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Devon McDonald

@mcdevonmd.bsky.social
561 followers 804 following 86 posts

Lucky husband and dad. Internist/ICU. Views are my own. Not medical advice.

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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Prof Cath Noakes @cathnoakes.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Great to see this review on IEQ, health, wellbeing and performance in schools from UKHSA and Eurovent www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/12...
mdpi.com
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Dr David Joffe MB BS(Hons), PhD, FRACP @davidjoffe64.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Unfortunately this is paywalled 😡 But the summary will give you the essence... Cövid is terrible for infants💔💔 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Cord blood cytokines/chemokines linked to delays in toddlers exposed to SARS-CoV-2 prenatally - Pediatric Research
Pediatric Research - Cord blood cytokines/chemokines linked to delays in toddlers exposed to SARS-CoV-2 prenatally
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
@airspotrob.bsky.social @airspothealth.bsky.social My Airspot order was lost in transit by Sendle. I haven’t had any success reaching out for support via email or your online support form. Please help.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Meet "Nimbus", aka SARS-CoV-2 variant NB.1.8.1. (Thread) 1/
Diagram showing the ancestry of Nimbus (NB.1.8.1). The evolution of NB.1.8.1 has including three recombination events, including XBB (Kraken) and BA.2.86 (Pirola) lineages.Evolutionary tree of SARS-CoV-2 variants showing the small fraction of diversity covered by every variant with a Greek letter except "Omicron", and the enormous diversity within "Omicron", including Nimbus NB.1.8.1.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
🇨🇦Joe Vipond🇨🇦 @jvipondmd.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Hey HCWs! Science continues to advance on AGMPs (non-existence of) "The results indicate that both CPAP and HFNC have no clinically meaningful impact on aerosol emission. their use does not cause greater concentrations of aerosols when compared to normal breathing in healthy participants."
nature.com
Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
“CPAP and HFNC have no clinically meaningful impact on aerosol emission. Therefore, the use of CPAP or HFNC does not expose healthcare personnel to greater concentrations of aerosols when compared to normal breathing” www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Aerosol emission and exposure in non-invasive ventilation
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Ryan Hisner @ryanhisner.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Incredible how quickly Yunlong Cao & co provide us w/info on the latest emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Already, we have great data on BA.3.2 (the divergent saltation lineage detected in South Africa & the Netherlands & NB.1.8.1, an emerging contender for global dominance. 1/9
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Risk of post-acute symptoms among adults: A comparison study of severe COVID-19, pneumonia, and influenza journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org
Risk of post-acute symptoms among adults: A comparison study of severe COVID-19, pneumonia, and influenza
Background A retrospective cohort study was undertaken to assess the relationship between initial disease severity of COVID-19 and the risk of post-acute symptoms. The COVID-19 cohort was compared aga...
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Long COVID has unique symptoms, persistence not seen in flu, pneumonia, research suggests www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/lon...
cidrap.umn.edu
Long COVID has unique symptoms, persistence not seen in flu, pneumonia, research suggests
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Both this result and @cathnoakes.bsky.social CLASS-ACT study results have been presented at conferences with publications still pending as far as I can see. www.newscientist.com/article/2398...
newscientist.com
Schools cut covid-19 sick days by 20 per cent using HEPA air filters
Placing HEPA air filters into classrooms in the Bradford area of the UK reduced the number of covid-19-related absences among students by more than 20 per cent
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Air filters in classrooms reduce sick days by more than 10 per cent www.newscientist.com/article/2478...
newscientist.com
Air filters in classrooms reduce sick days by more than 10 per cent
Putting air filters in classrooms seems to boost student attendance, which may be due to them reducing levels of air pollution, pollen, pathogens or all three
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Long Covid Advocacy @longcovidadvoc.com · 30/04/2025
🙌 Great news in New Scientist. An experimental study shows that air filters in classrooms: Reduced absence by: 👩‍🏫 12.5% or 1.3 days per pupil Reduced PM2.5 by: 🚸 32% Air filtration is a simple way to improve life for everyone. So what's stopping the government?!
A brightly lit classroom with several students sitting at desks. In the foreground, slightly out of focus, is a tall, white Philips air purifier. The students in the background are wearing masks and appear to be engaged in learning. A headline overlaid on the image reads "Air filters in classrooms reduce sick days by more than 10 per cent" in large white font, above smaller text that says "Putting air filters in classrooms seems to boost student attendance, which may be due to them reducing levels of air pollution, pollen, pathogens or all three." The source is credited to New Scientist, 29th April 2025, with an image credit to Arne Dedert. A purple banner at the top left reads "CLEAN AIR NEWS" and "Michael Le Page" is written in white text to its right. A stylized hand icon is visible in the top right corner.
