Background: This study follows published associations in BC to 2014 (updated in 2019) to model the predicted incidence of asthma in BC children attributable to antibiotic use within the context of reduced antibiotic use and increased breastfeeding in BC infants from 2000 to 2019.
Methods: A population-based ecological study was conducted in BC from 2000 to 2019, using outpatient antibiotic prescription data from BC PharmaNet and asthma diagnoses from the Chronic Disease Registry. Breastfeeding estimates were calculated using the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS).
Background: Population-based cross-sectional serosurveys within the Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada, showed about 10%, 40% and 60% of residents were infected with SARS-CoV-2 by the sixth (September 2021), seventh (March 2022) and eighth (July 2022) serosurveys. We conducted the ninth (December 2022) and tenth (July 2023) serosurveys and sought to assess risk of severe outcomes from a first-ever SARS-CoV-2 infection during intersurvey periods.
Methods: Using increments in cumulative infection-induced seroprevalence, population census, discharge abstract and vital statistics data sets, we estimated infection hospitalization and fatality ratios (IHRs and IFRs) by age and sex for the sixth to seventh (Delta/Omicron-BA.
The Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) during the unusually early 2022/23 influenza A(H3N2) epidemic. Like vaccine, circulating viruses were clade 3C.2a1b.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Two- and 3-dose BNT162b2 vaccine effectiveness (VE) against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, including Delta and Omicron variants, was assessed among adolescents in Canada, where first and second doses were spaced longer than the manufacturer-specified 3-week interval.
Methods: Test-negative design estimated VE against laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection ≥14 days after vaccination among 12-17-year-olds in Quebec and British Columbia, Canada, between 5 September 2021 and 30 April 2022 (epidemiological weeks 36-17). VE was explored by the interval between first and second doses, time since the second dose, and with a third dose.
Background: The evolving proportion of the population considered immunologically naive versus primed for more efficient immune memory response to SARS-CoV-2 has implications for risk assessment. We sought to chronicle vaccine- and infection-induced seroprevalence across the first 7 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Canada.
Methods: During 8 cross-sectional serosurveys conducted between March 2020 and August 2022, we obtained anonymized residual sera from children and adults who attended an outpatient laboratory network in the Lower Mainland (Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley).
Background: Gender disparities in education continue to undermine girls' opportunities, despite enormous strides in recent years to improve primary enrolment and attainment for girls in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). At the regional, country and subnational levels gender gaps remain, with girls in many settings less likely to complete primary school, less likely to complete secondary, and often less likely to be literate than boys. The academic and policy literatures on the topic of gender-related barriers to girls' education are both extensive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Adolescent Data Hub (ADH) is the first and largest data catalog specifically developed to focus on open access data on adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Developed by the Population Council's Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center, and launched in August 2018, the ADH has grown to include more than 750 data sources that fit the inclusion criteria of (1) self-reported data from females and/or males between ages 10 and 24 years; (2) one or more rounds of data collected in year 2000 or later; (3) data collected in one or more LMICs; (4) data are publicly available for download and use. A dynamic resource, the ADH is regularly updated to include new datasets that meet these criteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite strong theoretical grounding, important gaps in knowledge remain regarding the degree to which there is a causal relationship between education and sexual and reproductive health, as many claims have been made based on associations alone. Understanding the extent to which these relationships are causal is important both to inform investments in education and health, as well as to understand the mechanisms underlying these relationships.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the evidence for a causal link between education and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in low and middle-income countries.
Objective: Numerous studies have documented an inverse association between years of schooling attained, particularly by women, and reduced maternal, infant and child mortality. However, if factors affecting educational attainment - many of which are unobservable, e.g.
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