CATEGORY / epidemiology

12Apr

2024

Raywat / blog, epidemiology / 0 comment

Measles Q&A

Yep, produced by AI

A while back, Dr Mary Fernando wrote an article about Measles for the Medical Post, which has since been reproduced at Canada Healthwatch. For the article, she asked me to submit some of the common Measles questions that people send me, which I did, and which she then incorporated into her splendid article.

I thought it would be useful to share with you the complete document that I sent her, just for archival purposes. So here goes: questions about Measles that people send me, and the answers that I give… (more…)

27Oct

2023

Raywat / blog, COVID-19, epidemiology / 0 comment

COVID-19: Is a 2-Dose Vaccine Mandate Justified in 2023?

by Raywat Deonandan, PhD
Epidemiologist & Associate Professor
University of Ottawa
(I add my credentials to these COVID-19 blog posts in case they get shared. I want readers to know that my opinion is supposedly an educated and informed one)

A common question I am asked is, “Are COVID-19 vaccine mandates still justified in 2023?”

There is a lot to unpack in that question. First, were COVID vaccine mandates ever justified? That depends on your institution’s values. But strictly from an epidemiological perspective –and not a rights perspective– I believe that workplace mandates were largely justified in the pre-Omicron era, so long as accommodations were made for those unable/unwilling to comply (like mandatory testing).

Second, what would make mandates justified, again strictly from an epidemiological lens? Well, in most cases, the mandates were meant to accomplish two goals and possibly a third: (a) to slow transmission of the disease, (b) to get us closer to herd immunity, and (c) to keep people out of the hospital and morgue. (more…)

02Jul

2023

Raywat / blog, epidemiology / 0 comment

Kooks Who Write Books

On April 1st of this year, my physician spouse and I took our toddler to the local public library for the first time in his life. It was very exciting. I was so energized to be there with my son that, in a fit of fatherly intensity, I decided to check out the parenting section.

There, proudly displayed at the top of the heap was a book called “Conscious Parenting: A Holistic Guide to Raising and Nourishing Healthy, Happy Children.” Who doesn’t want their child to be healthy and happy, I thought. So I took a peruse. (more…)

21Jun

2023

Raywat / anecdote, blog, COVID-19, epidemiology, me / 0 comment

The Weaponization of Debate

Ten years ago, while still a relatively fresh academic, I was invited onto the Joe Rogan podcast to debate Peter Duesberg, a biologist who was infamously claiming that the HIV virus is not the cause of AIDS. I declined the invitation for several reasons, not least of which was that I was not comfortable granting credibility to a fringe and dangerous theory. (more…)

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