Infectious and congenital syphilis in Canada, 2010-2015.

Background: Syphilis is the third most commonly reported notifiable sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Canada, following chlamydia and gonorrhea, respectively. Rates of this STI have been rising rapidly in Canada since 2001.

Objective: To summarize trends observed in syphilis rates for 2010 to 2015 in Canada.

Gonorrhea in Canada, 2010-2015.

Background: Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Canada after chlamydia, and rates for this STI have been increasing since 1997.

Objective: To summarize trends observed in gonorrhea rates for 2010-2015 in Canada.

Methods: Laboratory-confirmed cases of gonorrhea are reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) by all of the Canadian provinces and territories.

Critical Appraisal Toolkit (CAT) for assessing multiple types of evidence.

Healthcare professionals are often expected to critically appraise research evidence in order to make recommendations for practice and policy development. Here we describe the Critical Appraisal Toolkit (CAT) currently used by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The CAT consists of: algorithms to identify the type of study design, three separate tools (for appraisal of analytic studies, descriptive studies and literature reviews), additional tools to support the appraisal process, and guidance for summarizing evidence and drawing conclusions about a body of evidence.

infections in post-operative patients exposed to heater-cooler devices: An overview.

A multi-country outbreak of infection associated with contaminated heater-cooler devices (HCDs) has been reported, with more than 70 cases in Europe and the United States and two cases in Canada to date. The epidemiological and microbiological characteristics of this outbreak provide evidence for common-source transmission of from the exhaust air of intrinsically contaminated HCDs to patients during cardiac surgery. To date, all reported cases have been associated with Stöckert 3T HCDs manufactured at one plant by LivaNova prior to September 2014.

Assessing uptake of national HIV screening and testing guidance-Part 2: Knowledge, comfort and practice.

Background: The Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC) (the Guide) provides guidance to health care providers regarding who, when and how often to screen for HIV. HIV screening and testing is important in meeting the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS' (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 targets towards HIV elimination.

Objective: To determine health care providers' levels of knowledge about and comfort with aspects of HIV testing, and to determine whether their HIV testing practices are consistent with the recommendations in the Guide.

Assessing uptake of national HIV screening and testing guidance-Part 1: Awareness, use and usefulness.

Background: In 2013, the Public Health Agency of Canada released the (the Guide) to support routine HIV screening and testing practices of health care providers in Canada and promote early detection of new HIV cases. Little was known regarding health care providers' awareness and use of the Guide.

Objective: To determine Canadian health care providers' awareness, use and perceived usefulness of the Guide.

AIDS in Canada-Surveillance Report, 2016.

Background: Although there continues to be a global epidemic of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) there has been a decrease in the number of people dying of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), largely due to successful treatment with antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: To provide a descriptive overview of the reported cases of AIDS in Canada by identifying trends by geographic location, sex, age group and mortality. While the descriptive analysis focuses on the year 2016, results are presented for reported cases from the beginning of national AIDS surveillance in 1979.

HIV in Canada-Surveillance Report, 2016.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to be a global public health concern, with 2.1 million people newly infected in 2015. Although many high-income countries have noted decreasing rates of HIV, between 2013 and 2015 Canada's rates had stabilized at 5.

Canadian physicians' knowledge and counseling practices related to antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance: Two-cycle national survey.

Objective: To establish a baseline for physicians' knowledge of and counseling practices on the use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and to determine potential changes in these measures after the implementation of a national AMR awareness campaign.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Setting: Canada.

Benefit of adjunct universal rectal screening for Chlamydia genital infections in women attending Canadian sexually transmitted infection clinics.

Adding universal rectal screening to urogenital screening should positively impact rectal Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) incidence in affected populations. A dynamic Markov model was used to evaluate costs and outcomes of three rectal CT screening strategies among women attending sexually transmitted infection clinics in Alberta, Canada: universal urogenital-only screening (UG-only), additional selected (exposure-based) rectal screening (UG+SR), and additional universal rectal screening (UG+UR). The model included two mutually exclusive health states: infected and susceptible.

Immigrant Arrival and Tuberculosis among Large Immigrant- and Refugee-Receiving Countries, 2005-2009.

. Tuberculosis control in foreign-born populations is a major public health concern for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States, large immigrant- and refugee-receiving countries that comprise the Immigration and Refugee Health Working Group (IRHWG). Identifying and comparing immigration and distribution of foreign-born tuberculosis cases are important for developing targeted and collaborative interventions.

Tuberculosis in Canada - Summary 2015.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health problem that affects an estimated 10 million people each year. In Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) monitors active TB disease through the Canadian Tuberculosis Reporting System (CTBRS).

Objective: To report on and analyze the number of new and re-treatment cases of TB cases in Canada reported for 2015.

A shorter treatment regimen for latent tuberculosis infection holds promise for at-risk Canadians.

Despite recent success in reducing its incidence, tuberculosis remains a considerable challenge in Canada, particularly among foreign-born and Indigenous populations. A key component of the strategy for controlling the disease is the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection. The standard treatment consists of isoniazid (INH) daily for nine months.

Evidence for optimal HIV testing intervals in HIV-negative individuals from various risk groups: a systematic review protocol.

Background: Evidence-based recommendations for HIV testing are essential for health care providers. However, it is unclear whether there is sufficient evidence to support recommendations for HIV testing frequencies in a variety of HIV risk groups.

