In 180 languages, there is no phrase that translates as 'Leafs Win!'

The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is here to keep on informing you through 2021. It's your weekly briefing on topics pertinent to healthcare marketers and executives published in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions. 

⇒ Issue #193 (In numerology, 193 represents independence and self-determination.)
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 06/03: 171,711,450*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 06/03: 3,692,586*
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 06/03: 1,393,163*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 06/03: 25,590*
⇒ Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 06/03: 24,522,064*

June 3, 2021—Good morning, CurveFlatteners. It’s Mitch Shannon here with your Thursday update, coming to you from one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world: Toronto, Canada. Collectively, Torontonians speak more than 180 languages and dialects. The only shared lingua franca is a hockey team called the Maple Leafs, whose only purpose is to break your heart -- in any language or dialect.

With people from all backgrounds co-existing in something that might appear to be harmony, there are understandable sensitivities regarding national origin. This has led to some concerns over the terminology used to define Covid-19 strains. Referring to “British,” “Indian,” or “South African” variants of the virus may be stigmatizing and seems at odds with a multicultural ethos.

So, the World Health Organization’s decision this week to rename variants is welcome here, and no doubt in other centres of diverse populations. The WHO Monday (05/31) said their expert panel recommended using letters of the Greek Alphabet to differentiate the virus sub-types, calling it “easier and more practical to discussed by non-scientific audiences.” Meaning that it’s ciao, namaste, adios, görüşürüz! and do pobachennia! to all the old categories, and γεια σας to “alpha,” “beta,” and “delta.”

This decision is bound not to please everyone.

Some will point out the risks attached to confusing the name of a potentially lethal infection with that of your old college fraternity.

Others will insist that, just like so many other aspects of the pandemic, these revised names will remain, you know, all Greek to them. (Today’s Hellenic dad-joke is supplied to you through the courtesy of Nick Antoniadis.)

The NPC Podcast is back for another season. The National Pharmaceutical Congress organizers are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's guest this week is Brigitte Sonier Ferguson of the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma

COVID CHRONICLE 06/03/2021

• Future historians will wonder what was going through the mind of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, precisely one year ago, during the real-time emergence of the Covid pandemic. A window into the doctor’s thought process was provided this week after an online news service received more than 3,200 pages of emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. BuzzFeed News reveals a science leader candid in his assessments, generous with his time, and uneasy in his new celebrity status. Responding to a report that a Rochester, N.Y. bakery sold out of donuts decorated with Dr. Fauci's face. He writes of his experience being a baked goods icon: “Truly surrealistic. It is not at all pleasant, that is for sure.”
  
• A recently published study in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases suggests one out of four patients on a methotrexate regimen will have a weaker immune response to a Covid-19 vaccine. The Rx is prescribed for common immune system disorders, including RA and MS. Researchers at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine studied patients' responses to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, measuring antibody production. Study co-author Dr. Rebecca Haberman says: "It is… possible that methotrexate is delaying, rather than preventing, an adequate immune response against COVID-19." She adds that patients should not be concerned about the findings, as most patients with immune system disorders appear to respond well to mRNA vaccines.
• Research from the University of Alberta examines why some Covid-19 patients develop hypoxia, which decreases tissue oxygenation. The study, just published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, also offers clues regarding the efficacy of dexamethasone therapy. Study lead Dr. Shokrollah Elahi explains: "Immature red blood cells reside in the bone marrow, and we do not normally see them in blood circulation. This indicates that the virus is impacting the source of these cells. As a result, and to compensate for the depletion of healthy immature red blood cells, the body is producing significantly more of them to provide enough oxygen for the body."

TODAY CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON

Wednesday, June 9, will bring the first episode of “NPC Podcast Presents: Next in Pharma,” a new podcast hosted by Canadian pharma executive Michael Cloutier. The episode features a discussion of AI-Powered Analytics, a development that will disrupt pharma marketing as we’ve known it. Subscribers to the NPC Podcast will receive this episode in their podcast feed, or you can access it next Wednesday through http://healthbiz.substack.com. “Next in Pharma” is presented in co-operation with ODAIA. 

LATER I'M NOT READING...

Perhaps it’s the pending change of seasons. Maybe it’s the anxiety and low-grade mood disorders everyone has experienced since the pandemic began, all those many months ago. The thing is, my concentration is shot. I lack the focus to attempt anything as strenuous as opening the cover of a book this week. Instead, I’m passing the time listening to Merle Haggard and the Strangers, identifying totally with this stanza among Merle’s lyrics: “My mind ain't nothin' but a total blank/I think I'll just stay here and drink.” Exactly. Maybe books are over-rated. We'll just have to see.

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

Tomorrow's CurveFlattener will be brought to you by Chronicle's Kylie Rebernik, who has been known to favour us with images of her cat, Snowball. That's one winsome feline, as you will agree. Check out Snowball, tomorrow in this space.