2020 03 Dr Trish Huston

Dr Trish Huston, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine  

BIO - Dr. Huston studied anthropology at McGill, medicine at the University of Calgary, and public health at Harvard. She was the Associate Medical Officer of Health for the City of Ottawa during SARS and afterwards developed their pandemic plan. In 2006 she moved to the Public Health Agency of Canada to work on the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan and was a Senior Medical Advisor during the H1N1 pandemic. Recently retired from the civil service, she still holds a joint appointment at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine and the School of Epidemiology and Public Health.

Presentation  Title - The new Coronavirus – SARS revisited? 

Synopsis - Emerging respiratory viruses have the potential to wreck havoc on the global stage. The new coronavirus is similar to SARS in a number of respects. Why did it emerge? What are the implications for home, work and travel? Is this going to be a new normal?

Key Points that an Attendee will take away from Dr. Huston's presentation:

• At this time, it appears the basic approach to dealing with coronaviruses is the same as influenza, except that a vaccine is not available beforehand.
• If prolonged person-to-person transmission occurs in Canada, both home preparedness and business continuity plans need to be refreshed.
• The key is knowing where to get reliable updates and to prepare yourself for fake news.