Although COVID-19 can be considered both an infectious disease and a respiratory disease, we recognize that many people are interested in all research pertaining to the global pandemic declared on March 11th, 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The content below is the collective contributions of research, projects, and media from the teams of scientists at the CHEO Research Institute.
Related News
Research Projects
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Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries
14/05/2022
This study represents an attempt to generate and systematically score research priorities to address COVID-19 across LMICs.
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Virtual family-centered rounds: A collaborative necessity during COVID-19 and beyond
29/10/2021
We believe this virtual care model is both highly relevant and transferable to a variety of health care settings across Canada and beyond.
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Near real-time determination of B. 1.1. 7 in proportion to total SARS-CoV-2 viral load in wastewater using an allele-specific primer extension PCR strategy
15/10/2021
Our study demonstrates that this strategy can provide public health units with an additional and much needed tool to rapidly triangulate VOC incidence/prevalence with high sensitivity and lineage specificity.
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The role of wastewater testing for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance
26/08/2021
These characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection, along with the observation that SARSCoV-2 is excreted in stools during all phases of infection, has led to the uptake of wastewater testing to complement SARS-CoV-2 surveillance based on clinical tests and case identification.
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Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults: a rapid review
04/08/2021
Further studies to improve our understanding of pathogenesis of MIS-A will help improve treatment decisions and prevent sequelae and death.
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Psychological and Demographic Determinants of Substance Use and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
25/06/2021
These characteristics should be considered when developing prevention and treatment programs for adults with problematic alcohol use and comorbid anxiety and depression.
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The impact of COVID-19 on adolescents with eating disorders: a cohort study
04/06/2021
Further research is required to better understand the impact of the pandemic on the clinical course and outcomes of EDs in adolescents.
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Aerosol SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals and long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic
04/06/2021
Although a subset of aerosol samples exhibited detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA at low titres, the presence of viable SARS-CoV-2 virus in aerosols appears to be infrequent at >2m distance.
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Evaluating the utility of synthetic COVID-19 case data
01/03/2021
A privacy risk assessment on the synthetic data showed that the attribute and membership disclosure risks were low.
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SARS-CoV2 Infection in Children with Liver Transplant and Native Liver Disease: An International Observational Registry Study
16/02/2021
Future controlled studies are needed to evaluate effective treatments and further stratify LD and LT patients with SARS-CoV2 infection.
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Catching a resurgence: Increase in SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA identified in wastewater 48 hours before COVID-19 clinical tests and 96 hours before hospitalizations
22/01/2021
Wastewater-based COVID-19 epidemiology programs have been initiated in many countries to provide public health agencies with a complementary disease tracking metric and non-discriminating surveillance tool.
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Predicting SARS-CoV-2 infections for children and youth with single symptom screening
01/01/2021
Symptom-based screening needs to be responsive to changes in evidence and local factors, including the expected resurgence of other respiratory viruses following relaxation of social distancing/masking, to reduce infection-related risks in schools and daycare settings.
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Regional differences in access to the outdoors and outdoor play of Canadian children and youth during the COVID-19 outbreak
18/12/2020
It is unsurprising that in the provinces that have had the highest number of COVID-19 cases, there have been the most stringent restrictions on access to the outdoors. It is also unsurprising that these same provinces have had the greatest decline in time spent outdoors and in outdoor play among children and youth.
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Evaluating Identity Disclosure Risk in Fully Synthetic Health Data: Model Development and Validation
11/11/2020
We have presented a comprehensive identity disclosure risk model for fully synthetic data. The results for this synthesis method on 2 datasets demonstrate that synthesis can reduce meaningful identity disclosure risks considerably. The risk model can be applied in the future to evaluate the privacy of fully synthetic data.
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SARS-CoV-2 Protein in Wastewater Mirrors COVID-19 Prevalence
01/09/2020
Here, we demonstrate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins in wastewater using traditional immunoblotting and quantitate them from wastewater solids using an immuno-linked PCR method called Multiplex Paired-antibody Amplified Detection (MPAD). In this longitudinal study, we corrected for stochastic variability inherent to wastewater-based epidemiology using multiple fecal content protein biomarkers.
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Healthy movement behaviours in children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring the role of the neighbourhood environment
01/09/2020
This paper explores patterns of increased/ decreased physical activity, sedentary and sleep behaviours among Canadian children and youth aged 5-17 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and examines how these changes are associated with the built environment near residential locations.
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Quantitative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater solids in communities with low COVID-19 incidence and prevalence
19/08/2020
Can we find COVID-19 markers in the wastewater that will help predict outbreaks?
