Megan Fleming / en 山ǿ researchers contribute to Canada-wide COVID-19 immunity study /news/u-t-researchers-contribute-canada-wide-covid-19-immunity-study <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">山ǿ researchers contribute to Canada-wide COVID-19 immunity study</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-08/GettyImages-1227506145-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=GJKKLUj1 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-08/GettyImages-1227506145-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5j_woFSy 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-08/GettyImages-1227506145-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wFE3Zi4v 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-08/GettyImages-1227506145-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=GJKKLUj1" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-08-14T14:54:11-04:00" title="Monday, August 14, 2023 - 14:54" class="datetime">Mon, 08/14/2023 - 14:54</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(Juan&nbsp;Gaertner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A new study involving researchers from the University of Toronto suggests that, by last spring, <a href="https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/more-than-75-of-canadians-had-immunity-to-sars-cov-2-due-to-infection-by-march-2023/">75 per cent of people across Canada</a> had developed antibodies in response to COVID-19 infections.</p> <p>Using aggregate data from various collaborating pan-Canadian teams, researchers found that few people showed SARS-CoV-2 infection in their blood during the country’s pre-vaccination and vaccine rollout phases – 0.3 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.</p> <p>By mid-June 2022, however, infection rates jumped to 47 per cent and increased to 75 per cent by March 2023 as the highly transmissible and immune-evasive Omicron variant spread across the country. Infection appears to be slowing, though it continues to rise among older adults.</p> <p>The findings – <a href="https://www.cmaj.ca/content/195/31/E1030">published in the&nbsp;<em>Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ)</em></a> – used data from <a href="https://canpath.ca/">CanPath (the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health)</a>, which is based at 山ǿ’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.</p> <p>“We aimed to untangle the relationship between vaccination status – including the number of doses, brands, and time between doses – and infection risk while accounting for prior infection, adherence to recommendations from public health officials and other factors which impact immunity such as age,” says&nbsp;study investigator <strong>Kimberly Skead</strong>, who is national scientific co-ordinator for CanPath and recently defended her PhD in molecular genetics at 山ǿ and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.</p> <p>Since 2020, CanPath, with other national partners, has been tasked by the&nbsp;Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)&nbsp;and <a href="https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca">the&nbsp;COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF)</a>&nbsp;to support a national COVID-19 serological surveillance study. In March 2020, with $5.2 million in funding, the CanPath team began collecting COVID-19 data from more than100,000 Canadians, including dried blood spots at three different time points: pre-vaccination (March 2020 to November 2020); vaccine rollout (December 2020 to November 2021); and the Omicron waves (December 2021 to March 2023).</p> <p>Following the health of its 330,000 participants over the long term, CanPath is well-positioned among CITF collaborators to provide vital insights&nbsp;into the nature and duration of immune response and the need for and timing of vaccine booster doses.</p> <p>“CanPath’s extensive participant base has been instrumental in enabling us to find these differences in exposure and immunity across Canada,” says study investigator&nbsp;<strong>Philip Awadalla</strong>, who is national scientific director for CanPath and a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the department of molecular genetics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.</p> <p>“The results from our studies, combined with the wealth of data and ongoing research from our collaborators, can contribute to different vaccine responses as the pandemic progresses.”</p> <p>Certain measures can be taken to ensure that our ongoing narrative remains one of resilience, adaptability, and safeguarding our collective well-being, the researchers say.</p> <p>“Given the lingering risks of post-COVID conditions and the vulnerability of certain individuals to severe outcomes, a proactive approach is essential,” says&nbsp;<strong>Victoria Kirsh</strong>, a study investigator who is a scientific associate at <a href="https://www.ontariohealthstudy.ca">Ontario Health Study</a> and an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.</p> <p>“To safeguard against future variants, it’s important to continue monitoring COVID-19’s spread and roll out booster campaigns ahead of upcoming waves.”</p> <h3><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-vaccination-infection-immunity-pandemic/">Read more about the study in the <em>Globe and Mail</em></a></h3> <h3><a href="/news/u-t-experts-tapped-help-lead-covid-19-immunity-task-force">Read more about the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force</a></h3> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-add-new-author-reporter field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Add new author/reporter</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/megan-fleming" hreflang="en">Megan Fleming</a></div> </div> </div> Mon, 14 Aug 2023 18:54:11 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 302643 at