Page 5 - Immunity Task News Today

Hybrid immunity, better treatment access, less severe infections helped control COVID

Canada has managed to avoid a severe COVID-19 wave this winter despite a total lack of public health restrictions, a busy indoor holiday season and a rapidly mutating virus that is still very much circulating in the population.

Parent–provider conversations can clarify how and why parents make vaccination decisions regarding their children and can lead to tailored recommendations.

All estimates of protection waned within months against reinfection but remained high and sustained for hospital admission or severe disease. Individuals with hybrid immunity had the highest magnitude and durability of protection, and as a result might be able to extend the period before booster vaccinations are needed compared to individuals who have never been infected.

The Omicron variant was last year's unpleasant holiday surprise to scientists studying COVID-19. More than a year later, a loosely knit group of "disease detectives" across Canada continues to keep watch for key mutations.

Researchers look for mutations in the virus's genetic code that might offer a growth advantage

Alberta doctors are keeping a lookout for invasive group A strep infections and some say they're seeing an increase in cases among children.

Omicron changed everything we thought we knew about COVID-19 when it unexpectedly emerged a year ago and rapidly spread around the world within weeks — and there’s still so much uncertainty around what it could do next.

Clinicians should consider age, sex, and vaccine type when accounting for vaccination risks, according to the authors of an observational study.

Masks have been essential throughout the pandemic, but while everyone is encouraged to wear them to protect themselves in certain situations during respiratory illness season, mandating them now is harder to justify for a wide range of reasons.