Objective: The aim of this document is to outline the methodological protocol of a systematic review that would gather evidence for the optimal frequency of HIV testing among individuals in various HIV risk groups with respect to personal and public health outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

What are Canadian primary care physicians prescribing for the treatment of gonorrhea?

Background: Cases of are on the rise in Canada, which-if undetected or undertreated-can lead to morbidity and infertility. In addition, the number of antimicrobial resistant strains is also increasing creating the risk that may become untreatable. In 2013, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) released Canadian recommendations for the management and treatment of gonorrhea that identified the need for combination therapy to address and minimize antimicrobial resistance.

Stochastic agent-based modeling of tuberculosis in Canadian Indigenous communities.

Background: In Canada, active tuberculosis (TB) disease rates remain disproportionately higher among the Indigenous population, especially among the Inuit in the north. We used mathematical modeling to evaluate how interventions might enhance existing TB control efforts in a region of Nunavut.

Methods: We developed a stochastic, agent-based model of TB transmission that captured the unique household and community structure.

Advancing antimicrobial stewardship: Summary of the 2015 CIDSC Report.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognized as an important global public health concern that has a cross-cutting impact on human health, animal health, food and agriculture and the environment. The Communicable and Infectious Disease Steering Committee (CIDSC) of the Pan-Canadian Public Health Network (PHN) created a Task Group on Antimicrobial Stewardship to look at this issue from a Canadian perspective.

Objective: To summarize the key findings of the Task Group Report that identified core components of antimicrobial stewardship programs, best practices, key challenges, gaps and recommendations to advance stewardship across jurisdictions.

Advancing surveillance of antimicrobial resistance: Summary of the 2015 CIDSC Report.

Background: Antimicrobials are essential for the treatment and control of infectious diseases and therefore, the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health concern. It is recognized that robust AMR surveillance is necessary; however, current gaps in national surveillance programs need to be addressed to enable better evidence-informed program and policy decisions.

Objective: To describe how an AMR Surveillance Task Group prioritized national AMR surveillance data requirements for high priority AMR organisms for human health in Canada and made recommendations on addressing the current data gaps.

Antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance trends in Canada: 2014.

Background: There is a global concern that the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens our ability to treat infectious diseases. The Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (CARSS) was created in response to the Government of Canada's commitment to addressing AMR. CARSS integrates information from nine different national surveillance systems for tracking antimicrobial use (AMU) and AMR in both humans and animals to inform AMU/AMR research and policy.

Examination of a prenatal syphilis screening program, Alberta, Canada: 2010-2011.

Objectives: In 2009, due to increasing congenital syphilis rates, prenatal syphilis tests (PST) at both mid-gestation and delivery were added to first trimester prenatal screening in the province of Alberta. We sought to determine the proportion of mothers who had all three recommended PSTs during this period and to identify factors associated with incomplete PST.

Methods: A cohort of all pregnancies resulting in a live or stillborn infant in Alberta for 2010 and 2011 was developed from Vital Statistics and linked with prenatal screening data to determine the number and timing of PSTs for pregnant women.

Canadian and international recommendations on the frequency of HIV screening and testing: A systematic review.

Background: In 2014, the Public Health Agency of Canada estimated that 21% of the people living with HIV in Canada were unaware of their infection. Increased screening and testing for HIV is crucial to reducing the number of undiagnosed infections. To ensure the best use of available resources, it is important to determine the optimal intervals for HIV screening and testing.

Hepatitis B and C serologic profiles of Canadian organ donors and recipients: retrospective 10-year review at a single center.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are important causes of hepatitis and can be transmitted from organ donor to recipient. This study aimed to determine HBV and HCV serologic profiles of a population of Canadian solid organ transplant (SOT) donors and recipients, including prevalence of recipient HBV immunity.

Methods: Data on age, gender, organ transplanted, and pre-transplant HBV and HCV serology for SOT donors and recipients at a Canadian hospital from 2001 to 2011 were obtained from a transplant database.

Assessing the magnitude and trends in hospital acquired infections in Canadian hospitals through sequential point prevalence surveys.

Background: Healthcare acquired infections (HAI) are an important public health problem in developed countries, but comprehensive data on trends over time are lacking. Prevalence surveys have been used as a surrogate for incidence studies and can be readily repeated.

Methods: The Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program conducted prevalence surveys in 2002 and 2009 in a large network of major Canadian acute care hospitals.

Descriptive review of tuberculosis surveillance systems across the circumpolar regions.

Background: Tuberculosis is highly prevalent in many Arctic areas. Members of the International Circumpolar Surveillance Tuberculosis (ICS-TB) Working Group collaborate to increase knowledge about tuberculosis in Arctic regions.

Objective: To establish baseline knowledge of tuberculosis surveillance systems used by ICS-TB member jurisdictions.

Genomic Epidemiology and Molecular Resistance Mechanisms of Azithromycin-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Canada from 1997 to 2014.

The emergence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains with decreased susceptibility to cephalosporins and azithromycin (AZM) resistance (AZM(r)) represents a public health threat of untreatable gonorrhea infections. Genomic epidemiology through whole-genome sequencing was used to describe the emergence, dissemination, and spread of AZM(r) strains. The genomes of 213 AZM(r) and 23 AZM-susceptible N.