Infectious disease

In December 2008, a new pneumococcal vaccine (PCV-10) was licensed in Canada. An older vaccine (PCV-7) is used in Québec for the routine vaccination of children. The ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec (Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS)) asked the Comité d'immunisation du Québec (Québec Immunization Committee (CIQ)) to rapidly give an opinion on the pertinence of this vaccine and answer the three following questions:

In October 2007, the Comité sur l'immunisation du Québec (CIQ) tabled a report entitled “Prévention par la vaccination des maladies attribuables aux virus du papillome humain au Québec” [Prevention of diseases caused by human papillomaviruses through vaccination]. At the time that report was being drafted, only one vaccine – Gardasil – was authorized for sale in Canada. The report did not directly compare the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines.

Given the likelihood that the Cervarix…

In Nunavik, common practices such as the consumption of untreated water and raw game may promote exposure to pathogenic agents responsible for zoonoses, infections that may be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as for food-borne and water-borne infections. As part of the 2004 Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, information was gathered to depict the supply of drinking water and to determine the prevalence of certain infections among the Inuit population, including gastroenteritis.

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This paper describes the state of health of Nunavik Inuit women and the sexual health profile of men and women as reported during the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004. The results focus on the preventive attitude among women such as screening techniques of cervical and breast cancer and also on women’s behaviour during pregnancy and their bone health status. It also concentrates on preventive sexual behaviours among men and women such as the number of sexual partners in the preceding year…

The problem of the prevention of diseases attributable to the human papilloma virus (virus du papillome humain) (HPV) extends beyond the field of infectious diseases traditionally prevented by vaccination. This is why the CIQ has followed a different procedure for the preparation of this report by working with a large group of experts, notably from gynaecologists involved with the fight against cancer and from sexually transmitted infectious diseases areas.

The synthesis of facts was…

As of June 30, 2004, 14,773 questionnaires had been administered to 8,964 individuals (Table 1).

Three-quarters of participants are men (6,542/8,964) with an average age of 33. The average age of female participants is 28 (Table 1).

Educational levels are low, with only one in four (269/1,105) participants having completed high school (Table 3; 2003-04 data).

Cocaine is the injection drug most often used (88% of the 8,939 respondents had used cocaine), followed by…

SurvUDI is a network for the epidemiological surveillance of human immunodeficiency virus infection among injection drug users. The network was established in 1995, and covers eight districts in Québec, and Ottawa. Individuals who participate report injecting drugs during the six preceding months and are recruited mainly through centres that provide access to sterile injection equipment. A two-part study on hepatitis C (HCV) was appended to the SurvUDI network. This report presents the…

In Canada, the first 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) was licenced in 2001. The manufacturer's recommendation is to administer three doses at an early age for primary immunization and a booster dose during the second year (Wyeth-Ayerst Canada Inc. 2001). The recommendation of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NAIC) is to give 3 doses of vaccines at the same time as the other vaccines provided in the schedule at the ages of 2, 4 and 6 months, and the booster dose…