Surveillance summary of hospitalized pediatric enterovirus D68 cases in Canada, September 2014.

BACKGROUND: Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has been detected infrequently and has not been associated with severe disease in Canada. In the early fall of 2014, following an unusual case increase in the United States, clusters of EV-D68 among children and some adults manifesting severe symptoms were reported in Canada. OBJECTIVE: To provide an initial epidemiological summary of pediatric cases hospitalized with EV-D68 in Canada. METHODS: A time-limited surveillance pilot was conducted collecting information on pediatric cases (less than 18 years of age) hospitalized with EV-D68 between September 1 and 30, 2014. RESULTS: In total, 268 cases were reported from Ontario (n=210), Alberta (n=45), and British Columbia (n=13). Of the 268 reported cases, 64.9% (n=174) were male; the sex difference was statistically significant (p<0.01). Age was reported for 255 cases, with a mean age for males of 5.4 years and for females of 5.3 years. For cases with data available, 6.8% (18/266) were admitted to an intensive care unit. Of those where clinical illness was recorded, respiratory illness alone was present in 98.3% (227/231), neurologic illness alone was present in 0.4% (n=1), and both illnesses were present in 0.9% of cases (n=2); cases with neither respiratory nor neurologic illness were rare (n=1). Of the 90 cases with additional clinical information available, 43.3% were reported as having asthma. No deaths were reported among the 268 cases. CONCLUSION: The EV-D68 outbreak in Canada in September 2014 represents the beginning of a novel outbreak associated with severe illness in children. These findings provide the first epidemiological summary of severe cases of EV-D68 as an emergent respiratory pathogen in Canada. The continued investigation of this pathogen is necessary to build on these results and capture the full spectrum of associated illness.

Optimal number of samples to test for institutional respiratory infection outbreaks in Ontario.

The objective of this study was to determine the optimal number of respiratory samples per outbreak to be tested for institutional respiratory outbreaks in Ontario. We reviewed respiratory samples tested for respiratory viruses by multiplex PCR as part of outbreak investigations. We documented outbreaks that were positive for any respiratory viruses and for influenza alone. At least one virus was detected in 1454 (85∙2%) outbreaks. The ability to detect influenza or any respiratory virus increased as the number of samples tested increased. When analysed by chronological order of when samples were received at the laboratory, percent positivity of outbreaks testing positive for any respiratory virus including influenza increased with the number of samples tested up to the ninth sample, with minimal benefit beyond the fourth sample tested. Testing up to four respiratory samples per outbreak was sufficient to detect viral organisms and resulted in significant savings for outbreak investigations.