/oss/taxonomy/term/2900/all en /oss/article/covid-19-medical-critical-thinking/evidence-shows-masks-work <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-the-evidence-shows-masks-work">Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>As we see cases of multiple respiratory viruses rising in Canada and around the world, we now have to deal with not just COVID-19, but also respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV) and influenza. As a result, overcrowded ERs are functioning so far beyond capacity it beggars belief and the health-care system is struggling to provide people with the optimal care they deserve.</p> Fri, 18 Nov 2022 11:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9298 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/future-proof-coronavirus-vaccine <p>You may remember learning about Newton’s third law in school. It states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. A classic example would be a rocket being propelled forward by expelling gases backward. In a tongue-in-cheek way, we could apply this law to the COVID-19 pandemic: the virus makes a move, we make a countermove. As important mutations arise in the virus that create a new variant that outcompetes the others, scientists start to work on a new vaccine that could be a better countermove to this new variant.</p> Thu, 28 Apr 2022 18:07:58 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9099 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/can-flu-vaccine-also-help-covid-19 <p>Bonus features on a DVD or Blu-ray disc (remember those?) are nice, but we don’t expect them from vaccines. As the novel coronavirus hurtled through communities in 2020 and no specific vaccine was on the immediate horizon, scientists began to wonder if a different jab, already approved and commonly administered, might have a bonus feature of its own: protecting us from COVID and its most severe consequences.</p> Sat, 02 Oct 2021 08:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8884 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/virus-every-season <p>We have all heard the claim, passed down the generations, that you catch a cold by being exposed to cold weather. That’s what I used to believe when I was younger. Then I graduated to the explanation that respiratory tract infections, like the cold and the flu, peak in the winter months because we spend so much more time indoors. Close contact favours viral transmission, you see. But the reality is<a href="https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007327"> a lot more complex</a> than these simplistic accounts, which break down when we contemplate their logic.</p> Fri, 24 Jul 2020 15:45:09 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8345 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/covid-19-vs-flu-no-need-pick-sides <p> </p> <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in</em><span> </span><a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-covid-19-vs-the-flu-no-need-to-pick-sides/wcm/1e7384ba-8df0-4c5b-9885-41ecd91c69ad/">The Montreal Gazette<span>.</span></a></p> Fri, 05 Jun 2020 13:20:42 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 8275 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health-general-science/how-antivirals-create-paper-jams-stop-viruses-their-tracks <p>Here’s a counterintuitive fact: an antiviral drug does not kill a virus. The real virus killers are the virucides, like alcohol and bleach, that tear the virus apart. It’s all in the name, with “-cide” meaning “killer”, like in genocide and homicide. But scrutinizing words too much may lead us to think that antivirals are simply out protesting in the streets that “viruses = death.” The coronavirus pandemic has forced exotic names like remdesivir and lopinavir to form on our lips, antivirals that may, we are told, help us fight our invisible enemy.</p> Fri, 15 May 2020 18:27:45 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8248 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/h3n2-influenza-why-it-called-h3n2 <p>It may seem as if flu viruses get chosen based on a sluggish and never-ending game of bingo.</p> <p>H1N1? … Does anyone have H1N1?</p> <p>The next number is… H7N9. Please check your cards, the number is H7N9….</p> <p>H5N1… do we have a bingo? Please bring your card in to be validated. The prizes tonight include congestion, fever, and sore throat.</p> <p>The majority of flu cases this season are said to be “A(H3N2)”. Who comes up with these designations and what do they mean? As is often (but not always) the case in science, there is a method to this apparent madness.</p> Tue, 09 Jan 2018 23:49:20 +0000 Jonathan Jarry, MSc 6876 at /oss