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‘For the virus, one person is the entire environment’: The emergence of Omicron

Some virologists hypothesize that Omicron and other variants of concern emerged after mutating within an immunosuppressed person. The solution, they say, is to get vaccines to under-vaccinated countries.

Moral injury: An emerging legal field spurred by the pandemic?

During the pandemic, health-care professionals have suffered "moral injury." This has caught the attention of personal injury lawyers, who are now exploring moral injury: what it is, who’s at risk, how to treat it – and how it might be litigated.

‘What’s the appropriate amount of virtual care? It’s not zero, and it’s not 100’

Provincial governments are urging family doctors to resume in-person visits, arguing that virtual care increases pressure on ERs and leads to poorer health outcomes. But some doctors counter that it improves accessibility, among other benefits.

How scientific evidence evolves: A case study on COVID-19 in pregnancy

Pregnant people are at higher risk of severe COVID-19. This is a well-established fact. But it hasn’t always been. Earlier on, experts did not believe this group was at higher risk. This change in perspective is normal: in fact, it's how science works.

​​Professor’s NOVID app turns contact tracing into a safety game

If you get contact-traced because you've been near someone infected with a contagious disease, it’s too late to protect yourself. You isolate to protect others. But a new app aims to fight outbreaks using our desire to protect ourselves. Here's how.

Smart bras, molecular imaging and genome sequencing: Innovations take on breast cancer

What if a bra, taking images like an MRI, could detect breast cancer? With recent technological innovations, there may soon be cheap, non-invasive ways to screen people for breast cancer in their own homes.

Are pharmacists really the most accessible health-care providers?

Pharmacists claim to be the most accessible health-care providers – but recent research has found that pharmacies in Alberta are often not very accessible to people with disabilities or mobility issues.

Health Canada’s controversial ‘regulatory sandbox’: Enabling innovation or lowering the bar for safety?

Health Canada has a controversial plan for regulating new, complex health tech. Instead of the old vetting and approval process, a company and the agency would decide the standards as they go. Does this enable innovation or put patient safety at risk?

Telemedicine proves its value for trans and non-binary community

The pandemic has led to a rise in virtual care, which has increased access to primary care for the transgender and non-binary communities. But this trend highlights the relative lack of gender-affirming care available through traditional primary care.

Hospitals ‘bleeding out’ as nursing shortage intensifies

Nurses are leaving the profession in large numbers. Due to Ontario's wage-restraint legislation, poor working conditions, and other issues, all hospitals are bleeding out. But some advocates have ideas for how to retain nurses before it's too late.

To eliminate food insecurity, we must dismantle anti-Black racism

A recent study broke down how race is connected to factors that lead to food insecurity. The findings point to anti-Black racism as the underlying reason for the disparity in food insecurity between Black and white Canadians.

Heart & Stroke survey highlights growing concerns for patients and health professionals

People living with heart disease, stroke or vascular cognitive impairment are worse off – both physically and mentally – because they have not been able to access the care they needed during the pandemic, according to a recent survey.

‘Do I really need this in my life?’ Concerns grow over violence in ERs

Emergency departments are struggling to deal with staff shortages, and the violence that health-care workers face is a big reason why people are quitting the field. Doctors and nurses are calling for measures to curb the violence.

How good is natural immunity?

Is the immunity that comes from having caught COVID-19 as good as the immunity from vaccination? It may well be, at least for some – but there are caveats.

‘Please don’t blame your child’: For some parents of kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the pandemic has been challenging

For many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the pandemic has been isolating and disorienting. For some of their parents, it has led to burnout. So how can we support these families going forward?

‘We became more confident’: Pandemic proving value of no-touch abortions

The pandemic accelerated the roll out of telemedicine abortion care. Now, as restrictions on clinical medicine ease, we must consider whether to revert back to in-person assessments, or embrace telemedicine as a new normal.

Are the kids (and parents) all right? Back-to-school anxiety

Kids are heading back to school, but this year, many parents are worried about just how safe school will be. Three parents and medical experts talk about back-to-school fears and offer practical tips for navigating what's ahead.

COVID-19 and animal populations

While monitoring new variants of the coronavirus in human populations is top of mind for many, we also need to monitor mutations in animal populations – which could also prove dangerous to humans.

‘It’s not clear yet how it’s going to play out’

With more transmissible variants, like the Delta variant, most experts agree that it's unlikely we'll reach herd immunity. So what might it look like to live in a world where SARS-CoV-2 is endemic, and how do we get there?

A call for better data

A country’s ability to sequence genomic data from samples of SARS-CoV-2 could help it respond effectively to potentially more dangerous variants. But in Canada, there are restrictions that impact the quality of information that is being collected.