Omicron found in similar amounts to other variants of concern among nasopharyngeal and oral swabs
A letter published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection reported that either a nasopharyngeal swab or an oral rinse is able to detect the Omicron variant in those who were infected, even if the amount of virus detectable by the former is ten times greater than the latter.
COVID-19 infections don’t always induce an immune response
Published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, this CITF-funded study led by Dr. Marc-André Langlois, along with Malaa Bhatt, Roger Zemek (University of Ottawa) found that approximately 1 in 8 individuals with COVID-19 did not develop antibodies detectable in blood serum (a process known as seroconversion) as a result of infection.
Incidence of Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection among vaccinated Canadian adults
In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the CITF-funded Ab-C Study led by Dr. Prabhat Jha, from the University of Toronto, quantified SARS-CoV-2 incidence during the Omicron (BA.1/1.1) wave among Canadian adult members of the Angus Reid Forum.
Reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 rare among Canadian healthcare workers during pre-Omicron days
In a paper published in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, CITF-funded researcher Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh from the Université de Montréal and other members of the REinfection in COVID‐19 Estimation of Risk (RECOVER) project, studied Canadian healthcare workers (HCWs) who had a previously documented SARS-CoV-2 infection to better understand vulnerability to reinfection.
Study shows booster doses elicit strong antibody responses including against Omicron
While two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine can prevent serious illness in most cases, vaccine-induced immune responses decline naturally over time, increasing the risk of breakthrough infections.
COVID-19 lockdowns may be to blame for off-season resurgences of respiratory syncytial virus
Where an average of 1,450 cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are reported each year in British Columbia, only five cases were reported in the province in 2020-2021 due largely to drastically reduced interactions while provincial lockdowns were in effect.
SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy associated with increased risk of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes
CITF-funded researcher Dr. Deborah Money, from the University of British Columbia, and the CANCOVID-Preg team published a study in JAMA, observing that SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy was significantly associated with an increased risk of adverse maternal outcomes and preterm births in those who were unvaccinated.
30% of Canadian Blood Services donors infected with SARS-CoV-2 by end of March 2022
Consistent with the ongoing transmission of the Omicron variant, infection-acquired seropositivity increased in the blood donor community gradually throughout March, from 27% to 30%.
Immune responses to mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in immune-deficient patients
A paper now published in JCI Insight by CITF-funded researchers Drs. Anne-Claude Gingras, Tania Watts, and Vinod Chandran of the University of Toronto provides evidence of the need for a third dose of mRNA vaccine in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID).