No case of poliomyelitis has yet been reported in Canada, while a first patient with paralysis attributable to this disease has triggered the red alert in our American neighbors.
While the presence of the polio virus has been detected in sewage in London and New York, in Canada, efforts are being made to set up a comparable surveillance system. “Wastewater testing in a number of Canadian cities will begin as soon as possible. At this time, it is not possible to provide a firm estimate of when this test will be operational, as significant scientific work remains to be done. To have to the media relations department of Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
PHAC’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) will test sewage samples that were collected earlier this year from key high-risk municipalities (where polio vaccination rates are low and/or areas for which there are epidemiological links to cases identified in the United States) to determine whether poliomyelitis was present before the reported international cases.
More specifically in Quebec, sewage samples have been taken in certain neighborhoods of Montreal for analysis at the NML in Winnipeg, since the virus was traced in New York’s sewage.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services of Quebec, Mr. Robert Maranda, told the To have to that “a call for vigilance will be sent shortly to clinicians most likely to be in contact with possible severe cases”.
In Quebec, “all children who arrive in a hospital for paralysis are tested for polio. There’s a system that’s been in place with the Canadian Pediatric Association to ensure we don’t run out of cases,” says Dr.r Nicholas Brousseau, medical advisor at the National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) and researcher at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval.
Vaccination
The MSSS recalls that “vaccination remains the best prevention strategy” in the face of the resurgence of poliomyelitis in our regions. “The poliomyelitis vaccine is available free of charge to people under 18 who are not adequately vaccinated,” says Mr. Maranda.
Should we be more proactive and offer a booster dose to all children as we do in London where the virus was simply detected in sewage? “England is the only place where children are given an extra dose. But in this country, the vaccination schedule does not include the vaccine dose at 12 months like here in Quebec. As the British only vaccinate at two, three and four months, and then just a little before the start of school, there is a period when children are less covered, this may be the reason why , as a precaution, they propose a dose for children under ten years old ”, advances the Dr Brousseau who is a member of the Committee on Immunization of Quebec (CIQ).
“We are not there in Quebec. We are monitoring the situation closely, if it changes, we will assess the options,” he adds.
“More targeted vaccination strategies can be put in place if the epidemiological situation requires it,” confirms Mr. Maranda of the MSSS.