Open AccessInvasive bacterial diseases in northern Canada, 1999 to 2018
Author(s) -
Grace Huang,
Irene Martín,
Raymond S. W. Tsang,
Walter Demczuk,
Gregory J. Tyrrell,
Y Anita Li,
Catherine Dickson,
Francesca Reyes-Domingo,
Susan G Squires
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
canada communicable disease report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1481-8531
pISSN - 1188-4169
DOI - 10.14745/ccdr.v47i11a09
Subject(s) - incidence (geometry) , epidemiology , serotype , indigenous , medicine , disease , demography , population , haemophilus influenzae , environmental health , biology , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , antibiotics , ecology , physics , sociology , optics
Background: The International Circumpolar Surveillance (ICS) program conducts surveillance on five invasive bacterial diseases: pneumococcal disease (IPD), group A streptococcus (iGAS), Haemophilus influenzae (Hi), meningococcal disease (IMD) and group B streptococcus (GBS). Invasive bacterial diseases have a higher burden of disease in northern populations than the rest of Canada. Methods: To describe the epidemiology of invasive bacterial diseases in northern Canada from 1999 to 2018, data for IPD, iGAS, Hi, IMD and GBS were extracted from the ICS program and the Canadian Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (CNDSS) and analyzed. Results: The annualized incidence rates for IPD, iGAS, Hi, GBS and IMD were 23.3, 10.5, 8.9, 1.9 and 1.1 per 100,000 population, respectively. The incidence of IPD, iGAS and Hi serotype b were 2.8, 3.2 and 8.8 times higher, respectively, in northern Canada than in the rest of Canada. Rates of disease decreased statistically significantly for IPD (β=−0.02) and increased statistically for iGAS (β=0.08) and Hi serotype a (β=0.04) during the study period. In Northern Canada, the annualized incidence rates for IPD, iGAS and Hi were statistically higher for Indigenous residents than for non-Indigenous residents. The highest incidence rates were among the very young and older age groups. Conclusion: Invasive bacterial diseases represent a high burden of disease in Canada’s northern populations. Indigenous peoples, children and seniors are particularly at risk.