Author profile
Monika Naus, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, FACPM
British Columbia introduced the pneumococcal polysaccharide 23-valent (PPV23) vaccine in 1996 for bone marrow transplant recipients and asplenics. Over the next 2 years, the program expanded to residents of long-term... Read More
Historically, response to pandemics has affected routine immunization coverage, as exemplified in the BC childhood immunization programs during the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic. In March and April 2020, BC health... Read More
What are the recommended diagnostic specimens to collect for measles confirmation? If you have a patient in whom you suspect measles, the best specimens to collect are for virus detection. Collect a nasopharyngeal or... Read More
About one in three Canadians will develop shingles (zoster) in their lifetime (with incidence increasing after 50 years of age), and up to 40% of zoster cases are associated with one or more complications, most... Read More
Beginning April 2018, BC and other Canadian provinces and territories will begin to use the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5, RotaTeq, Merck Canada) in their immunization programs for infants, replacing the use of the... Read More
Invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infections have been reportable in BC since 1997. Since that time, two periods of heightened activity have been observed: in 2008 when 259 confirmed cases were reported, and the... Read More
Mumps is a contagious infectious disease that was common in Canadian school-age children before the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced starting in 1983. Two MMR doses have been recommended for BC... Read More
In January 2017 the BC Minister of Health announced the approval of publicly funded human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine for boys. The program will start in the 2017–18 school year and all grade 6 boys will be eligible.... Read More
Immunization of those with no or inadequate immunization records and the role of serological testing
Physicians often see patients who have no immunization records or whose records are incomplete. These may include immigrants, refugees, and sometimes health care workers. It may be possible to retrieve these records... Read More
Influenza vaccine has been administered to pregnant women since the 1950s, initially to those with high-risk medical conditions such as chronic heart or lung disease and later to health care workers. Since the 1990s,... Read More