Science of Health blog posts - 2022

Health Canada labs are using genomics, a cutting-edge field in biology, to study why foodborne germs make us sick.

In the spring of 2022, cases of monkeypox/mpox began appearing in Canada and other countries where the disease hadn’t been observed before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly every major city in Canada established a wastewater testing surveillance program.

Scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) are working to understand the extent of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Canada.

Radon is a radioactive gas that is produced naturally by the breakdown of uranium in the ground. It can seep into your home through cracks, openings or gaps in the foundation walls or floors.

Pop quiz! What foodborne parasite has infected approximately a third of the world’s population?

Have you ever wondered about how infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19 and monkeypox are investigated? It’s no easy task, but the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) field epidemiologists playing a leading role in many outbreak investigations.

Research from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) is offering new insights into how common the hepatitis D virus is in Canada and who is infected.

The effects of climate change increase heat-related risks for all residents of Canada. In general, heat waves increase the number of deaths and a spike in admissions to the emergency room.

When researchers first began studying the rates of HIV transmission in Nairobi sex workers, they discovered that many people who were exposed to HIV multiple times never ended up contracting the disease. But why?

As the weather heats up around the country, we don’t often pause to think of the effects heat can have on our bodies. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat in their homes, which can have a devastating impact on their health and, in extreme cases, even lead to death.

Residents of British Columbia won’t soon forget the summer of 2021. What we now call the western heat dome was the deadliest weather event in Canada to date. In fact, the BC Coroners Service confirmed that there were 619 heat-related deaths during the heat dome, which took place from June 25 to July 1.

What do you see when you look up at the night sky? A few constellations, the North Star, or maybe the moon. We tend to think about space from our perspective on the ground, but what about looking down from space to earth? This is the perspective through which a special team of researchers at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) study our world, using space technology to track diseases.

The ocean is full of bacteria. So how do you know the seafood you eat is safe? Dr. Swapan Banerjee, Research Scientist at the Vibrio Laboratory at Health Canada’s Food Directorate, helps us understand what’s under the surface of the sea.

Biodiversity, a wide and robust variety of plants and animals in a given area, is usually an excellent indicator of the good health of an ecosystem.

Variants of concern have dominated international headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. A small team of Government of Canada employees, called Genomics Liaison Technical Officers (GLTOs), have been instrumental to Canada’s identification and tracking of the variants.

Dried blood spot (DBS) testing, a technology used by scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML), is innovating how we screen for transmissible diseases in Canada.

Astronauts heading to space undergo a series of physical and mental preparations to ensure they can withstand the pressures that come with the job. But did you know that they also get a radiation checkup?

Janice Wong’s interest in science started with a simple chemical reaction to create a household staple: aspirin.

Viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses, are an ongoing concern in many West African countries. Scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) are working with some of these nations to build their capacity to detect emerging pathogens through international collaboration.

We are exposed to numerous chemical substances as we go about daily routines. How do we know they are safe?

Do you tune out the world by listening to your favourite music, podcasts or movies with your headphones? Listen up and make sure you’re taking care of your hearing.

Time spent making crafts and playing with toys is a large part of childhood. But how safe are the craft supplies and toys that our kids play with every day?

When there is increased demand for COVID-19 testing capacity, driven, for example, by the increase in Omicron cases, a cross-country network of surge capacity testing sites springs into action. Most recently, these sites were used as part of the response to the Omicron wave, which led to a sudden surge in testing needs in Canada.

The air quality in our homes is important to our general health. As part of the Government of Canada’s investment in understanding and improving air quality, Health Canada worked with First Nations communities in the Sioux Lookout Zone and other partners to measure indoor air quality, and to examine links with high rates of respiratory infections seen in the region’s First Nations children.

When a new COVID-19 variant appears, such as the most recent Omicron variant of concern, scientists want to learn as much about it, in as short a time as possible.

For many Canadians, trips to the local rink are part their weekly routine. In Canada, more than 2,000 indoor ice arenas are used regularly by hundreds of thousands of people for activities such as hockey, figure skating, ringette and public skating.