Infectious Disease

Let the children play

Public health policies meant to protect us from COVID-19 have resulted in reduced physical activity and increased screen time for all children. They are experiencing serious mental health problems. We must let them play.

Lessons from Down Under – Eight pillars to support palliative care

During the pandemic, we Canadians could learn a thing or two from our Aussie friends Down Under. This includes important lessons on palliative care.

Long-haul risks drive home importance of vaccination

We must use the emerging evidence of the long-term health consequences of COVID-19 to encourage all Canadians to get vaccinated and protect themselves, their loved ones and their community.

Focus on palliative care will help hospitals recover from COVID-19

To address the surgical backlog caused by COVID-19, we need community-based palliative care to free up important hospital resources.

Lessons in health care equity with Vaccine Hunters

The pandemic has highlighted stark equity gaps in health-care access for BIPOC and essential workers. But grassroots initiatives like Vaccine Hunters Canada have brought a broader vision of health equity to the rollout.

Toronto doctor challenges Commons committee to prioritize ‘social recovery’

This pandemic, placed on top of the longstanding social pandemic, has created a "syndemic" – a synergistic pandemic – in which the spark of COVID has ignited a tinderbox of social inequity.

Hero status putting strain on health-care workers

When the pandemic hit last year, doctors were hailed as heroes. But the hero-worship may be putting them at higher risk of moral injury – and its potential long-term, detrimental consequences.

Crisis 877: On the frontline

This is a short film made to amplify the voices of frontline workers battling the current crisis.

Prioritizing pregnant COVID patients is not altruism, it’s a necessity

Deprioritizing pregnant people in vaccine campaigns across Canada will result in more severe maternal infections, more strain on our intensive care system and ultimately, preventable deaths in this otherwise healthy, young cohort.

We need a strategy to deal with Long COVID Syndrome

Long Covid Syndrome has no known treatments. We must support the individuals who suffer from it and prevent its spread by implementing a ZeroCOVID policy.

Sorry Premier Ford, but you passed the buck long ago

One of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's favourite phrases is "the buck stops with me." But because of his inaction, he’s passed the buck on to me and my colleagues in GTA hospitals.

The zero-sum vaccination game

Amidst the clamour for mass vaccination, we think it's worth reflecting on the limitations of our fixation on vaccine procurement as a nation. What does it mean for global health equity?

April 20: Foolishly walking into a crisis

Instead of pots and pans, all I hear now is the deafening silence in response to calls for paid sick leave and vaccines for essential workers.

Five things to know about AstraZeneca

Here are five important things we all need to understand about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

April 16: “An unprecedented but preventable crisis”

It is so incredibly obvious to us on the wards who is struggling for help. I am angry, sad, and disappointed that their needs and safety seem to invisible to people in power.

Episode 24 – Rapid Fire ID!

COVID-19 and insomnia: Pills are not the answer

If the health impacts of COVID-19 weren’t already enough, you can now add a quietly brewing insomnia epidemic. Immediately turning to sleeping pills, however, is not the right answer.

Building a caring Canada after the pandemic

The pandemic has revealed shortfalls that go far beyond the supply of personal protective equipment and vaccines. It has shown that we need an antidote to the social and economic conditions that lead to physical and emotional harm.

Public conversation on the ethics of intensive care triage during pandemic is overdue

As bioethicists who have worked on a framework for ICU triage in Ontario, we are concerned by the lack of transparency.

April 13: “How do you even triage patients who are aged 30 to 50?”

We are figuring out staffing/redeployment, expansion of medical units, possible medication rationing and triaging for sick patients. How do you even triage patients who are aged 30 to 50?