Publications by authors named "Christian Renaud"
Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the seasonal transmission pattern of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), challenging the launch of palivizumab immunization campaigns. This study explored the performance of the moving epidemic method (MEM) to guide the launch of such campaigns.
Methods: Data were collected through a continuous RSV surveillance system (07/2013‒03/2022) in Québec, Canada.
Background: In Canada, as many as 24% of mothers are deferred from cord blood (CB) donation due to risk factors for Zika virus (ZIKV). However, the ZIKV epidemic has waned considerably since 2016, and there has not been any report of ZIKV transmission by CB transplantation, which questions this policy. Thus, we performed an analysis of the risk of introducing ZIKV in the CB supply maintained by Héma-Québec (HQ) and Canadian Blood Services (CBS).
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- Hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) screening is used in blood establishments worldwide to help prevent the transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV), especially from donors with occult HBV infection (OBI).
- A survey conducted revealed varied practices in HBV screening across 30 responses from 25 countries, with some establishments screening all donations for anti-HBc and HBV DNA, while others had different approaches, leading to inconsistencies in donor deferral strategies.
- The findings highlight the need for improved confirmation of anti-HBc results to minimize unnecessary donor deferrals while balancing the risk of transmission from anti-HBc negative OBI donors, particularly in high-endemic regions where sensitive HBV DNA testing is crucial.
Objectives: While studies have demonstrated increased morbidity and mortality risk in infancy among children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected (CHEU), longitudinal data are limited. The objective of this study was to assess long-term risk of hospitalization among CHEU compared to children who are HIV-unexposed and uninfected (CHUU), and determine risk factors for hospitalization among CHEU.
Design: A longitudinal cohort study (1988-2015) linking the Centre maternel et infantile sur le SIDA cohort (Montreal, Quebec) to administrative data from the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), a universal health insurance provider in the province of Quebec.
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- Extremely preterm infants often benefit from donor milk, particularly hindmilk, which is nutrient-dense and could provide essential fats and calories for their growth.
- A survey conducted with 181 active milk donors in Québec revealed that a significant portion (66%) are willing to adjust their milk expression habits to include hindmilk, indicating a strong desire to support preterm infants.
- While most donors expressed a willingness to change their practices, some raised concerns about the added complexities of milk expression potentially discouraging donation, highlighting the need for clearer guidelines on expression methods.
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- Conventional serological tests are not very sensitive for detecting recent SARS-CoV-2 infections in vaccinated people due to their reduced anti-nucleocapsid response, leading to the development of a new "ratio-based approach" for more accurate detection.
- A study conducted in Québec examined plasma samples from donors over time to estimate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and reinfections during the Omicron wave, finding a 28.3% rate of reinfections among participants.
- Results indicated that a significant portion of the Québec population was likely infected during the Omicron wave, showcasing the effectiveness of the ratio-based method in identifying infections in vaccinated individuals.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis in the world and can lead to severe complications in immunocompromised individuals. HEV is primarily transmitted through eating pork, which has led to an increased in anti-HEV IgG seropositivity in the general population of Europe in particular. However, it can also be transmitted intravenously, such as through transfusions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas disease (CD), an anthropozoonosis from the American continent that progresses from an acute phase to an indeterminate phase, followed by a chronic symptomatic phase in around 30% of patients. In countries where T. cruzi is not endemic, many blood transfusion services test blood donors who have stayed in an endemic country ('at-risk stay')-even if they do not present with other risk factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile children have experienced less severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) after SARS-CoV-2 infection than adults, the cause of this remains unclear. The objective of this study was to describe the humoral immune response to COVID-19 in child vs. adult household contacts, and to identify predictors of the response over time.
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- - The Canadian blood suppliers, Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec, shifted from a time-based deferral for men who have sex with men to a risk-based assessment focusing on sexual behaviors starting in 2022.
- - A study assessed the impact of these changes by monitoring HIV rates before and after implementation and found no significant difference in HIV-positive donations (0.27/100,000 pre-implementation vs. 0.28/100,000 post).
- - The deferral rate for donors due to new or multiple sexual partners was low (0.17%) and primarily affected first-time and younger donors, indicating the new screening process maintained safety while allowing more inclusive donor participation.
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- Traditional methods for analyzing SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence often underestimate antibody presence in vaccinated individuals, particularly in detecting anti-nucleocapsid responses.
