Publications by authors named "Shinthuja Wijayasri"

Article Synopsis
  • New vaccine products for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) were authorized in Canada, prompting a study to examine trends in IPD incidence and severity in Ontario across different time periods, including pre- and post-vaccine introduction and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The analysis revealed a decline in IPD incidence and hospitalizations among children under 5 years after the introduction of the 13-valent vaccine (PCV13), but an increase in case fatality rates and hospitalizations among older adults.
  • Despite the overall decrease in cases from PCV13 serotypes, there was a rise in cases from newer serotypes, highlighting the need for ongoing surveillance and possible adjustments to vaccination strategies.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated wastewater-based surveillance, allowing public health to track the epidemic by monitoring the concentration of the genetic fingerprints of SARS-CoV-2 shed in wastewater by infected individuals. Wastewater-based surveillance for COVID-19 is still in its infancy. In particular, the quantitative link between clinical cases observed through traditional surveillance and the signals from viral concentrations in wastewater is still developing and hampers interpretation of the data and actionable public-health decisions.

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Background: Ontario, Canada introduced a publicly-funded 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) for infants in 2010, replacing the 10-valent (PCV10, 2009-2010) and the 7-valent (PCV7, 2005-2009) conjugate vaccine programs; a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) has been available for older adults since 1996. We examined the epidemiology and serotype distribution of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in Ontario in the context of provincial immunization programs.

Methods: We included confirmed IPD cases reported in Ontario between 2007 and 2017.

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