Epidemiologist & biostatistician. 🔬 📊 #OzSAGE independent scientific advisory group member. Let's end #COVID19 with a #VaccinesPlus ventilation strategy.
ℹ️ On this platform, I talk about: #Science #Epidemiology #PublicHealth #COVID #COVIDisAirborne #SciComm #EpiVerse #SciFi and other interesting things. Posts reflect only my own opinions.
Stay in touch. Sign up for the free newsletter:
👉 https://drzoehyde.com/newsletter/
| https://twitter.com/DrZoeHyde/ | |
| University website | https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/zoe-hyde |
| Personal website | https://drzoehyde.com/ |
I’ll be voting YES in the referendum to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.
In my work with Aboriginal colleagues, I’ve seen how programs that have been co-designed with and by Aboriginal people can change lives for the better.
A regular reminder that the goal is *not*
“A #HEPAFilter in every classroom”,
it’s
“Achieving #cleanair delivery targets in every classroom”
This may be mechanical #ventilation, multiple portable air filters, or both.
The goal is achieving real risk reduction, not a box ticking exercise with little impact.
The portable air filter recommendation tool at https://filters.cleanairstars.com was built with this is mind, helping achieve clean air delivery targets at required noise levels.
Many Australian adults are eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster, but only out of date bivalent vaccines are available.
OzSAGE call on the Australian Government to offer updated XBB.1.5-targeted vaccines.
Read more: https://ozsage.org/media_releases/its-time-to-update-covid-19-vaccines-in-australia/
(3/3) Policymakers must understand that an annual vaccination program (as with influenza) is inadequate.
Offering people the chance to get vaccinated against new strains of SARS-CoV-2 every 6 months would be more realistic.
But vaccination alone won’t stop COVID-19.
We must make the buildings in which we live and work more robust to the threat of airborne disease.
Ventilation and air filtration (which don’t inconvenience anyone) are key to managing COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens.
(2/3) Many seem to believe COVID-19 will become seasonal, but why should it? Influenza generally isn’t very transmissible and infects a small number each year. There’s plenty of time to design vaccines based on what’s happening in the opposite hemisphere.
SARS-CoV-2 is an ongoing free-for-all. The next variant could evolve anywhere, be carried by plane to the other side of the world, and spread rapidly irrespective of season. The short-lived immunity and high transmissibility will see to that.
(1/3) Policymakers shouldn’t be trying to manage COVID-19 as if it were seasonal influenza. It’s not and never will be. SARS-CoV-2’s greater transmissibility leads to faster viral evolution and waves of disease throughout the year, rather than a single winter COVID season.
Thanks to vaccination, COVID-19 is far less deadly than it was. But a virus doesn’t have to hospitalise people to be disruptive. Leaving aside long COVID, frequent waves of infection will grind down economic productivity. 🧵
@vhhancock As you can see in the paper that I’ve linked to below, giving people hearing aids seems to reduce their risk of developing dementia.
But there’s also a two-way relationship, because people who have dementia and cognitive impairment may find it harder to use hearing aids. So there’s lots to consider. (2/2)
https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/51/12/afac266/6931852?login=false
Clean Air Stars
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)
