The mediating role of SARS-CoV-2 variants between income and hospitalisation due to COVID-19: A period-based mediation analysis.

The mechanisms facilitating the relationship between low income and COVID-19 severity have not been partitioned in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC). To address this, we used causal mediation analysis to quantify the possible mediating role infection with VOC has on the relationship between neighbourhood income (exposure) and hospitalisation due to COVID-19 among cases (outcome). A population-based cohort of 65,629 individuals residing in British Columbia, Canada, was divided into three periods of VOC co-circulation in the 2021 calendar year whereby each period included co-circulation of an emerging and an established VOC.

Mapping and Habitat Suitability Under Current and Mid-Century Climate in the Pacific Northwest (BC and WA).

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States and Canada. The primary vector for the causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, in the Pacific Northwest is the western blacklegged tick, Ixodes pacificus. Using active tick surveillance data from British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA, habitat suitability models using MaxEnt (maximum entropy) were developed for to predict its current and mid-century geographic distributions.

Improving staff wellness via an after-hours healthy sustainable meals program: A general surgery residency pilot.

Healthcare worker wellness is foundational to delivering quality care. Yet, healthcare facilities often lack access to healthy and sustainable food overnight and on weekends. Healthy, low-carbon meals were provided free of charge after hours to on-call General Surgery residents at the University of British Columbia and the impact on resident well-being assessed using pre- and post-intervention surveys.

Visible minority status and occupation were associated with increased COVID-19 infection in Greater Vancouver British Columbia between June and November 2020: an ecological study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted health disparities, especially among specific population groups. This study examines the spatial relationship between the proportion of visible minorities (VM), occupation types and COVID-19 infection in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: Provincial COVID-19 case data between June 24, 2020, and November 7, 2020, were aggregated by census dissemination area and linked with sociodemographic data from the Canadian 2016 census.

Understanding the impact of mobility on COVID-19 spread: A hybrid gravity-metapopulation model of COVID-19.

The outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 started in Wuhan, China, towards the end of 2019 and spread worldwide. The rapid spread of the disease can be attributed to many factors including its high infectiousness and the high rate of human mobility around the world. Although travel/movement restrictions and other non-pharmaceutical interventions aimed at controlling the disease spread were put in place during the early stages of the pandemic, these interventions did not stop COVID-19 spread.

Travel Time to Delivery, Antenatal Care, and Birth Outcomes: A Population-Based Cohort of Uncomplicated Pregnancies in British Columbia, 2012-2019.

Objective: Health policy and system leaders need to know whether long travel time to a delivery facility adversely affects birth outcomes. In this study, we estimated associations between travel time to delivery and outcomes in low-risk pregnancies.

Methods: This population-based cohort included all singleton births without obstetric comorbidities or intrapartum facility transfers in British Columbia, Canada, from 2012 to 2019.

Passive Tick Surveillance and Detection of Species in Ticks from British Columbia, Canada: 2002-2018.

Lyme disease, caused by (s.l.) complex, is the most common vector-borne disease in North America.

Associations of five food- and water-borne diseases with ecological zone, land use and aquifer type in a changing climate.

Background: Food- and water-borne pathogens exhibit spatial heterogeneity, but attribution to specific environmental processes is lacking while anthropogenic climate change alters these processes. The goal of this study was to investigate ecology, land-use and health associations of these pathogens and to make future disease projections.

Methods: The rates of five acute gastrointestinal illnesses (AGIs) (campylobacteriosis, Verotoxin- producing Escherichia coli, salmonellosis, giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis) from 2000 to 2013 in British Columbia, Canada, were calculated across three environmental variables: ecological zone, land use, and aquifer type.

Projected local rain events due to climate change and the impacts on waterborne diseases in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Background: Climate change is increasing the number and intensity of extreme weather events in many parts of the world. Precipitation extremes have been linked to both outbreaks and sporadic cases of waterborne illness. We have previously shown a link between heavy rain and turbidity to population-level risk of sporadic cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in a major Canadian urban population.

Spatial-Temporal Epidemiology of the Syphilis Epidemic in Relation to Neighborhood-Level Structural Factors in British Columbia, 2005-2016.

Background: Spatial clusters of syphilis have been observed within several jurisdictions globally; however, the degree to which they are predicted by the spatial distributions of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) and testing remains unknown. We sought to describe the spatial-temporal epidemiology of infectious syphilis and identify associations between neighborhood-level factors and rates of syphilis, in British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: We used ArcGIS to map infectious syphilis cases among men (2005 to 2016), SaTScan to detect areas with significantly elevated rates of syphilis, and spatial regression to identify associations between neighborhood-level factors and rates of syphilis.

Applying core theory and spatial analysis to identify hepatitis C virus infection "core areas" in British Columbia, Canada.

