Unambiguous Science

Collab post with the amazing Science Whiz Liz ADE stands for Antibody Dependant Enhancement. ADE occurs when the antibodies generated during an immune response recognize and bind to a disease causing pathogen, but instead of fighting it, the antibodies help it to get into cells easier and cause worse disease. Typically, antibodies bind to the

Many of you have asked for my personal comfort level on various activities. I’ve put together this list based on the current situation, but of course this is going to depend heavily on what is happening in your city/province/state especially fraction of population vaccinated and community spread. This also aligns with my own risk threshold,

Got Covid? Get vaccinated. Here’s why: 1- Unvaccinated people who had a prior Covid-19 infection are 2.34x more likely to be reinfected with Covid-19 than people who are fully vaccinated (1). This is based on a case-controlled study by the CDC, where they assessed the vaccination status of those reinfected during May–June 2021 and compared

Did you know? The Covid-19 vaccines are fully approved in Canada. – Canada used the Interim Order pathway to approve the Covid-19 vaccines – The Interim Order is a new pathway for any Covid-19 drugs, vaccines or innovations – The rationale is to make the approval process more efficient and timely, such as by allowing

1- The only absolute in science is that there are no absolutes. Science evolves, and with that, our knowledge. When we know better, we do better. 2- Therefore what feels like health bodies flip flopping is merely the fact that policy is always playing catch-up with science. This is exacerbated during a pandemic because science

Bottom line: absolute numbers low, risk of Bell’s palsy higher with Covid-19 infections. Benefits far outweigh risk. What have we seen so far? Clinical trials: – 4 cases in the Pfizer trial – all in the Pfizer arm – 4 cases in the Moderna trial – 3 in the Moderna arm, 1 in the placebo

Singlehandedly the most brilliant article on children and risks by Science-Based Medicine Dr Jonathan Howard. Key points: 1- Fallacy of minimizing harms 2- Contrast facts and totality of evidence 1- Fallacy of minimizing one harm by pointing out a more severe harm is called ‘fallacy of relative privation’. This tactic has been used often to

Collab post with Science Whiz Liz and Fueled by Science The CDC is phasing out the old PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and recommending a newer multi-plex test. They issued a Lab Alert on July 21, 2021 informing testing labs. Labs are being given until Dec 31, 2021 (4 months) to transition. Then, the CDC

Have received many Qs lately on SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests to assess immunity after Covid-19 vaccination. While these are available commercially across Canada and the US, we are far from using it ubiquitously and not currently recommended , because there are quite a few issues that haven’t yet been worked out yet, such as: 1- Most

Report #1: December 14, 2020 to May 31, 2021 by BORN Ontario (Better outcomes registry and network) – 30,892 received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy – 25,990 (84.1%) of vaccinated individuals were still currently pregnant as of the end of the reporting interval (May 31, 2021) – Almost all who had