Canadian National Report on Immunization, 2006: Canada
Since the publication of the 1998 Canadian National Report on Immunization, the landscape of public health in Canada has changed considerably, foremost with the creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Pan-Canadian Public Health Network in 2004. In the context of these significant changes, the purpose of this report is to cover progress in immunization, including current P/T programs and the results of the National Immunization Coverage Surveys, and to provide an update since 1998 on trends in select vaccine-preventable diseases and in adverse events following immunization. While major highlights of the progress of the National Immunization Strategy are discussed in a feature section of this report, there have been many milestones for immunization in the past several years. Despite these achievements, however, there have been sporadic outbreaks of measles, mumps and rubella in several jurisdictions, which serve to remind us that Canada will experience ongoing importations of vaccine-preventable diseases and that there are pockets of non-immunized or under-immunized populations vulnerable to the introduction of such infectious agents. The full report is available online at: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/06vol32/32s3/index.html.
Source: Canada Communicable Disease Report, Volume 32S3, November 2006

Improved Vaccine to Protect Against Meningitis: Prince Edward Island
The PEI Chief Health Officer announced that PEI is the first Canadian province to add Menactra vaccine to its immunization schedule to protect against Meningococcal disease. The vaccine will be offered to all Grade 9 students across PEI this school year. There are several different groups of Meningococcal bacteria and the new Menactra vaccine provides protection against four of these including Groups A, C, Y and W-135. Menactra will replace the current Meningococcal vaccine administered to Grade 9 students which provided protection for Group C disease. Although illness due to Group C Meningococcal disease is still the most common in Canada, an increase in cases due to groups Y and W-135 have been seen. Since 1990, there have been 17 cases of serious Meningococcal illness in PEI. From 1990 to 1992, a Group C Meningococcal bacteria outbreak resulted in 11 cases of illness including 3 deaths. The vaccine available in 1992 did not provide long-lasting protection against Meningococcal diseases. In 2003, a Meningococcal vaccine was introduced for children aged 12 months and for Grade 9 students which provided improved protection against meningococcal Group C disease. This new Menactra vaccine provides long-lasting immunity against four groups of Meningococcal disease and will only be available for Grade 9 students as it is not yet licenced for children less than 2 years of age. Children in the under 2 age group will continue to receive the Group C vaccine.
Source: News Release, Government of Prince Edward Island, 22 November 2006

West Nile Virus (WNV) - Final Report for 2006: Canada
During the 2006 WNV season, 127 confirmed human WNV cases [Alberta (24), Saskatchewan (11), Manitoba (50), Ontario (41), and Quebec (1)] and one asymptomatic infection in Manitoba have been reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Of the 127 clinical cases, 34 (26.8%) were classified as West Nile Neurological Syndrome, 85 (66.9%) as West Nile Virus Non-Neurological Syndrome, and 8 (6.3%) as unclassified. There have been two deaths reported in patients with WNV infection during this season.
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, November 2006

West Nile Virus (WNV): United States
A total of 41 states and the District of Columbia had reported 3,830 cases of human WNV illness to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 2,093 (55%) cases for which data were available occurred in males; median age of patients was 51 years. Dates of illness onset ranged from 6 January to 22 October; a total of 119 cases were fatal. A total of 306 presumptive WN viremic blood donors (PVDs) have been reported during 2006. Of these, almost half were from the states of Nebraska (42), Texas (33), Colorado (26), Utah (24) and Louisiana (20). Of the 306 PVDs, 3 persons subsequently had neuroinvasive illness, 2 persons subsequently had other illness, and 65 persons subsequently had WN fever.
Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Volume 55, No. 44, 10 November 2006

The details given are for information only and may be very provisional. Where incidents are considered of national importance and are ongoing, the initial report will be updated as new information becomes available.