Food insecurity and its consequences in indigenous children and youth in Canada.

Food insecurity (FI) is at a crisis level in some Indigenous communities and impacts many of the half million First Nations Inuit and Métis (FNIM) children across Canada, particularly in isolated northern communities. This can lead to malnutrition and can have significant impacts on the physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of a child, often with lasting effects across the life course. This is a narrative review article with extensive search of the medical literature with input from the FNIM National organizations.

Potential Impact of COVID-19 on Recently Resettled Refugee Populations in the United States and Canada: Perspectives of Refugee Healthcare Providers.

Recently resettled refugee populations may be at greater risk for exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a virus that causes coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), and face unique challenges in following recommendations to protect their health. Several factors place resettled refugees at elevated risk for exposure to persons with COVID-19 or increased severity of COVID-19: being more likely to experience poverty and live in crowded housing, being employed in less protected, service-sector jobs, experiencing language and health care access barriers, and having higher rates of co-morbidities. In preparing for and managing COVID-19, resettled refugees encounter similar barriers to those of other racial or ethnic minority populations, which may then be exacerbated by unique barriers experienced from being a refugee.

Ten-year experience of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; diagnostic and resource challenges in Indigenous children.

Background: Although fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can have a disproportionate impact in some Indigenous communities, there is a paucity of literature on its epidemiology.

Objective: To characterize the epidemiology of Indigenous individuals under the age of 18 years who were diagnosed with FASD at Anishnawbe Health Toronto over a 10-year period.

Methods: Children who were assessed at Anishnawbe Health Toronto from 2002 to 2012 and met the 2005 criteria for FASD were included.

Cost-effectiveness of palivizumab compared to no prophylaxis in term infants residing in the Canadian Arctic.

Background: Hospital admissions for respiratory syncytial virus infection result in large health expenditures for Inuit infants. Palivizumab has been shown to be highly effective in reducing such admissions in preterm Inuit infants. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis estimating the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for palivizumab prophylaxis per admission related to respiratory syncytial virus avoided in healthy term infants across the Canadian Arctic.

Hospital admissions for lower respiratory tract infections among infants in the Canadian Arctic: a cohort study.

Background: It is unknown whether this burden of disease of lower respiratory tract infections is comparable across the Canadian Arctic. The objectives of this surveillance study were to compare the rates of hospital admission for lower respiratory tract infection and the severity of infection across Arctic Canada, and to describe the responsible viruses.

Methods: We performed a prospective multicentre surveillance study of infants less than 1 year of age admitted in 2009 with lower respiratory tract infection to all hospitals (5 regional, 4 tertiary) in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Nunavik to assess for regional differences.

Scabies.

Scabies is a contagious skin infestation caused by a mite. It causes significant global morbidity, with an estimated 300 million cases annually. Although it can affect individuals at any socioeconomic level, individuals who live in poverty or in overcrowded conditions are at much higher risk for scabies.

Imported pediatric malaria at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada: a 16 year review.

Background: Children under 5 represent 86% of annual malaria deaths in the world. Following increasing trends in international travel, cases of imported malaria are rising in North America. We describe the epidemiology of malaria diagnosed at a tertiary care pediatric center in the multicultural city of Toronto.

The real-life effectiveness of palivizumab for reducing hospital admissions for respiratory syncytial virus in infants residing in Nunavut.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND⁄

Objective: Nunavut has the highest hospitalization rates for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) worldwide, with rates of 166 per 1000 live births per year <1 year of age. Palivizumab was implemented in Nunavut primarily for premature infants, or those with hemodynamically significant cardiac or chronic lung disease; however, the effectiveness of the program is unknown. The objective of the present multisite, hospital-based surveillance study was to estimate the effectiveness of palivizumab in infants <6 months of age in Nunavut for the 2009 and 2010 RSV seasons.

The cost of lower respiratory tract infections hospital admissions in the Canadian Arctic.

Background: Inuit infants who reside in the Nunavut (NU) regions of Arctic Canada have extremely high rates of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) associated with significant health expenditures, but the costs in other regions of Arctic Canada have not been documented.

Objective: This prospective surveillance compares, across most of Arctic Canada, the rates and costs associated with LRTI admissions in infants less than 1 year of age, and the days of hospitalization and costs adjusted per live birth.

Design: This was a hospital-based surveillance of LRTI admissions of infants less than 1 year of age, residing in Northwest Territories (NT), the 3 regions of Nunavut (NU); [Kitikmeot (KT), Kivalliq (KQ) and Qikiqtani (QI)] and Nunavik (NK) from 1 January 2009 to 30 June 2010.

Preventing unintentional injuries in Indigenous children and youth in Canada.

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in Canadian Indigenous children and youth, occurring at rates three to four times the national average. Death and disabling injuries not only devastate families and communities but take a heavy toll on health care resources. The lack of statistics, ongoing surveillance or injury prevention programs for Indigenous children and adolescents further compound human and health care costs.

A decade of respiratory syncytial virus epidemiology and prophylaxis: translating evidence into everyday clinical practice.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common infection in infancy, with nearly all children affected by two years of age. Approximately 0.5% to 2.

The cost effectiveness of palivizumab in term Inuit infants in the Eastern Canadian Arctic.

Introduction: Canadian, Inuit, full term infants have the highest rate of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection globally, which results in substantial costs associated hospitalisation.

Methods: Decision-analytical techniques were used to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for palivizumab compared to no prophylaxis for Inuit infants of all gestational age. The time horizon was that of life-time follow-up, and costs and effectiveness were discounted at 5% per year.

Comparison of the cost of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus disease versus palivizumab prophylaxis in Canadian Inuit infants.

Background: The objectives were to compare actual respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalization rates and costs in a cohort of Inuit infants to hypothetical palivizumab prophylaxis strategies for infants of all gestational ages in the Eastern Canadian Arctic.

Methods: Incidence and costs of RSV hospitalization were collected for infants admitted to the Baffin Regional Hospital in 2002, before the initiation of palivizumab. There was a comparison of the actual costs to the costs associated with 8 palivizumab strategies stratified by age (<6 months, <1 year) and location (overall, town [Iqaluit], rural communities).

Risk factors and viruses associated with hospitalization due to lower respiratory tract infections in Canadian Inuit children : a case-control study.

Objectives: To examine risk factors for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) hospital admission in the Canadian Arctic.

Methods: This was a case-control study during a 14-month period among children less than 2 years of age. Cases were admitted to the Baffin Regional Hospital in Iqaluit, Nunavut with LRTI.

Epidemiology of malaria presenting at British Columbia's Children's Hospital, 1984-2001: lessons for prevention.

Background: Few studies have examined the epidemiology of imported malaria in Canadian children. Identifying populations at increased risk in Canada would enable targeted malaria prevention strategies within those groups. The study objective was to describe the epidemiology of malaria diagnosed at British Columbia's Children's Hospital (BCCH) between 1984 and 2001.

High rate of Simkania negevensis among Canadian inuit infants hospitalized with lower respiratory tract infections.

To determine the prevalence of Simkania negevensis in causing pulmonary infections in children, nasopharyngeal washes were obtained from 22 infants hospitalized with acute bronchiolitis in the Baffin Island, Canada. 14 (63.6%) were positive for S.