INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR RESEARCH Invasive Bacterial Diseases in

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Canada; Northwest Territories; Nunavut; Yukon; First Nations; International Polar Year; inuit
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.306.5699; http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/14/1/pdfs/06-1522.pdf

International Circumpolar Surveillance (ICS) is a population-based invasive bacterial disease surveillance network. Participating Canadian regions include Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and northern regions of Québec and Labrador (total population 132,956, 59 % aboriginal). Clinical and demographic information were collected by using standardized surveillance forms. Bacterial isolates were forwarded to reference laboratories for confi rmation and serotyping. After pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction, crude annual incidence rates of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae decreased from 34.0/100,000 population (1999–2002) to 23.6/100,000 population (2003–2005); substantial reductions were shown among aboriginals. However, incidence rates of S. pneumoniae, Haemophilus infl uenzae, and group A streptococci were higher in aboriginal populations than in non-aboriginal populations. H. infl uenzae type b was rare; 52 % of all H. infl uenzae cases were caused by type a. Data collected by ICS contribute to the understanding of the epidemiology of invasive bacterial diseases among northern populations, which assists in formulation of prevention and control strategies, including immunization recommendations. The circumpolar region of Canada is a sparsely populated area of 1.74 million square miles comprising 3 territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) and the northern regions of Québec and Labrador. The estimated population is 132,956, which represents 0.4 % of the Canadian population (1). The circumpolar population is younger (Table 1) and has a larger proportion of aboriginal persons than the general Canadian population. Approximately 59 % of the population in the region self-identify as Inuit, First Nations, or Métis, compared with 3.3 % of the total Canadian population (2). Northern populations tend to