Summary: | International Circumpolar Surveillance (ICS), a population-based surveillance system for invasive bacterial diseases, has been established in the U.S. Arctic, Northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Finland. Data collection began in 1999 and includes the organisms Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp), Haemophilus influenzae (Hi), Neisseria meningitidis (Nm), and groups A and B streptococcus (GAS, GBS). This report reviews the data collected for the year 2002. The ICS program continued to expand in 2002. In addition to collecting Streptococcus pneumoniae data from six Arctic countries, Greenland has joined N. Canada and the U.S. Arctic in reporting invasive bacterial disease caused by Hi, Nm, GAS and GBS. Monitoring rates of disease and levels of antimicrobial resistance in these pathogens via use of the ICS system is important, and efforts to expand ICS to include all circumpolar nations will continue. ICS is a cooperative project funded by the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, and by the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC) in Ottawa, Canada. International Circumpolar Surveillance (ICS) is a population-based surveillance system for invasive bacterial diseases established in the U.S. Arctic, Northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Northern Sweden. Data collection began in 1999 and includes information on disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, and groups A and B Streptococcus (GAS, GBS). This report reviews the data collected for the year 2005. ICS is a cooperative project funded by the Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, and by the Public Health Agency of Canada in Ottawa, Canada.
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