Surveillance

In 2013, after 10 years of existence, the Comité d’éthique de santé publique [Public Health Ethics Committee] (CESP) felt compelled to review the experience that it had developed with regard to its specific mandate to provide ethical reviews of surveillance plans. This document summarizes all the ethical concerns identified by the Committee through the review of the different surveillance plans that were submitted to it between the time of its establishment and 2012. This summary of the…

From April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, 42 hemodialysis units took part in the surveillance of vascular access–related bloodstream infections (VARBSIs) in hemodialysis (HD) patients, for a combined total of 51,697 patient periods. The participating units reported 218 VARBSIs in 209 patients. Patient periods involving a fistula accounted for 44.9% of cases. The VARBSI incidence rate was 0.19 cases per 100 patient periods for patients with an…

From April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, 67 intensive care units (ICUs) took part in the surveillance of central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), for a combined total of 128,207 centralline days. Participating ICUs reported 201 CLABSIs in 197 patients. Incidence rates were 1.13 per 1,000 central-line days in coronary ICUs, 0.84 in teaching adult ICUs, 1.22 in non-teaching adult ICUs, 2.83 in pediatric ICUs and 5.36 in neonatal ICUs. Incidence rates in…

Entre le 1^er avril 2012 et le 31 mars 2013, 64 installations de santé ont participé sur une base volontaire à la surveillance des bactériémies panhospitalières, pour un cumul de 3 797 385 joursprésence (tableau 1). Ces installations ont rapporté 2 797 bactériémies, survenues chez 2 674 patients. Le taux d'incidence total était de 6,1 cas par 10  000 joursprésence. Le taux d'incidence en 2012-2013 a diminué…

From April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, 95 healthcare facilities participated in the surveillance of Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD), for a combined total of 5,233,966 inpatient days. The participating facilities reported 3,797 cases of healthcare-associated (HA) CDAD. The total incidence rate of HA-CDAD was 7.3 cases per 10,000 patient days. This incidence rate was stable compared to the rate of 2011–2012. The 10-day case fatality was 8.7% (n=304…

From April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, 88 healthcare facilities took part in the surveillance of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections, for a combined total of 5,011,231 patient days. Together, these facilities reported 147 cases of healthcare-associated MRSA bloodstream infections. The incidence rate was 0.29/10,000 patient days. This incidence rate has declined over the past five years. The proportion of methicillin…

From April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, 89 healthcare facilities took part in the surveillance of healthcare-associated vancomycin-resistant enterococci (HA-VRE) infections, for a combined total of 5,017,791 patient days. In total, 41 cases of VRE infection were reported among patients who contracted the strain during a current or previous hospital stay in the reporting facility (categories 1a + 1b). The incidence rate of HA-VRE infection (cat. 1a + 1b) was 0.08/10,000…

Prescription opioid use has increased in Québec in recent years. In view of the serious consequences stemming from drug misuse in this pharmacological class, it is possible that the increase has affected the temporal trend in opioid-related poisoning deaths.

Objectives

Determine the opioid-related poisoning death rates in Québec and describe the temporal evolution of the phenomenon by age, gender of the deceased, manner of death, and type of opioid involved…

As part of an initiative to evaluate the health status of Québec anglophones, their lifestyle habits and certain health indicators were examined by area of residence and compared with those of francophones. The data was taken from the 2003, 2007−2008 and 2009−2010 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), with particular emphasis on the most recent data.

The results show few statistically significant differences in lifestyle habits and health indicators between…

For two decades, the reduction of social inequalities in health has been on the health policy and guidance agenda in Québec. Moreover, current monitoring activities make it possible to track social determinants of health, population health status and the use of health and social services over time and space (regionally). In spite of these achievements, Québec does not have a plan for the systematic monitoring of social inequalities in health, although the existence of these inequalities is…