Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1071482
Panorama a good step for public health
When it comes to infectious diseases, reporting isn't the cure, but it goes a long way to helping health officials keep track of, and a handle on, how serious a health problem superbugs like C. difficile have become.
That public reporting system is slated to begin in September and other killers such as VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) will be added to the list.
That is a Ministry of Health initiative and the only wonder is it took the province so much time to act.
But while the C. difficile et al are grabbing headlines, there are other diseases public health has quietly been setting up to track through a new reporting system called Panorama.
It is a separate entity from the superbug public reporting, instead involving information sharing for public health units and the health ministry.
By 2011, it is expected to go coast-to-coast-to-coast.
While contagious superbugs get the press, Panorama would include school immunization records, too. This is important.
Take Adacel, for example. The vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough). Children cannot attend school if they do not have the tetanus/diphtheria shot. (Pertussis was added to the vaccine about seven years ago, although it is not mandatory.)
The first shot is given at two months, then there is a series of vaccinations to age four to six years. At age 14 to 16, a booster shot is administered in Ontario at high school clinics set up by local health units.
Under Panorama, when a high school student living in Western Canada moves to Ontario, the tetanus/diphtheria immunization record is available in a central reporting bank, allowing a quick check to ensure no one is flying under the vaccine protection radar. It's needed -- 988 shots
were given in Hastings and Prince Edward high schools in 2007-08. Multiply that by all the high schools in the country and it is easy to see that someone could slip through the cracks. Panorama helps plug that slippage.
The same is true for non-mandatory vaccinations such as meningitis and Hepatitis C. Both are contagious, potentially deadly diseases. Meningitis is rare with perhaps one or two a year in Hastings and Prince Edward, sometimes none. But Hep C, spread by sexual contact and blood (shared needles, razors, etc.), is too common. There were 71 cases investigated by the health unit in 2007.
These reportable diseases would join immunization records under Panorama to provide one-stop information for health officials.
As things stand now, information sharing of communicable diseases between Ontario's public health units and the provincial Ministry of Health provide improved tracing of the path of infectious diseases and better management of quarantines.
Panorama, the Pan-Canadian Public Health Surveillance Solution as it is also known, will be a country-wide outbreak detection system, essential for effective infection prevention.
In other words, it will make for a safer environment for Canadians, and allow health officials to see which diseases are on the increase or on the wane, shaping health-care decisions and allowing for quick action.
The next step should be for health units and others with access to Panorama to use the information to provide the public with more information about the prevalence of all these diseases in our communities.
Panorama a good step for public health
When it comes to infectious diseases, reporting isn't the cure, but it goes a long way to helping health officials keep track of, and a handle on, how serious a health problem superbugs like C. difficile have become.
That public reporting system is slated to begin in September and other killers such as VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) will be added to the list.
That is a Ministry of Health initiative and the only wonder is it took the province so much time to act.
But while the C. difficile et al are grabbing headlines, there are other diseases public health has quietly been setting up to track through a new reporting system called Panorama.
It is a separate entity from the superbug public reporting, instead involving information sharing for public health units and the health ministry.
By 2011, it is expected to go coast-to-coast-to-coast.
While contagious superbugs get the press, Panorama would include school immunization records, too. This is important.
Take Adacel, for example. The vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough). Children cannot attend school if they do not have the tetanus/diphtheria shot. (Pertussis was added to the vaccine about seven years ago, although it is not mandatory.)
The first shot is given at two months, then there is a series of vaccinations to age four to six years. At age 14 to 16, a booster shot is administered in Ontario at high school clinics set up by local health units.
Under Panorama, when a high school student living in Western Canada moves to Ontario, the tetanus/diphtheria immunization record is available in a central reporting bank, allowing a quick check to ensure no one is flying under the vaccine protection radar. It's needed -- 988 shots
were given in Hastings and Prince Edward high schools in 2007-08. Multiply that by all the high schools in the country and it is easy to see that someone could slip through the cracks. Panorama helps plug that slippage.
The same is true for non-mandatory vaccinations such as meningitis and Hepatitis C. Both are contagious, potentially deadly diseases. Meningitis is rare with perhaps one or two a year in Hastings and Prince Edward, sometimes none. But Hep C, spread by sexual contact and blood (shared needles, razors, etc.), is too common. There were 71 cases investigated by the health unit in 2007.
These reportable diseases would join immunization records under Panorama to provide one-stop information for health officials.
As things stand now, information sharing of communicable diseases between Ontario's public health units and the provincial Ministry of Health provide improved tracing of the path of infectious diseases and better management of quarantines.
Panorama, the Pan-Canadian Public Health Surveillance Solution as it is also known, will be a country-wide outbreak detection system, essential for effective infection prevention.
In other words, it will make for a safer environment for Canadians, and allow health officials to see which diseases are on the increase or on the wane, shaping health-care decisions and allowing for quick action.
The next step should be for health units and others with access to Panorama to use the information to provide the public with more information about the prevalence of all these diseases in our communities.