from Jun 2, 2022: Today I introduced a Private Member’s Bill to abolish all current vaccine mandates, and ban any and all future vaccine mandates. Give people back their medical freedom. Let them take back control of their lives. Join before Friday June 3rd: Pierre4PM.ca/Membership

Reminder as we watch measles rates climb in Canada that *this* is Poilievre's attitude towards vaccination during a public health emergency.

MMR vaccination has long been mandated for health care workers.

Would a Poilievre govt ban the MMR mandate in health care during a huge measles outbreak?

We also have an MMR vaccination requirement in schools in Ontario. Imagine what the state of our measles outbreak might look like right now without it.

Suggesting we are more free when we put our kids and the broader public at greater risk of preventable disease is a naïve view of freedom.