A multicriteria vulnerability index for equitable resource allocation in public health funding.

Setting: This paper describes an action research project with the Centre universitaire intégré de santé et de services sociaux - Capitale Nationale (CIUSSS-CN) who identified a need to assess vulnerability in their territories in order to ensure equitable distribution of the Integrated Perinatal and Early Childhood Services (SIPPE) program funds. The objective was to design and validate a multicriteria model to provide a more accurate portrait of vulnerability based on recent social realities.

Intervention: Our multidisciplinary research team of 7 members included experts in analytics, decision aiding, and community and public health.

T-cell and serological responses to Erp, an exported Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein, in tuberculosis patients and healthy individuals.

Background: The identification of antigens able to differentiate tuberculosis (TB) disease from TB infection would be valuable. Cellular and humoral immune responses to Erp (Exported repetitive protein)--a recently identified M. tuberculosis protein--have not yet been investigated in humans and may contribute to this aim.