COVID-19’s toll on South Asians living in Ontario
Nearly a quarter (23.6%) of a sample of South Asians living primarily in Ontario’s Peel Region had evidence of prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 by the end of the pandemic’s third wave in July 2021, according to a CITF-funded study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open.
Whole genome analysis technique to speed up SARS-CoV-2 sequencing
A recent CITF-funded study published in the Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine by Drs. Marco Marra, Steven Jones and Marc Romney (University of British Columbia) demonstrates an optimized workflow for high-throughput whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 samples.
Research finds that frailty is a critical factor in mortality from COVID-19
A recent CITF-funded study published in the Canadian Geriatrics Journal concluded that frailty is a critical clinical factor in predicting outcomes of COVID-19 among a group of COVID-19 patients with a median age of 71.
Using an in vivo model to ascertain how COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy may be more effective to treat patients
Convalescent plasma therapy (CPT), which entails using plasma containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies taken from recovered individuals, has achieved mixed results in treating aged or immunosuppressed individuals suffering from severe COVID-19.
Kidney transplant recipients do not produce as robust an antibody response to COVID-19 vaccines as healthy individuals
A preprint, not yet peer-reviewed, CITF-funded study found that only 45% of kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) developed Omicron-specific neutralizing antibodies one month following a third vaccine dose.
People living with HIV show normal antibody longevity after full COVID-19 vaccination and have strong third dose responses
In a paper now published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Drs. Zabrina Brumme and Mark Brockman from Simon Fraser University and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and members of the Canadian HIV Trials Network, led by Dr. Aslam Anis from the University of British Columbia, demonstrate that responses to COVID-19 vaccines in people living with HIV (PLWH) are similar to those without HIV.
New data on COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy in Ontario
Among people who were pregnant in Ontario in March 2022, 81.3% had received one or more doses before or during pregnancy.
Third and fourth vaccine doses effectively raise antibody levels in older blood donors by mid-May: Canadian Blood Services
Consistent with the ongoing transmission of the Omicron variant, infection-acquired seropositivity increased in the blood donor community gradually through the beginning of May, from 40% at the end of April to 46% by mid-May, according to the latest data from Canadian Blood Services.
Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at the beginning of the COVID-19 immunization campaign in Alberta
The proportion of individuals who tested positive for antibodies against the receptor binding domain (RBD), acquired from infection and/or vaccination, rose from 11.9% in March 2021 to 70.2% in July 2021 in Alberta.