Infants, young adults, and South Asians experienced comparatively higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence
A CITF-funded study, published in BMC Infectious Diseases, aimed to determine age-specific population SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and identify risk factors for infection among unvaccinated children and young adults.
Seroprevalence due to infection continued to rise, albeit slightly, in Canadian blood donors in November
The latest CITF-funded report from Canadian Blood Services suggests that seroprevalence due to infection was 83% in November 2023, up slightly from 81.6% in October 2023. This increase was not statistically significant.
At least 47% of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection by early 2022
In this study update presented as an infographic to the CITF, the research team reported the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection at baseline, incidence of first SARS-CoV-2 infections by six months of follow-up, and the rate of vaccination among people experiencing homelessness in Toronto.
Healthcare workers used more mental health support as the pandemic progressed
A CITF-funded study, published as a preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, found that healthcare workers (HCWs) reported increasing availability and use of mental health support as the pandemic progressed.
Up-to-date vaccination is important even among those with past COVID-19
A CITF-supported study, published in medRxiv and undergoing peer review at eLife Sciences, highlighted that to maintain population-level hybrid immunity up-to-date vaccination coverage is required, including among those recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Among non-vaccinated individuals, South Asians in Canada have an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, and death compared to non-South Asians
A CITF-funded study, published as a preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines among South Asians in Ontario compared to non-South Asians. The researchers also assessed the odds of symptomatic COVID-19 infection and related hospitalizations and deaths among non-vaccinated South Asians and non-South Asians.
A combination of multi-variate statistics and machine learning analysis presents a novel analytical pipeline to assess infection-acquired and vaccination-induced immunity
A CITF-funded study, published as a preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, found intriguing relationships -- correlates of infection or protection -- from all the COVID-19 data the researchers collected.
For smaller, rural communities operating wastewater lagoons, harvesting samples from upstream pumping stations improves COVID-19 wastewater surveillance
A CITF-funded study, published in Science of the Total Environment, aimed to address the knowledge gap on the implementation of reliable wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) in small or rural communities to track the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens or biomarkers.
Advances in treatment strategies during the pandemic created health system efficiencies without compromising patient outcomes
A CITF-funded study, published in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, found that substantially fewer patients were admitted to critical care and put on mechanical ventilation in the second wave of the pandemic than in the first – with no negative impact on mortality.