Public Health Alerts

Syphilis testing update and screening recommendations

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
Date: July 29, 2025
From: Dr. Michelle Foote, Associate Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Syphilis testing update and screening recommendations

Public Health Ontario Laboratory (PHOL) has updated its testing approach for syphilis lesion specimens. This alert provides an overview of the new testing protocol, current epidemiologic trends, and screening recommendations.

Changes to syphilis testing for lesion specimens

Effective July 7, 2025, PHOL has...

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Pentacel Vaccine: Important Reminders

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners  
Date: July 16, 2025
From: Dr. Laura Bourns, Deputy Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Pentacel Vaccine: Important Reminders

Dear Colleagues,

Since the program transition for DTaP-IPV-Hib vaccination from Pediacel® to Pentacel® in July 2024, the manufacturer, Sanofi, has received pharmacovigilance reports of mixing errors with Pentacel®. To address this, Sanofi has developed a resource for health care providers and pharmacies to review

Memo from Sanofi: 

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Vector-borne disease testing changes at PHOL

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners  
Date: July 10, 2025
From: Dr. Monir Taha, Associate Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Vector-borne disease testing changes at PHOL

Dear Colleagues,

Public Health Ontario Laboratory (PHOL) has recently updated its testing protocols for vector-borne disease testing. Please see an overview of the changes below. All links provide information in English only.

New PHOL Algorithm: Anaplasma PCR Replacing Single Serology Test Requests

PHOL has replaced single serology...

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Update on the publicly funded high-risk pneumococcal vaccine program

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners  
Date: July 8, 2025
From: Dr. Laura Bourns, Deputy Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Update on the publicly funded high-risk pneumococcal vaccine program

Dear Colleagues,

The Ministry of Health has provided an update on the publicly funded high-risk pneumococcal vaccine program. The update applies to children (6 weeks to 17 years of age) who are at high risk for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD)

Effective Immediately:

• Children 6 weeks to 17 years who are at...

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Annual Reminder: Duty to report animal bites and animal contacts

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
Date: June 17, 2025
From: Dr. Monir Taha, Associate Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Duty to report animal bites and animal contacts

Dear Colleagues,  

Ottawa Public Health is reaching out with an annual reminder to partners to report all potential rabies exposures as required by Regulation 557 (COMMUNICABLE DISEASES – GENERAL) under the Health Protection and Promotion Act:   

2. (1) A physician, registered nurse in the extended class, veterinarian, police officer...

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