Foreword
The end of January/early February came with many governments around the world making changes to their COVID management strategy. On one end of the spectrum, Denmark, Norway and Sweden lifted almost all restrictions. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba have begun rolling back restrictions. On the other end, Australia, British Columbia and Hong Kong are increasing or tightening measures. A cull of selected hamsters in Hong Kong was implemented after animal-to-human transmission was theorized.
As the focus on COVID continues on for almost 2 years – what are the other impacts to the health care system? Have other infectious diseases like STIs been on the backburner for too long? What about those with PASC (Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19) or “Long COVID” or mental health? A few research articles dig into those issues.
We know young people are still dying from drug overdoses in music festivals. Drug testing, medical support teams and a safe spaces are among the strategies. What about sexual harm reduction? We end this edition looking at a harm reduction initiative in Australia that is aimed at event organizers.
COVID Webinar
What recent evidence do we have that omicron is evading immunity and what are the implications?
Host: The World Health Organization
Date: Monday, Feb 14 0700 EST
https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2022/02/14/default-calendar/save-the-date—what-recent-evidence-do-we-have-that-omicron-is-evading-immunity-and-what-are-the-implications
COVID Research
Interested in learning more about COVID research/decision making? COVID Evidence Network publish a bi-weekly spotlight on Canadian and global researches
https://www.mcmasterforum.org/networks/covid-end/resources-specific-to-canada
Hamsters can transmit Covid to humans, data suggests
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/08/hamsters-can-transmit-covid-to-humans-data-suggests
COVID and Health Impacts
Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00403-0
Impact of COVID-19 on Infectious Diseases and Public Health
https://asm.org/Articles/2022/February/Impact-of-COVID-19-on-Infectious-Diseases-and-Publ
Risk of persistent and new clinical sequelae among adults aged 65 years and older during the post-acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection: retrospective cohort study
https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-068414
Physical and mental health 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection (long COVID) among adolescents in England (CLoCk): a national matched cohort study
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(22)00022-0/fulltext
Mass Gathering
The Penington Institute (Australia) released a Sexual Health and Safety Toolkit for Music Festival Organizers.
There are also fact sheets on their website to promote various aspect of harm reduction in a mass gathering context.