Infectious Questions : An Infectious Diseases Public Health Podcast

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.

In this episode, we focus on effective public health engagement with nurses in Canada about 2019-nCoV. We speak with Dr. Claire Betker, President of the Canadian Nurses Association and the Scientific Director for the National Collaborating Centre for the Determinants of Health.

In this episode, we continue our look at the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, specifically on infection prevention and control in Canadian healthcare settings. We chat with  Dr. John Embil, an infectious disease consultant at the University of Manitoba and Medical Director for the Infection Prevention and Control program at the Health Sciences Centre hospital and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

In the first episode of the series, we pose questions on Novel Coronavirus testing and diagnosis and Canada's laboratory response to Dr. Jared Bullard, an infectious disease specialist and Associate Medical Director at the Cadham Provincial Lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In this episode of Infectious Questions, Shivoan & Zeeshan are joined by Ziba Miab (a doctoral student at the University of Manitoba) who will narrate key themes highlighted by refugee women navigating the Canadian healthcare system.

Lyme disease is a prominent issue in the media these days and a matter of concern among public health practitioners in Canada. This episode, we look at Lyme's risk of transmission and prevention strategies. Our guest expert is Dr. Eilish Cleary. Trained as a primary care physician, Dr. Cleary has worked in a variety of settings including Ireland, Sierra Leone and the Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. She currently works for the federal government as a community medicines specialist in First Nations and Inuit health. She spoke with NCCID's Zeeshan Qadar. // Our theme music is 'Weathervane' by Blue Dot Sessions [www.sessions.blue]

In this, the fifth in our 'TB Talk' series of episodes, we hear from Dr. Ryan Cooper, an infectious diseases specialist with Alberta Health Services. Dr. Cooper speaks to how post-landing or post-arrival TB surveillance of migrants works in Canada (including some Alberta-specific challenges), plus the best approach to on-going follow-up. He also discusses how Alberta's virtual TB clinic model has made a difference to rural, remote and Indigenous communities. // Our theme music is 'Weathervane' by Blue Dot Sessions [www.sessions.blue]

The fourth in our TB Talk series, conversations from the most recent meeting of the North American Region of the International Union Against Tuberculosis. This episode, we hear from Dr. Dennis Falzon, a Medical Officer with the Stop TB Department at the World Health Organization in Geneva. Here, he discusses the WHO's End TB Strategy, as well as the potential of new technologies to prevent and eliminate TB. // Our theme music is 'Weathervane' by Blue Dot Sessions [www.sessions.blue]

This episode is the third in our 'TB Talk' series, conversations that originated at End TB 2017, a meeting of the North American Region of the International Union Against Tuberculosis. This episode, we hear from Dr. Malcolm King, a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He presented at the event on social determinants of health in remote, northern and Indigenous communities. We asked him about their importance to the rate of new TB infections and better TB outcomes. Our theme music is 'Weathervane' by Blue Dot Sessions [www.sessions.blue]

This episode continues our look at tuberculosis at End TB 2017, a meeting of the North American Region of the International Union Against Tuberculosis. This episode’s featured guest is Kay Wallis, a special projects manager with the Curry International Tuberculosis Center, who presented on cultural proficiency among healthcare providers.

This episode, we turn our attention to tuberculosis for a special series of "TB Talk" episodes. This February, the city of Vancouver played host to End TB 2017, a meeting of the International Union Against Tuberculosis, specifically, the North American Region: we hear a sample of attendees' top TB priorities. In future episodes, we’ll bring you a number of one-on-one conversations with experts at the meeting.  // Our theme music is 'Weathervane' by Blue Dot Sessions [www.sessions.blue]   

We continue our look at refugee oral health: this time around, we’ll discuss the Interim Federal Health Program. It provides limited, temporary coverage of healthcare benefits to people who aren’t eligible for health insurance in Canada. Our guest expert is Dr. Carlos Quiñonez, an Associate Professor of Dental Public Health at the University of Toronto. // Our theme music is 'Weathervane' by Blue Dot Sessions [www.sessions.blue] 

In this episode of Infectious Questions, we continue our look at refugee oral health: specifically, the benefits of universal screening and how to optimize collaborations between primary care providers and dentists. Here to help us once again is Dr. Carlos Quiñonez, an associate professor of dental public health at the University of Toronto.

This episode marks a shift in focus for our podcast, from a virus—Zika—to a population, namely, refugees. Refugee health remains a matter of concern to public health practitioners across Canada. Today, we’ll focus on their oral health, an aspect of wellbeing all too often overlooked. Our guest expert is Dr. Carlos Quiñonez, an Associate Professor of Dental Public Health at the University of Toronto. The Director of its Specialty Training Program, he’s a past president of the Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry.