A virologist said it may be months before restrictions for visitors are lifted, and freedoms and procedures at seniors’ homes may never return to pre-COVID times. Residents of seven B.C. seniors’ homes, including one with one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks, have been or soon will be fully vaccinated, but a virologist studying how well
It is with heavy heart that we share with you the passing of Carl P Vanderspek, aged 79. Carl passed early Friday, February 5th, 2021, quietly at home in Burnaby, after a year-long battle with cancer, surrounded by some of those who loved him most. Carl is remembered by his loving wife Margaret, son Doug,
Residents of long-term care facilities are at increased risk for serious outcomes of COVID-19. As vaccines are now being offered to this priority population, the Government of Canada is investing over $2 million through Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) for two studies in British Columbia (BC) and Alberta which will investigate how the immune
When Jenny Bailey learned she was next in line to get the COVID-19 vaccine, she could hardly contain herself. “I was so excited when I found out we were getting it. I was just stopping myself from doing cartwheels,” she says with a laugh. “I was thrilled.” As a member of a priority population, Bailey,
Residents of long-term care facilities are at increased risk for serious outcomes from COVID-19. Now, a new study, led by researchers from UBC’s faculty of medicine, Providence Health Care, Simon Fraser University and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, will investigate how elderly peoples’ immune systems respond to COVID-19 vaccines. The researchers will also
“If Black women were affected by HIV in the same way that White women were, the new HIV cases among Black women would be down by 93 percent.” Raniyah Copeland, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Black AIDS Institute, has devoted her career to furthering the conversation around HIV/AIDs and the Black community. Today
HIV-prevention pills are now available at 1,227 government health facilities around the country. While far from the 100% target, this is a substantial improvement on the roughly 160 facilities that provided the pills six months ago. In February 2020, the national department of health told Spotlight that it aimed to make a pill to prevent
Life-saving initiatives will provide pharmaceutical-grade medication as alternative to toxic illegal drug supply during COVID-19 outbreak and beyond February 1, 2021 | Vancouver, BC | Health Canada The overdose crisis continues to be one of the most serious public health crises in Canada’s recent history. Tragically, in many communities, the COVID-19 outbreak is worsening this
Life-saving initiatives will provide pharmaceutical-grade medication as alternative to toxic illegal drug supply during COVID-19 outbreak and beyond February 1, 2021 | Vancouver, BC | Health Canada The overdose crisis continues to be one of the most serious public health crises in Canada’s recent history. Tragically, in many communities, the COVID-19 outbreak is worsening this
Ottawa funds pilots in Vancouver and Victoria to test models that help people avoid poisoned illicit drugs. A first-of-its kind safer supply clinic in Vancouver’s downtown will begin to offer flexible, individual-centred care to people who use a variety of substances as early as this spring. The $5-million, four-year Safer Alternatives for Emergency Response program
The federal government is providing more than $15 million over the next four years to create four safer drug supply projects for people at risk of overdoses in British Columbia. The projects will provide pharmaceutical-grade medication as an alternative to the toxic illegal opioid supply currently in circulation, in an attempt to reduce illicit drug
Dozens of African countries have made limited progress and are unlikely to meet UNAIDS targets for HIV testing and condom use by 2030, researchers reported at the HIV Research for Prevention virtual conference. Phuong Nguyen, a PhD candidate at St. Luke’s International University Graduate School of Public Health in Tokyo, and colleagues assessed survey data
Dozens of African countries have made limited progress and are unlikely to meet UNAIDS targets for HIV testing and condom use by 2030, researchers reported at the HIV Research for Prevention virtual conference. Phuong Nguyen, a PhD candidate at St. Luke’s International University Graduate School of Public Health in Tokyo, and colleagues assessed survey data
Rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis among gay men have shot up in recent years. One of the reasons put forward for this is more men are taking PrEP, having sex without condoms, and therefore putting themselves at greater risk of acquiring other sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). A new study from the University of New South
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS research scientist in evolutionary genetics Jeffery Joy speaks with Stephen Quinn about the different covid variants and what it means for public health heading towards the spring.
Variants are spreading but we don’t know how much BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS research scientist in evolutionary genetics Jeffery Joy speaks with Stephen Quinn about the different covid variants and what it means for public health heading towards the spring.
Health Minister Robin Swann has said hepatitis C could be wiped out in Northern Ireland within five years. The minister was speaking after his department, alongside the Public Health Agency, published a new action plan to eliminate the disease here by 2025 – five years ahead of the target set by the World Health Organisation.
Research from specialist HIV prevention and treatment clinics for female sex workers in Nairobi has found that the number testing positive for HIV dropped by more than two-thirds between 2008 and 2017. While no single intervention can be identified as to the underlying cause in the decreasing numbers, it suggests that increasing HIV awareness, testing
Research from specialist HIV prevention and treatment clinics for female sex workers in Nairobi has found that the number testing positive for HIV dropped by more than two-thirds between 2008 and 2017. While no single intervention can be identified as to the underlying cause in the decreasing numbers, it suggests that increasing HIV awareness, testing
A new test for measuring the reservoir of HIV hidden in the cells of people with HIV failed to detect this reservoir in a significant number of people with a subtype of HIV-1, according to a study from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine, Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.
The BC-CfE Laboratory is streamlining reporting processes for certain tests in order to simplify distribution and record-keeping, and to ensure completeness of results. Beginning September 2, 2025, results for the ‘Resistance Analysis of HIV-1 Protease and Reverse Transcriptase’ (Protease-RT) and ‘HIV-1 Integrase Resistance Genotype’ tests will be combined into a single ‘HIV-1 Resistance Genotype Report’.
For more details and example reports, please click on the button below
