Using Principal Component Analysis to Identify Priority Neighbourhoods for Health Services Delivery by Ranking Socioeconomic Status.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a comprehensive indicator of health status and is useful in area-level health research and informing public health resource allocation. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a useful tool for developing SES indices to identify area-level disparities in SES within communities. While SES research in Canada has relied on census data, the voluntary nature of the 2011 National Household Survey challenges the validity of its data, especially income variables.

Antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use associated with laboratory-confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection in two health units in Ontario.

Aim: A population-based study was conducted over a two-year period in the Perth District (PD) and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) health units in Ontario to document antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use associated with clinical cases of laboratory-confirmed campylobacteriosis.

Methods: Etest (bioMérieux SA, France) was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin (CIP), clindamycin, erythromycin (ERY), gentamicin, nalidixic acid and tetracycline. Data regarding antimicrobial use were collected from 250 cases.

Molecular epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni human and chicken isolates from two health units.

A study was conducted over a 2-year period in the Perth District and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph health units in Ontario, with an objective of using comparative genomic fingerprinting (CGF) with a 40-gene assay (CGF40) to investigate the association between human cases of campylobacteriosis and spatially and temporally related Campylobacter isolates from retail chicken. CGF results were available for isolates from 115 human cases and 718 retail chicken samples. These data were combined with CGF results from a large reference database of Campylobacter isolates.

Bayesian spatial methods for small-area injury analysis: a study of geographical variation of falls in older people in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph health region of Ontario, Canada.

Objectives: To examine falls in older people in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) health region of Ontario, Canada, and to identify areas with excess RR and associated risk factors, particularly those related to private dwellings.

Methods: Cases of hospitalisation following falls among older people in the WDG health region between 2002 and 2006 were geocoded to the dissemination area level and used in the spatial analysis. The falls data and covariates from the 2006 Canadian census were analysed using Poisson log-linear models with (spatial and non-spatial) random effects at the dissemination area level.

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter spp. isolated from retail chicken in two health units in Ontario.

Campylobacter is an important enteric pathogen of humans and can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain. Campylobacter infections have frequently been associated with the handling and consumption of raw and undercooked poultry. Antimicrobial resistance among Campylobacter strains is of concern in the treatment of campylobacteriosis in vulnerable populations.