Infectious Questions : An Infectious Diseases Public Health Podcast

Thursday, January 7, 2021 — In this episode, Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh, Senior Knowledge Translation Specialist at the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH), shares data on racism during the COVID-19 pandemic including the social, cultural, economic and political impacts on different communities.

In the final episode of this series, TB program staff reflect on their lessons from the outbreak, including what worked well, and what is still needed for TB elimination.

Our third episode looks deeper into the impact of stigma, particularly on the experiences of one young woman whose life had been repeatedly up-ended by the disease.

Episode two describes the TB journey of a young mother and her four-year-old son after learning he had contracted a rare form of the disease.

Our first episode takes us to the beginning – the story of how a young adult fell through the cracks of a trying but strained health system to become the outbreak’s index case.

In this episode, Angela Eykelbosh, Environmental Health and Knowledge Translation Scientist at the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health (NCCEH), shares their information and evidence for preventing COVID-19 transmission in multi-unit residential buildings.

Stephanie Mayell, of the Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group (MWHEWG), discusses the burden of COVID-19 among migrant agricultural workers in Canada, barriers to prevention, and opportunities for public health intervention.

In this podcast, Dr. Erin Knight discusses changes and trends in substance use during COVID-19 and how public health and addiction service teams are responding together to meet the needs of communities.

On this episode, the 15th of our series, we’ve partnered with the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health to bring to discuss the evacuations of Northern Indigenous communities in Canada, and the public health considerations of COVID-19 in these tragic events. NCCIH’s Roberta Stout spoke with Dr. Emily Dicken, the Director of Emergency Management at the First Nations Health Authority.

In this episode of our series on COVID-19, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on public health programming for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs). We speak with Jennifer Gratrix, interim director of the STBBI program for Alberta Health Services.

For our 13th episode, we circle back to continue our discussion on the health and well-being of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. NCCID's Margaret Haworth-Brockman speaks with Dr. Joanne Langley, a pediatric infectious disease clinician in Halifax at IWK Health Centre and Dalhousie University, about current pediatric considerations for COVID-19 including epidemiology, presenting symptoms and demographic data.

In this episode, NCCID's Aleksandra Wierzbowski speaks with Dr. Graham Tipples, Medical-Scientific Director at Alberta’s Public Health Lab, about current and upcoming serological tactics for COVID-19. Tipples explains what healthcare professionals need to know about serology testing right now, the limitations of the test, length of immunity to COVID-19 and who should be the priority for serological testing.

For our 11th episode, we discuss the health and well-being of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. NCCID's Margaret Haworth-Brockman speaks with Dr. Joanne Langley, a pediatric infectious disease clinician in Halifax at IWK Health Centre and Dalhousie University, about current pediatric considerations for COVID-19.

In this episode, we shed light on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) resources for COVID-19 from IPAC Canada.  Jennifer Happe, an Infection Prevention and Control Professional and a Director on the Board of IPAC Canada acknowledges current challenges for frontline personnel and reminds our listeners of foundational IPC skills and opportunities to learn more. 

In April, Dr. Jared Bullard, an infectious disease specialist and Associate Medical Director at the Cadham Provincial Lab in Winnipeg Manitoba, spoke with us about Canada's initial laboratory response to 2019-nCoV and COVID-19. In this episode, Dr. Bullard returns to provide an update on testing and diagnosis for COVID-19 and Canada’s ongoing laboratory response.

In this episode of our series on COVID-19, we discuss livestock, farming and One Health considerations for COVID-19. We speak with Dr. Simon Otto, a veterinarian, epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Alberta School of Public Health.

In this episode of our series on COVID-19, we discuss public health roles, measures and considerations for northern and remote communities in Canada. We speak with Dr. Michael Isaac, Medical Officer of Health in the Northern Health Region of Manitoba.

Continuing our series on COVID-19, we speak to Dr. David Strang, a geriatrician and co-founding member of the Long Term Care Medical Directors Association of Canada,  on how Long Term Care homes, as well as supportive residences for seniors in communities, are preparing for COVID-19. 

In partnership with the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, our 5th episode in the COVID-19 series focuses on pandemic preparedness in First Nations communities. We speak with Marlene Larocque, Senior Policy Advisor at the Assembly of First Nations, and Dr. Myrle Ballard, Researcher and Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba.

In the fourth episode of this series, we delve into the issues of stigma and discrimination as they relate to 2019-nCoV, and how public health can respond. We talk with Pemma Muzumdar, a Knowledge Translation Specialist at the National Collaborating Centre for the Determinants of Health.