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Decontamination Interventions for the Reuse of Surgical Mask Personal Protective Equipment: A Systematic Review
10/08/2020
There is limited evidence on the safety or efficacy of surgical mask decontamination. Given the heterogeneous methods used in studies to date, we are unable to draw conclusions on the most efficacious and safe intervention for decontaminating surgical masks.
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Decontaminating N95 and SN95 masks with Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) does not impair mask efficacy and safety: A Systematic Review
17/07/2020
In conclusion, the function of N95 masks, based on aerosol penetration and airflow filtration, is maintained following a single cycle of UVGI. Decontamination using UV light in the laboratory setting suggests that this can be a successful method of removing infectious pathogens from FFRs. Future studies should use a cumulative UV-C dose of 40,000 J/m2 and focus on validating the effectiveness of UVGI decontamination in the real-world setting, and on determining the impact of UVGI on mask fit as well as the maximum number of UVGI cycles that can be safely applied to an N95 FFR.
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Decontaminating N95 and SN95 masks with ultraviolet germicidal irradiation does not impair mask efficacy and safety.
13/07/2020
To help inform FFR-reuse policies and procedures, our team has conducted three systematic reviews to synthesize existing published data regarding the effectiveness of UVGI, heat, microwave irradiation, and chemical disinfectants for N95 FFR decontamination.
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Canadian children’s and youth’s adherence to the 24-h movement guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic: A decision tree analysis
08/07/2020
Our results show that specific characteristics interact to contribute to (non)adherence to the movement behavior recommendations. Results highlight the importance of targeting parents’ perceived capability for the promotion of children's and youth's movement behaviors during challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, paying particular attention to enhancing parental perceived capability to restrict screen time.
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Impact of the COVID-19 virus outbreak on movement and play behaviours of Canadian children and youth: a national survey
06/07/2020
This study provides evidence of immediate collateral consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak, demonstrating an adverse impact on the movement and play behaviours of Canadian children and youth. These findings can guide efforts to preserve and promote child health during the COVID-19 outbreak and crisis recovery period, and to inform strategies to mitigate potential harm during future pandemics.
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Seeking Normalcy as the Curve Flattens: Ethical Considerations for Pediatricians Managing Collateral Damage of Coronavirus Disease-2019
26/06/2020
Children have encountered and will continue to encounter unique challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. We cannot ignore discrepancies in social determinants of health. Keeping families and communities safe and our patients healthy is no small task. But we have an opportunity, if we pay close attention to the vulnerabilities exposed by this pandemic, to make conditions better for children than before the pandemic began.
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New Data regarding decreased physical activity during the Global Pandemic
01/06/2020
The time spent in places associated with physical activity such as parks, beaches, and community gardens was down by 31%, and travel by public transport, which is also associated with physical activity, was down by 59%.
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Paediatric ethical issues during the COVID‐19 pandemic are not just about ventilator triage
01/05/2020
the COVID‐19 pandemic is creating many ethical challenges. One of the most difficult is for ethicists to focus on the issues that are likely to have the greatest impact. Ventilator allocation in a crisis situation is a deeply tragic choice that requires careful balancing of a number of values
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Efficacy and Safety of Disinfectants for Decontamination of N95 and SN95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators: A Systematic Review
18/04/2020
Aim:The objective of this review was to synthesize existing data on the effectiveness and safety of using disinfectants to decontaminate N95 FFR.
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Decontaminating N95 masks with Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) does not impair mask efficacy and safety: A Systematic Review
10/04/2020
Microwave irradiation and heat provides safe and effective decontamination options for N95 FFR reuse during critical shortages. However, autoclaving masks is not recommended by the evidence in this review. Any mask disinfected using these methods should be inspected for physical degradation before reuse.
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Researching COVID-19 Community Markers in Wastewater
This is an active study.
Researchers
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Tommy Michel Alain
Scientist, CHEO Research Institute
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Samantha Boggs
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Natalie Bresee
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Melanie Buba
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Dina El Demellawy
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Khaled El Emam
Senior Scientist, CHEO Research Institute Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
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Gary Goldfield
Senior Scientist, CHEO Research Institute
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Tyson Graber
Associate Scientist
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Megan Harrison
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Mohit Kehar
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Tom Kovesi
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Eric LaCasse
Associate Scientist, CHEO Research Institute
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Alex MacKenzie
Senior Scientist, CHEO Research Institute
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Dayre McNally
Scientist, CHEO Research Institute
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Gregory Moore
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Mark Norris
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Katie O’Hearn
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Nicole Obeid
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Anne Pham-Huy
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Wendy Spettigue
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Mark S. Tremblay
Senior Scientist, CHEO Research Institute
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Sandy Tse
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
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Richard Webster
Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