- A study compared four different immunoassays using a new method that focuses on increases in anti-N antibody levels, revealing significantly better sensitivity than conventional approaches.
- Results showed that while the conventional approach fell short of regulatory standards for sensitivity, the new ratio-based method allowed all tested immunoassays to meet the necessary criteria, enhancing reliability in assessing seroprevalence.
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- Several high-income countries have ended the practice of deferring gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood, moving towards a gender-neutral donor selection approach.
- An international symposium held in April 2023 brought together experts to discuss the impacts of this shift on transfusion safety and the challenges of implementing such policies.
- Findings indicate that most countries adopted similar strategies for this transition, which were positively received by stakeholders and showed reassuring safety data, although further research on HIV risks is needed.
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in pregnant women is associated with birth defects, which are more prevalent and severe the earlier in pregnancy the infection occurs. Pregnant women at risk of possible ZIKV exposure (n = 154) were screened using ELISA for ZIKV IgM and IgG. Nine of 154 (5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHighly pathogenic avian influenza: Unprecedented outbreaks in Canadian wildlife and domestic poultry.
J Assoc Med Microbiol Infect Dis Can
November 2023
Article Synopsis
- * Over 7 million birds were culled, and the outbreaks have notably impacted commercial bird farms globally, while the virus has also infected several mammal species.
- * Awareness initiatives are essential for frontline practitioners who might encounter cases related to HPAI, given the mutations in the virus found in various carnivores.
Article Synopsis
- The study explored the use of Bayesian latent class models (BLCMs) to estimate the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood donor samples, without relying on a definitive testing standard.
- A total of 6,810 plasma samples from blood donors in Québec collected between May and July 2020 were tested with seven different serological assays, revealing a SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence of 0.71%.
- The research highlighted the variability in sensitivity among the assays used and emphasized that BLCMs can provide rapid updates on disease prevalence and assist public health efforts, especially when a gold standard test is unavailable.
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- Secondary transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) primarily occurs through blood transfusions and plasma-derived product recipients, but recent reviews on this issue are outdated or limited in scope.
- Five cases of vCJD transmission after transfusions were noted, all occurring in the UK prior to the implementation of universal leukodepletion in 1999, which indicates that vCJD specifically targets leukocytes.
- Current risk estimates of vCJD transmission through blood are very low, and with no new cases reported over the past two decades, there is a strong rationale for easing blood donation restrictions related to vCJD, potentially increasing the donor pool safely.
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- Tick-borne parasites like spp. can affect various vertebrate hosts, and climate change may alter their transmission patterns, raising concerns about transfusion-transmitted infections (TTB) in humans, particularly in North America.
- TTB can lead to moderate-to-severe illness in patients, and while most cases are reported in the U.S., increased awareness and changing epidemiology could affect case numbers globally due to climate factors.
- Microbiologists are crucial in minimizing TTB risks by developing blood donor screening methods, investigating cases, and creating guidelines, particularly in both endemic and non-endemic regions as the landscape of transmission evolves.
Background And Objectives: Septic transfusion reactions (STRs) occur as a result of bacterial contamination of blood or blood products, resulting in sepsis. This scoping review aimed to identify, explore and map the available literature on the STR criteria triggering the investigation of STR.
Materials And Methods: Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Science Direct, Embase) were searched to retrieve scientific literature reporting such criteria, published from 1 January 2000 to 5 May 2022.
Background And Objectives: Systematically measuring pre-donation haemoglobin (Hb) levels might be overly cautious for apheresis plasma donation, since plasmapheresis entails a small loss of red blood cells. We explored the association between the frequency of apheresis plasma donation and capillary blood Hb levels.
Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study included donors who gave apheresis plasma at least twice between 24 October 2020 and 23 October 2022 in Québec, Canada.
Targeted screening for congenital CMV infection (cCMV), which entails CMV testing of infants who fail newborn hearing screening (NBHS), has become common practice. However, this strategy misses nearly all infected infants with normal hearing at birth who are nonetheless at high risk of subsequent hearing loss and would benefit from timely cCMV diagnosis. The objective of this study was to identify expanded criteria predictive of cCMV to increase the scope and utility of targeted newborn CMV screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: No transfusion-associated cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) have occurred in more than 20 years. Yet, many countries have maintained blood donor deferral criteria for vCJD. We developed a risk simulation model to reassess the need for vCJD-related deferral criteria in Canada.
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