Remission Biome could represent a new paradigm in patient-led research

I have a new story out in National Geographic this week about a growing area of research connecting the gut microbiome—the diverse community of microorganisms that live in our digestive systems—with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), the chronic disease that often occurs after viral infection and has many commonalities with Long COVID. For the story, I talked to Tamara Romanuk and Tess Falor, patient-researchers whose Remission Biome project seeks to understand this connection and push towards potential treatments.

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National numbers, March 12

Following the same pattern we’ve seen for the last few weeks, COVID-19 spread is still on the decline nationally. Official case counts, hospital admissions, and wastewater surveillance data all continue to point in this direction.

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Q&A: Libraries lend out CO2 monitors to make public health data more accessible

This Q&A with two cofounders of Community Access to Ventilation Information (CAVI) explores how the organization helps public libraries in Canada loan out CO2 monitors to patrons. In addition to the monitor-lending, CAVI develops educational materials to help library patrons use these tools and collaborates with other air quality initiatives.

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National numbers, March 5

At the national level, major COVID-19 metrics continue to indicate slow declines in transmission. As I’ve been writing for the last few weeks, we’re at a “low tide” point in COVID-19 spread: clearly lower than the peaks that occur after holidays or new variants, but much higher than the baselines that we experienced before the Omicron era.

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