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.

Burden of illness and factors associated with duration of illness in clinical campylobacteriosis.

A population-based study investigated the burden of illness, including the duration of illness associated with laboratory-confirmed cases of campylobacteriosis in two health unit areas. Questionnaire data were collected for 250 cases. The median duration of illness was 8 days and 66% of cases reported symptoms of moderate severity or greater.

Canada in the face of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

Background: Initial public health responses to the 2009 influenza H1N1 pandemic were based on difficult decisions in the face of substantial uncertainty. Policy effectiveness depends critically on such decisions, and future planning for maximum protection of community health requires understanding of the impact of public health responses in observed scenarios.

Objectives: In alignment with the objectives of the Pandemic Influenza Outbreak Research Modelling Team (Pan-InfORM) and the Centre for Disease Modelling (CDM), a focused workshop was organized to: (i) evaluate Canada's response to the spring and autumn waves of the novel H1N1 pandemic; (ii) learn lessons from public health responses, and identify challenges that await public health planners and decision-makers; and (iii) understand how best to integrate resources to overcome these challenges.