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
“These results support the concept that viral bioaerosols generated from patients remain infectious over long-distance transport through a building ventilation system.” In a facility purpose-built to study TB transmission. academic.oup.com/ofid/article...
academic.oup.com
Human Source Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Aerosol Transmission to Remote Sentinel Hamsters
We tested human-generated bioaerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via building ventilation by directing ward-extract air to caged hamsters. Over 58% of anima
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Joe Allen @joeallenjoe.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Firefighters, first responders, nurses, and doctors rely on *NIOSH-approved* respirators. (During the pandemic we saw *many* counterfeit respirators going to hospitals.) The program that certifies respirators was eliminated.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Michelle Keep @jmkeep.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
This is so Canadian. Body Break doing a special elbows up get out to vote segment.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
David Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
For what it’s worth, here’s the editorial I sent the Globe and Mail April 5. The Globe took a pass. Balancing Individual Rights and Community Health Requires Knowledge of History
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
COVID infection tripled the risk of inflammatory heart diseases and was associated with 68% increased risk of any cardiovascular symptoms in kids with normal hearts. Study period March 2020 to September 2023. Minimum 6 month followup. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Linsey Marr @linseymarr.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
I just heard the disappointing news that a @nationalacademies.org study on far UV to reduce transmission of respiratory infections was canceled. www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/cli... /1
nationalacademies.org
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/stu...
cidrap.umn.edu
Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
RSV tied to higher risk of death in adults; severe RSV linked to prematurity in kids www.cidrap.umn.edu/respiratory-...
cidrap.umn.edu
RSV tied to higher risk of death in adults; severe RSV linked to prematurity in kids
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
This is the way healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...
healthydebate.ca
The simple metal box that could change the world - Healthy Debate
This quiet, repairable metal air cleaner is an inexpensive long-term disease prevention tool for public spaces.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
David Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
So @mark-ungrin.bsky.social nails it We have a significant cultural problem in academic medicine in Canada, and it ties a lot of the dysfunction and pseudo-science together. canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/04/18/t...
canadahealthwatch.ca
Trump’s cronies aren’t what broke public health
The structural blind spots that undermine medical progress and how to fix them.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/04/18/t...
canadahealthwatch.ca
Trump’s cronies aren’t what broke public health
The structural blind spots that undermine medical progress and how to fix them.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Research links #COVID to poor kidney outcomes in US youth Children and adolescents were at higher risk for new-onset mild and moderate chronic kidney disease from 2020 to 2023. www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
I had been doubtful that we were going to have a "this is the crisis moment" with Trump, as opposed to "everything about this is a destructive catastrophe." But the Abrego Garcia case is the crisis moment. 1/
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
The slope isn't slippery; the frog isn't gradually getting boiled. Within its first hundred days the Trump administration has openly asserted the right/ power to seize and imprison anyone— including political dissidents, including citizens— and deprive them of any legal recourse at all. 5/
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
David Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/04/13/w...
canadahealthwatch.ca
What makes a good public health leader?
Canada is searching for a new Chief Public Health Officer. Leadership matters, especially in a crisis.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Dr Satoshi Akima, FRACP @toshiakima.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
I repeat: there’s no such thing as “just a cold”. The flu is even worse. Then there’s COVID. sambadenglish.com/miscellany/h...
sambadenglish.com
Common respiratory illness may triple death risk in adults within a year, shows study
Adults with respiratory syncytial virus-associated acute respiratory infection (RSV-ARI) are likely to be at a 2.7-fold higher risk of death within one year, warned a study HEALTH & WELLNESS
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
David Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Not sure why there’s so much pushback to the idea that Covid and flu are immune suppressive I’m sitting in a wonderful talk at @escmid.bsky.social about „VAPA“ (virus associated pulmonary aspergillosis). Opportunistic infection that occurs after Covid and flu due to immune injury
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Michelle Cohen @docmcohen.medsky.social · 12/04/2025
Reminder as we watch measles rates climb in Canada that *this* is Poilievre's attitude towards vaccination during a public health emergency. MMR vaccination has long been mandated for health care workers. Would a Poilievre govt ban the MMR mandate in health care during a huge measles outbreak?
Poilievre tweet from Jun 2, 2022:

Today I introduced a Private Member’s Bill to abolish all current vaccine mandates, and ban any and all future vaccine mandates.

Give people back their medical freedom. Let them take back control of their lives.

Join before Friday June 3rd: Pierre4PM.ca/Membership
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
We also have an MMR vaccination requirement in schools in Ontario. Imagine what the state of our measles outbreak might look like right now without it. Suggesting we are more free when we put our kids and the broader public at greater risk of preventable disease is a naïve view of freedom.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Remember those who opposed vaccine mandates, saying they'd lead to people losing their jobs and "shortages" in the health system? Well, they're in charge now, and they've just indiscriminately fired >25,000 people at the NIH, FDA, CDC, and CMS. apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com
Here's where jobs and programs are being cut at the nation's top health agencies
Thousands of people at the nation’s top health agencies were laid off Tuesday. The moves will shrink the Department of Health and Human Services to 62,000 positions, lopping off nearly a quarter of it...
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Prof Brendan Crabb AC @brendancrabb.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Yet more data showing that COVID is far from a nothing-burger for kids although it is widely perceived to be, as this, & the next linked paper, shows. We can & should be doing more, esp. on the vaccination & clean indoor air at school/public transport/home fronts. 1/ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Cardiovascular post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 in children and adolescents: cohort study using electronic health records - Nature Communications
Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection affecting the cardiovascular system have been reported, but evidence in young people is limited. Here, the authors quantify the incidence of a range of outc...
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Solution: Lipitor 80mg tablet, amiright?
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no brain, only alison @alisonborealis.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Canadians! I have an assignment for you this weekend. What is THE MOST CANADIAN thing you own? It can be anything. A book, a garment, a food item, a tool, a decorative object, a cd, anything. #CanCon #Canada
A 5m (16 foot) long metal carpentry measuring tape from Beaver Lumber (le castor bricoleur)
A green circle has a little yellow design of a smiling beaver in overalls, carrying a tool box in its hand.
Yellow brand label with green logo and text on a stainless steel case.
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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Increased ventilation leads to better cognitive performance among university students. Imagine that.
First page of a scientific article on the effects of a natural experiment showing the positive effects of ventilation on cognitive performance among college students.
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
“children and adolescents with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection are at a statistically significant increased risk of various cardiovascular outcomes…compared to uninfected controls.” www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Cardiovascular post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 in children and adolescents: cohort study using electronic health records - Nature Communications
Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection affecting the cardiovascular system have been reported, but evidence in young people is limited. Here, the authors quantify the incidence of a range of outc...
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Some mutations more common in BAL sample sequences. So interesting.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
Ryan Hisner @ryanhisner.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
A fascinating SARS-CoV-2 sequence was recently uploaded—collected from a dog in Kazakhstan in July 2022. Usher puts the sequence one nuc mutation from the Wuhan reference (C21846T, S:T95I)—i.e. pre-D614G. Could this sequence somehow have a close connection to the first days of the pandemic? 1/18
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Characteristic immune cell interactions in livers of children with acute hepatitis revealed by spatial single-cell analysis identify a possible postacute sequel of COVID-19 @faridjalali.bsky.social gut.bmj.com/content/earl...
gut.bmj.com
Characteristic immune cell interactions in livers of children with acute hepatitis revealed by spatial single-cell analysis identify a possible postacute sequel of COVID-19
Background A rise in paediatric cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin (AHUO) was observed in 2022, some requiring liver transplantation. A link to adeno-associated virus 2 infection and CD4+T-cel...
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Christos Argyropoulos MD, PhD, FASN 🇺🇸 0kale/acc @christosargyrop.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Remember the "mysterious" hepatitis outbreak in UK kids that baffled experts back in 2022? The one we were told was due to adenovirus (or even strawberries, allergies, and lockdowns)? The one that labeled ppl mentioning the C word as fearmongerers? Turns out it was #covid19 .
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infection in Children, 1992-2023 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Pediatric Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infections
The case series describes the epidemiology of pediatric invasive group A streptococcal infections in Toronto and Peel region of Canada from 1992 to 2023.
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
So far there have been three measles deaths in under six weeks in the ongoing US measles outbreak. Prior to this year there had only been three measles deaths in the United States in total in the entire last thirty years.
yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com
Third measles death
This is not normal. For three reasons.
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Reposted by Devon McDonald
David Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
3 people in intensive care with MEASLES in Ontario. In normal times the CMOH would be shown the door for this. In our dumb time, the CMOH pops out of his apparent hidey-hole to say the situation is “stable”. www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7501094
cbc.ca
Ontario reports 89 new measles cases, bringing provincial count to 661
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
COVID-19 may put patients at risk for other infections for at least 1 year www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
cidrap.umn.edu
COVID-19 may put patients at risk for other infections for at least 1 year
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Devon McDonald @mcdevonmd.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
The vaccine against Shingles helps protect against dementia, results of a natural experiment, adding to prior evidence "implications are profound" New @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41... nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia - Nature
Using a natural experiment that avoids common bias concerns, this study finds that the live-attenuated shingles vaccine reduced the probability of a new dementia diagnosis within a follow-up period of...
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Dr David Joffe MB BS(Hons), PhD, FRACP @davidjoffe64.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
More evidence in support of Metformin in Acute Covid www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Metformin alleviates inflammatory response and severity rate of COVID-19 infection in elderly individuals - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Metformin alleviates inflammatory response and severity rate of COVID-19 infection in elderly individuals
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