"Core areas" of transmission for bacterial sexually transmitted infections have been identified. However, it is unclear whether core areas apply to viral infections, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV). We used geographic mapping and spatial analysis to identify distinct core areas of HCV infection in British Columbia (BC) using the BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort (BC-HTC), 1990-2013.

Associations between extreme precipitation and acute gastro-intestinal illness due to cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in an urban Canadian drinking water system (1997-2009).

Drinking water related infections are expected to increase in the future due to climate change. Understanding the current links between these infections and environmental factors is vital to understand and reduce the future burden of illness. We investigated the relationship between weekly reported cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis (n = 7,422), extreme precipitation (>90th percentile), drinking water turbidity, and preceding dry periods in a drinking water system located in greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1997-2009) using distributed lag non-linear Poisson regression models adjusted for seasonality, secular trend, and the effect of holidays on reporting.

Searching for clues for eighteen years: Deciphering the ecological determinants of Cryptococcus gattii on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Cryptococcus gattii emerged on Vancouver Island in 1999 for unknown reasons, causing human and animal fatalities and illness. The apparent emergence of this fungus in another temperate area, this time in the Pacific Northwest, suggests the fungus may have expanded its ecological niche. Yet studies that directly examine the potential roles of climatic and land use changes on C.

Identification of spatial and cohort clustering of tuberculosis using surveillance data from British Columbia, Canada, 1990-2013.

Since 2000, the global incidence of tuberculosis (TB) has decreased by 1.5% per year, becoming increasingly clustered in key subpopulations in low incidence settings. TB clustering can manifest spatially from recent transmission, or in non-spatial cohort clusters resulting from reactivation of latent infection in populations with shared risk factors.

Surveillance for Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes Ticks and Small Rodents in British Columbia.

To determine the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in British Columbian ticks, fieldwork was conducted over a 2-year period. In all, 893 ticks (Ixodes pacificus, I. angustus, I.

Climatic Influences on Cryptococcus gattii [corrected] Populations, Vancouver Island, Canada, 2002-2004.

Vancouver Island, Canada, reports the world's highest incidence of Cryptococcus gattii infection among humans and animals. To identify key biophysical factors modulating environmental concentrations, we evaluated monthly concentrations of C. gatti in air, soil, and trees over a 3-year period.

The Fungus among Us: Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii Ecological Modeling for Colombia.

The environmental isolation of Cryptococcus spp. is typically a difficult undertaking. Collecting samples in the field is costly in terms of travel, personnel time and materials.

Carriage of Clostridium difficile by wild urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) and black rats (Rattus rattus).

Clostridium difficile is an important cause of enteric infections in humans. Recently, concerns have been raised regarding whether animals could be a source of C. difficile spores.

Ecology of Leptospira interrogans in Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in an inner-city neighborhood of Vancouver, Canada.

Background: Leptospira interrogans is a bacterial zoonosis with a worldwide distribution for which rats (Rattus spp.) are the primary reservoir in urban settings. In order to assess, monitor, and mitigate the risk to humans, it is important to understand the ecology of this pathogen in rats.

A decade of experience: Cryptococcus gattii in British Columbia.

It has been over a decade since Cryptococcus gattii was first recognized as the causative organism of an outbreak of cryptococcosis on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. A number of novel observations have been associated with the study of this emergent pathogen. A novel genotype of C.

The relationship among antibiotic consumption, socioeconomic factors and climatic conditions.

Background: Antibiotic consumption in human populations is one of the factors responsible for the emergence of resistant organisms. It is important to track population-based data on an ongoing basis, and to explore the determinants of regional variation in antibiotic consumption.

Methods: Population-level data were obtained on all outpatient oral antibiotic prescriptions dispensed within British Columbia (BC) between 1996 and 2007.

How big is the Lyme problem? Using novel methods to estimate the true number of Lyme disease cases in British Columbia residents from 1997 to 2008.

Lyme disease (LD) is rare in British Columbia (BC) and, despite being a reportable condition since 1994, may be underreported. Here we review all provincial laboratory and clinical databases to determine the number of LD cases reported in BC from 1997 to 2008. We analyzed demographic characteristics of LD cases and used capture-recapture methodology to estimate the true number of cases in BC for this period.

West Nile virus range expansion into British Columbia.

In 2009, an expansion of West Nile virus (WNV) into the Canadian province of British Columbia was detected. Two locally acquired cases of infection in humans and 3 cases of infection in horses were detected by ELISA and plaque-reduction neutralization tests. Ten positive mosquito pools were detected by reverse transcription PCR.

Detection of Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, including three novel genotypes in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from songbirds (Passeriformes) across Canada.

Lyme disease is reported across Canada, but pinpointing the source of infection has been problematic. In this three-year, bird-tick-pathogen study (2004-2006), 366 ticks representing 12 species were collected from 151 songbirds (31 passerine species/subspecies) at 16 locations Canada-wide. Of the 167 ticks/pools tested, 19 (11.