Author profile

Syphilis outbreak in BC: Changes to syphilis screening in pregnancy

In the first half of 2019, there were two cases of congenital syphilis diagnosed in British Columbia; the first cases since 2013. In the context of 919 cases of infectious syphilis reported in BC in 2018—representing... Read More

STI testing and cervical cancer screening: Need for continued STI screening among young people in the era of new cervical cancer screening guidelines

In June 2016 the BC Cancer Agency released updated recommendations for cervical cancer screening.[1] The age to initiate cervical cancer screening has increased to 25 years, and the routine screening interval has... Read More

Human papillomavirus awareness, knowledge, and vaccination status in a diverse population of male postsecondary students in Greater Vancouver

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide.[1] There are over 150 types of HPV, with over 40 being able to infect the anogenital region of both sexes... Read More

New HIV testing guidelines in BC

A 23-year-old male presents to student health services with a mononucleosis-like syndrome. A 42-year-old previously healthy, married woman presents to her long-time family physician with a 3-month history of easy... Read More

What is the most appropriate age to start screening women for cervical cancer?

Jurisdictions do not agree on when to begin routine population-based screening for cervical cancer. Recent guidelines in the United States[1] and Ontario[2] recommend that screening start at age 21, while screening in... Read More

New guidelines for management of N. gonorrhoeae in the context of evolving susceptibility patterns

Over the past 30 years we have observed the successive loss of penicillin, tetracycline, and fluoroquinolone antibiotics to reliably treat Neisseria gonorrhoeae due to drug resistance.[1] Data from BC and... Read More

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Program in BC: A good start with room for improvement

British Columbia launched routine immunization against human papillomavirus (HPV) in the school year 2008–2009. Two cohorts of girls were targeted—grades 6 and 9—in order to see benefits earlier, given the latency... Read More

Mother, infant, and syphilis: increasing cause for concern in British Columbia

In 1997 national goals were set for maintaining infectious syphilis rates below 0.5 per 100000 population and preventing all endemic congenital syphilis cases. Such optimism proved unfounded; that same year infectious... Read More

Infectious syphilis outbreak in British Columbia: A changing epidemic

Although BC has been experiencing an outbreak of infectious syphilis (IS; primary, secondary, and early latent syphilis) since 1997, there have been recent important changes in the epidemic. Prior to 2003, British... Read More