The world needs more nerds and other important conclusions on Covid-19

The NPC Podcast is on the air. The organizers of the National Pharmaceutical Congress are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's guest this week is Dr. Shafiq Qaadri. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma. (The NPC Podcast is now on Apple iTunes.)

⇒ Issue #77 (In numerology, the number 77 promises good luck.)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 07/17: 111,144*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 07/17: 8,875*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 07/17: 13,883,957*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 07/17: 590,650*

July 17, 2020—It’s the end of the week, all you CurveFlatteners, and maybe we’ll be lucky enough to enjoy a respite from virtual meetings for a couple of days. Reporting to you from Chronicle HQ in downtown Etobicoke, Ont., it’s your masked Editorial Director Allan Ryan, in compliance with all municipal government regulations.

Today, let’s go on a virtual tour across the country to catch up on some of the latest news regarding Covid-19.

We’ll kick off the tour in Halifax, where the biopharma company IMV has been given the go-ahead by Health Canada to map out its plans for a Phase I human trial on its Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The study will test the IMV vaccine’s safety in 84 healthy adults, one group between 18 and 55 years of age, and the other 56 years and older. If the Phase I study meets the safety parameters, then a Phase II study will be launched to evaluate the ability of the vaccine to trigger an immune response.

Heading further west, researchers at Ontario’s University of Waterloo are working to develop an anti-viral surface coating that renders the Covid-19 virus, well, dead. The research from the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) in collaboration with SiO2 Innovation Labs is investigating a Covid killing coating that could be used on personal protective equipment and clothing, high-touch surfaces and in other areas to help reduce community transmission of the coronavirus. Some studies have determined that the coronavirus can survive for days on certain kinds of surfaces.

And finally, after a long journey over the Rocky Mountains, we arrive in Vancouver, where British Columbia’s Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has been tagged as a poster girl for nerds. “The World Needs More Nerds” is a fund-raising campaign for Science World, a centre that features interactive exhibits and displays created for children to encourage their interest in science. The centre, located in the Expo 86 geodesic dome at False Creek in Vancouver, has struggled financially since its doors were slammed shut on Mar. 14 by the pandemic. The campaign features a childhood photo of Dr. Henry, whose calm demeanour and scientific rigour during her news conferences on Covid have earned her high approval ratings across the country. According to a release from Science World, the organization chose Dr. Henry for the campaign because the world needs more nerds like her. “A nerd is someone who loves what they love, no matter what. And the world needs more people like that. We’re in the business of inspiring nerds.”




COVID CHRONICLE 07/17/2020 

• A study published online on July 7 in The American Journal of Gastroenterology suggests that the use of proton pump inhibitors may be tiedto higher Covid-19 risk. One of the authors, Dr. Brennan Spiegel, professor of medicine and public health at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, theorized that an increase in stomach pH above 3 created by the use of PPIs might allow the virus to enter the GI tract more easily. This could lead to enteritis and other conditions and may spread to other organs such as the lungs. "There is a reason we have acid in our stomachs," Dr. Spiegel told Medscape Medical News.
• Three distinct immune responses to SARS-CoV2 infection identified by researchers from the Penn Institute of Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, might be useful in predicting the course of disease in patients with Covid-19. The study, published in Science (July 15), may also have therapeutic implications. Senior author E. John Wherry, Ph.D., believes this is the first study to document comprehensive immune profiles of a significant number (125) of hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
• Not the bubonic plague, too? In early July, officials in the Mongolia region of China reported several new cases of the Black Death, which seems to emphasize that while the world is concentrating on efforts to control Covid-19, historic threats are still present. In this article about the new cases, The New York Times reports that Beijing officials also acknowledged in November that two people from Inner Mongolia were diagnosed with pneumonic plague, which is caused by the same bacterium. Pneumonic plague is the only form that can be transmitted person to person, through respiratory droplets.

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Assistant Editor Dhiren Mahiban has interviewed Dr. Vince Bertucci of Woodbridge, Ont., regarding evidence-based recommendations for dermatologists who are reopening their cosmetic practices after the Covid closure. Dr. Bertucci was a member of the task force organized by The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association (ASDSA) and American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery (ASLMS) that developed these recommendations.


TOMORROW NIGHT WE ARE GOING TO WATCH...

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice. Haven’t seen this 2019 documentary yet (it’s on TV Ontario tomorrow night at 9, and also available through Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and other streaming services), but it’s a highly regarded look at a woman who is considered by some to be the best female vocalist of her generation. In addition to her work with the Stone Poneys, she has recorded jazz standards and traditional Mexican recordings based on her Mexican heritage growing up in Tucson, Ariz. In 2009 she gave her last concert, as the effects of Parkinson’s disease took a toll on her singing voice. Here’s the trailer for the doc.


HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND

Please make use of the comments section at the Daily CurveFlattener, to let us know what you're up to today. Or feel free to check in via LinkedIn, email, or your choice of connector. By all means, pass this newsletter along to your colleagues.


That's it. Stay in touch, stay safe and enjoy your day. Publisher Mitch Shannon will be back on Monday to start the new week.