Researchers are struggling to explain why Quebec had the country's highest official COVID-19 death toll, but a relatively low number of excess deaths. A study — titled Excess mortality, COVID-19 and health-care systems in Canada — looked at excess deaths, which refers to when observed deaths exceed expectations based on previous years' data, between March 2020 and October 2021. Quebec only had 4,033 excess deaths in that period, despite reporting 11,470 COVID-19 fatalities — almost three times more. It's the biggest gap recorded in Canada during the pandemic.
Scientists are seeking answers to why SARS-CoV-2 variants are so transmissible and why they cause greater disease severity than the original strain. McGill’s Qian (Vivian) Liu, together with researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, have launched a study to understand this question, investigating how SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins are organized and moved on the cell or virus surface by using single-molecule imaging technology.
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Published on: 30 Sep 2021
While previous research early in the pandemic suggested that vitamin D cuts the risk of contracting COVID-19, a new study from McGill University finds there is no genetic evidence that the vitamin works as a protective measure against the coronavirus.
"Vitamin D supplementation as a public health measure to improve outcomes is not supported by this study. Most importantly, our results suggest that investment in other therapeutic or preventative avenues should be prioritized for COVID-19 randomized clinical trials," say the authors.
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Published on: 4 Jun 2021
In May 2020, Teaching and Learning Services (TLS), Student Services, and Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) collaborated to launch the COVID-19 Student Impact Survey to help units across the University better understand the student experience in the Winter 2020 term. With a 22% response rate from the over 30,000 graduate and undergraduate students who received the survey, the results will be used to inform how we serve and support students in the coming year.
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Published on: 10 Aug 2020
Can food transmit COVID-19? Should we wear masks and gloves while shopping? Should we wipe down groceries? Cash or credit? These questions and more are answered by McGill expert.
Jennifer Ronholm is an Assistant Professor cross-appointed to the Departments of Animal Science and Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry. Her research interests include using the latest next-generation sequencing techniques to study how the microbiome of food-producing animals affects food quality, as well as how the microbiome of the food we eat affects human health.
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Published on: 6 May 2020
The challenge of water security is growing globally. Achieving and sustaining water security, in both developed and developing countries, is likely to increase in complexity and priority as climate change intensifies, but also as the demands of economic growth increase. For most MENA countries that were already facing water security and major social, health and economic challenges before COVID-19, this additional pressure is particularly excruciating. Like COVID-19 and climate change, water scarcity in MENA is a global problem that requires collective action.
Published on: 6 May 2020
ISID's Jamal Saghir has produced, in coordiation with the Payne Institute for Public Policy, a commentary paper entitled "Post COVID-19 New World Configuration and Climate Change Actions: Two Urgent Priorities". The full paper is available online at the Payne Institute for Public Policy.
Published on: 14 Apr 2020
FORBES | BCG against Coronavirus: Less hype and more evidence, please
By Madhukar Pai
I was born and raised in India. On the day I was born, I am told I got my first jab, a vaccine called BCG (bacille Calmette-Guerin). Kids born in India today still get this vaccine.
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Published on: 12 Apr 2020
