Publications by authors named "Paul Sockett"

Objective: To assess whether over-the-counter (OTC) sales of gastrointestinal illness (GI)-related medications are associated with temporal trends of reportable community viral, bacterial and parasitic infections.

Methods: The temporal patterns in weekly and seasonal sales of nonprescription products related to GI were compared with those of reportable viral, bacterial and parasitic infections in a Canadian province.

Results: Temporal patterns of OTC product sales and Norovirus activity were similar, both having highest activity in the winter months.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To estimate the annual number of cases of illness due to verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), Salmonella and Campylobacter in the Canadian population, using data from the National Notifiable Disease registry (NND), estimates of under-reporting derived from several National Studies on Acute Gastrointestinal Illness, and the literature.

Methods: For each of the three pathogens (VTEC, Salmonella and Campylobacter), data were used to estimate the percentage of cases reported at each step in the surveillance system. The number of reported cases in the NND for each pathogen was then divided by these percentages.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A surveillance program has been in place since 2000 to detect the presence of West Nile virus (WNV) in Canada. Serological assays are most appropriate when monitoring for human disease and undertaking case investigations. Genomic amplification procedures are more commonly used for testing animal and mosquito specimens collected as part of ongoing surveillance efforts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To estimate seasonal proportions of patient visits due to acute gastrointestinal illness (GI), assess factors influencing physicians' stool sample requests, their understanding of laboratory testing protocols and adherence to provincial stool request guidelines in three British Columbia (BC) health regions.

Methods: During a one-year period, eligible physicians were mailed four self-administered questionnaires used to estimate proportions of patients diagnosed with GI, related stool sample requests in the preceding month, and to assess factors prompting stool sample requests.

Results: The response rate overall for the initial comprehensive questionnaire was 18.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To respond to emerging public health threats such as West Nile virus, an advanced geographic information systems (GIS) -driven Web-based real-time surveillance system was developed to serve the National West Nile virus dead bird surveillance programme in Canada. The development of this system uses real-time Web GIS technologies and services to enhance conventional real-time surveillance systems based on real-time GIS requirements. The system has three modules: QuickTrack, QuickMap and QuickManage.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In developed countries, gastrointestinal illness (GI) is typically mild and self-limiting, however, it has considerable economic impact due to high morbidity.

Methods: The magnitude and distribution of acute GI in British Columbia (BC), Canada was evaluated via a cross-sectional telephone survey of 4,612 randomly selected residents, conducted from June 2002 to June 2003. Respondents were asked if they had experienced vomiting or diarrhoea in the 28 days prior to the interview.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: An extensive West Nile virus surveillance program of dead birds, mosquitoes, horses, and human infection has been launched as a result of West Nile virus first being reported in Canada in 2001. Some desktop and web GIS have been applied to West Nile virus dead bird surveillance. There have been urgent needs for a comprehensive GIS services and real-time surveillance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The burden of foodborne disease is not well defined in many countries or regions or on a global level. The World Health Organization (WHO), in conjunction with other national public health agencies, is coordinating a number of international activities designed to assist countries in the strengthening of disease surveillance and to determine the burden of acute gastroenteritis. These data can then be used to estimate the following situations: (1) the burden associated with acute gastroenteritis of foodborne origin, (2) the burden caused by specific pathogens commonly transmitted by food, and (3) the burden caused by specific foods or food groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In Ontario, infectious gastrointestinal illness (IGI) reporting can be represented by a linear model of several sequential steps required for a case to be captured in the provincial reportable disease surveillance system. Since reportable enteric data are known to represent only a small fraction of the total IGI in the community, the objective of this study was to estimate the under-reporting rate for IGI in Ontario.

Methods: A distribution of plausible values for the under-reporting rate was estimated by specifying input distributions for the proportions reported at each step in the reporting chain, and multiplying these distributions together using simulation methods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We determined prospectively the incidence of childhood diarrhoea associated haemolytic uraemic syndrome (D+ HUS) or HUS due to Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP+ HUS) in Canada through the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP) network. From April 2000, to March 2002, 82% (1,886/2,300) of all Canadian paediatricians reported possible new cases of D+ HUS or SP+ HUS. Diagnosis was validated with a second questionnaire.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To ascertain if monitoring over-the-counter (OTC) drug sales could provide a timely syndromic surveillance method of detecting outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness.

Method: This study evaluated the potential of a syndromic surveillance system by comparing retrospective pharmacy OTC sales of anti-nauseants and anti-diarrheals to emergency room visits and case numbers from two Canadian outbreaks related to water contamination by Cryptosporidium, and E.coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Limitations associated with the under-reporting of enteric illnesses have long been recognized but the extent and variation of this under-reporting in Canada has not been examined. Given the public health value of surveillance data, a closer examination of under-reporting of enteric illnesses in Canada was warranted.

Methods: Paper-based surveys were administered (a) to all laboratories in Canada licensed to process stool specimens and (b) to all local public health authorities in two provinces.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of public water works (PWW) in southern Ontario with respect to their water sources and treatment regimes.

Methods: Data from 481 PWW covering the period 1992-1999 were collected and cartographic manipulations as well as descriptive analyses of the PWW attributes were performed. Tests of associations between different PWW attributes were done using Fisher's Exact test and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel statistics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF