Cutaneous larva migrans in Canadian travellers returning from the Caribbean: A 10-year surveillance analysis from CanTravNet.

Background: Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) is one of the most common dermatoses affecting travellers to the tropics.

Objective: To describe demographic and travel correlates of travellers returning to Canada from the Caribbean with CLM over a 10-year pre-pandemic period.

Methods: Demographic and travel-related data on ill travellers encountered either during or after completion of their travel/migration and seen in any of eight CanTravNet sites from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2018, with a final diagnosis of CLM were extracted and analyzed.

Implementing a Patient Portal for the Remote Follow-Up of Self-Isolating Patients With COVID-19 Infection Through Patient and Stakeholder Engagement (the Opal-COVID Study): Mixed Methods Pilot Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedent challenge to public health systems, with 95% of cases in Quebec sent home for self-isolation. To ensure continuous care, we implemented an intervention supported by a patient portal (Opal) to remotely monitor at-home patients with COVID-19 via daily self-reports of symptoms, vital signs, and mental health that were reviewed by health care professionals.

Objective: We describe the intervention's implementation, focusing on the (1) process; (2) outcomes, including feasibility, fidelity, acceptability, usability, and perceived response burden; and (3) barriers and facilitators encountered by stakeholders.

Chikungunya infection in returned travellers: results from the geosentinel network, 2005-2020.

Background: Chikungunya is an important travel-related disease because of its rapid geographical expansion and potential for prolonged morbidity. Improved understanding of the epidemiology of travel-related chikungunya infections may influence prevention strategies including education and vaccination.

Methods: We analysed data from travellers with confirmed or probable chikungunya reported to GeoSentinel sites from 2005 to 2020.

Impact of Language Barriers on Outcomes and Experience of COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized in Quebec, Canada, During the First Wave of the Pandemic.

Language barriers (LB) contribute to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health inequities. People with LB were more likely to be SARS-CoV-2 positive despite lower testing and had higher rates of hospitalization. Data on hospital outcomes among immigrants with LB, however, are limited.

Intravenous Liposomal Amphotericin B Efficacy and Safety for Cutaneous and Mucosal Leishmaniasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Tegumentary leishmaniasis is often subject to limited funding, underpowered studies, and a paucity of high-quality interventional studies. Intravenous liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) has been increasingly used to treat cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis (CL and ML, respectively) despite the lack of well-conducted interventional studies. We conducted a systematic review to consolidate the descriptive evidence on the efficacy and safety of L-AmB in treating CL and ML.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes Among Travelers With Severe Dengue : A GeoSentinel Analysis.

Background: Dengue virus is a flavivirus transmitted by mosquitoes and is an important cause of illness worldwide. Data on the severity of travel-associated dengue illness are limited.

Objective: To describe the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and outcomes among international travelers with severe dengue or dengue with warning signs as defined by the 2009 World Health Organization classification (that is, complicated dengue).

Strongyloidiasis-related lung involvement: too much of a bad thing.

Purpose Of Review: Strongyloidiasis is a soil-transmitted helminthiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects 300-900 million individuals globally. Strongyloides stercoralis is associated with cutaneous, respiratory, and gastrointestinal clinical manifestations. Chronicity is due to an autoinfective cycle, and host immunosuppression can lead to severe and fatal disease.

Dengue outbreak amongst travellers returning from Cuba-GeoSentinel surveillance network, January-September 2022.

Increasing numbers of travellers returning from Cuba with dengue virus infection were reported to the GeoSentinel Network from June to September 2022, reflecting an ongoing local outbreak. This report demonstrates the importance of travellers as sentinels of arboviral outbreaks and highlights the need for early identification of travel-related dengue.

Monkeypox in Montréal: Epidemiology, Phylogenomics, and Public Health Response to a Large North American Outbreak.

Background: Monkeypox, a viral zoonotic disease, is causing a global outbreak outside of endemic areas.

Objective: To characterize the outbreak of monkeypox in Montréal, the first large outbreak in North America.

Design: Epidemiologic and laboratory surveillance data and a phylogenomic analysis were used to describe and place the outbreak in a global context.

Estimated Protection of Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection Against Reinfection With the Omicron Variant Among Messenger RNA-Vaccinated and Nonvaccinated Individuals in Quebec, Canada.

Importance: The Omicron variant is phylogenetically and antigenically distinct from earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants and the original vaccine strain. Protection conferred by prior SARS-CoV-2 infection against Omicron reinfection, with and without vaccination, requires quantification.

Objective: To estimate the protection against Omicron reinfection and hospitalization conferred by prior heterologous non-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or up to 3 doses of an ancestral, Wuhan-like messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.

prevalence in solid-organ and haematopoietic stem cell transplant candidates and recipients: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.

Introduction: is an intestinal helminth ubiquitous in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It persists in the human host for a lifetime as a result of autoinfection and if undetected and untreated, can lead to increased morbidity and high mortality in immunocompromised individuals such as the transplant population. Transplant patients, including solid-organ and haematopoietic stem cell transplants (SOT and HSCT, respectively), are at a high risk of hyperinfection and disseminated strongyloidiasis.

Evaluation of Strongyloides Awareness and Knowledge among Canadian Physicians Caring for Patients At Risk for Severe Strongyloidiasis: A National Cross-sectional Survey.

In Canada, a substantial proportion of migrants come from strongyloidiasis-endemic regions. Systematic screening for Strongyloides is not performed in immunocompromised patients in whom this infection could be potentially fatal. We aim to assess the level of Strongyloides awareness and knowledge among Canadian physicians caring for immunocompromised patients and identify factors currently associated with screening.

Monkeypox Virus Infection in Humans across 16 Countries - April-June 2022.

Background: Before April 2022, monkeypox virus infection in humans was seldom reported outside African regions where it is endemic. Currently, cases are occurring worldwide. Transmission, risk factors, clinical presentation, and outcomes of infection are poorly defined.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in travellers and migrants: a 10-year case series in a Canadian reference centre for tropical diseases.

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is increasingly encountered in returned travellers and migrants to nonendemic countries. We sought to describe the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosed at our reference centre over a 10-year period.

Methods: This case series included all laboratory-confirmed cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in travellers and migrants for whom complete clinical data were available, diagnosed between January 2008 and October 2018 at the J.

Two-Dose Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccine Effectiveness With Mixed Schedules and Extended Dosing Intervals: Test-Negative Design Studies From British Columbia and Quebec, Canada.

Background: The Canadian coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) immunization strategy deferred second doses and allowed mixed schedules. We compared 2-dose vaccine effectiveness (VE) by vaccine type (mRNA and/or ChAdOx1), interval between doses, and time since second dose in 2 of Canada's larger provinces.

Methods: Two-dose VE against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or hospitalization among adults ≥18 years, including due to Alpha, Gamma, and Delta variants of concern (VOCs), was assessed ≥14 days postvaccination by test-negative design studies separately conducted in British Columbia and Quebec, Canada, between 30 May and 27 November (epi-weeks 22-47) 2021.

Outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Canada: impact of ethnicity, migration status and country of birth.

Background: Ethnoracial groups in high-income countries have a 2-fold higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, associated hospitalizations, and mortality than Whites. Migrants are an ethnoracial subset that may have worse COVID-19 outcomes due to additional barriers accessing care, but there are limited data on in-hospital outcomes. We aimed to disaggregate and compare COVID-19 associated hospital outcomes by ethnicity, immigrant status and region of birth.