I'm concerned the discussion now in pandemic, & the 6th wave we are into in #Peterborough & #Ontario is just focused on preventing hospitalizations & death. Maintaining hospital capacity & preventing severe disease are important, but even 'mild' illness impacts are concerning.
As the number of people infected increases, the number of people impacted by the effects of Long COVID is growing. This is a complex multisystem disease we are still learning the extent of...
We've known for some time that COVID-19 was as much a vascular disease as respiratory disease. This recent @bmj_latest Swedish studies quantifies 5X DVT, 33X Pulmonary Embolism
Long COVID-19 neurocognitive effects (fatigue, brain fog, dec concentration) are also very concerning, long lasting and are implicated in the majority of people w/ long COVID frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…
Post COVID-19 people have a 40% increased risk of diabetes.
If there was nothing we could do to prevent mass population infection, it would be understandable and we'd need to shift to dealing with these tragic consequences, but we're 2++ years into the pandemic and we've learned so much.
There are in fact more than 4600 evidence-based things we can do in this pandemic (recommendations) many focused on prevention [last count from the @eCOVID19RecMap]
Emphasizing preventions that WILL help, are LOW cost & are NOT harmful is critical now:
- Wear your mask
- Stay home if sick, test & if eligible 💊
- Improve ventilation (home, schools, work, public spaces)
- Keep up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations (3 for most, 4 for some)
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Scientific thinking on airborne transmission of #COVID19 has heightened the importance of improving & assuring optimal indoor air quality, which also comes with other health benefits. @Nature asks if countries will clean it up, and we advocate they must! nature.com/articles/d4158…
@Ptbohealth Board of Health recently resolved to advocate to all levels of government to make investments and use all possible strategies to improve IAQ:
🇨🇦: make investments to fund IAQ improvements
Did you know Canada is the ONLY country in the world that has universal health care, but🚫access to covered contraception⁉️
Contraception is a gender health equity issue & 1:5 have insufficient drug coverage. #InternationalWomensDay@Ptbohealthactioncanadashr.org/resources/poli…
BC recently announced that contraception would be free for everyone, and all provinces in 🇨🇦, including @ONThealth should follow suit. cbc.ca/news/canada/br…
Unfair access to menstrual products means an inability to afford tampons, pads & liners fuels stigma & shame while creating health risks for people who struggle to afford them. @ONThealth has recently made important progress but gaps remain. news.ontario.ca/en/release/100…
The immune system is a fascinating, complicated thing. Here's a story to show, but spoiler alert. You don't owe it any debts and preventing infection is always better than it learning "the hard way" through acquired immunity from infection.
When I was on a 6 mo mission @MSF, the project where I was based was in the middle of a jungle. We had no reliable electricity, just intermittent generators therefore refrigeration.
Combined with poor food prep safety meant the food made me sick. I had repeat gastro infections my whole time there. Violent explosive gastro. We're talking often both ends. Every month or more often. One time typhoid, others unknown viral and bacterial adversaries.
I feel the concern healthcare providers, especially those helping kids are feeling right now. I feel it both as a previous ER physician and a father of two little kids. I can feel the fear of health care providers right now.
I’ve also worked in healthcare in other countries where I had to triage for inadequate care; I’ve had children die on me, because their health system failed them. It’s not something you ever fully recover from, and it’s something we must do everything in our power to avoid here.
That means taking prevention of current infections seriously. Now. It means getting our kids, but all of us up-to-date & protected by vaccines (COVID+Flu). It means masking up at school, work, and out in the community, anywhere we can spread. It means staying home when sick!
In public health training you learn about seat belts as the biggest prevention success story of the 21st century.
The 3-point seatbelt began shipping as an option in cars in the late 1950s.
Decades of public health messaging to strongly advise seat belt use just didn't work.
People only started wearing when required.
Ontario was the first to require (1976) and Yukon the last (1991).
The lesson is this: when a prevention is effective, has no associated harms, you can ask nicely...but for behaviour change you may have to require it.
I’m not saying there’s movement afoot to privatize Canada’s universal publicly funded healthcare system, but this is how you’d do it:
1️⃣ manufacture a crisis
2️⃣ obfuscate the blame
3️⃣ divide & conquer
4️⃣ provide knights in shining armour to save the day