Public Health Update

Tell us about your infection prevention and control (IPAC) learning needs!

Over the last few weeks, there has been an increase in infection prevention and control (IPAC) complaints and lapses involving Ottawa medical clinics.

To help prevent future IPAC complaints and lapses, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) wants to understand the learning needs of Ottawa community-based healthcare providers regarding IPAC.

OPH has designed a 10-minute survey to assess your current IPAC practices, barriers to adherence to IPAC best practices, and IPAC learning needs. To complete this survey...

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Addressing Ottawa’s spike in Gonorrhea: First-line treatment recommendations

While rates of gonorrhea have been rising steadily since the late 1990s, we saw an alarming spike in gonorrhea cases in Ottawa in 2017, with that trend continuing into 2018.

The rates of gonorrhea among men who have sex with men remain disproportionately high (and increased by 65% in 2017 compared to the previous year). However, the largest increase has been among single, heterosexual males (a group that saw an increase of 93% in 2017 compared to the previous year). Cases in females also...

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Up to date immunizations can protect your clinic from vaccine preventable diseases

Cases of mumps are on the rise in Ottawa and around Ontario. As healthcare workers are at risk of exposure to, and possible transmission of vaccine-preventable communicable diseases, OPH recommends that your own immunizations and those of your staff are up-to-date.

There are specific requirements for immunization and/or proof of immunity for healthcare workers. When a vaccine preventable disease, such as mumps, is reported to OPH, we must ensure that healthcare workers exposed to the patient are...

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Ottawa is an at-risk area for Lyme disease. OPH recommends single-dose, oral doxycycline chemoprophylaxis for patients who meet criteria.

The number of cases of Lyme disease reported to Ottawa Public Health continues to increase. 2017 saw 186 cases of Lyme disease reported in Ottawa, up from 74 in 2016. About 1 in 3 cases reported an Ottawa exposure. Testing of blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) in 2017 showed a positivity rate of 22% for Borrelia burgdorferi (the agent of Lyme disease), the same percentage as in 2016. Ottawa and neighbouring regions continue as “at risk” areas – see Public Health Ontario’s (PHO’s) 2018 Estimated...

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Ottawa Milk Mob: Breastfeeding Medicine Training for Physicians and Other Providers

This summer Ottawa is hosting two innovative clinical breastfeeding medicine conferences for physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, midwives and students of these professions. Brought to you by Milk Mob, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to building Breastfeeding Knowledgeable Medical Systemsand offering:

• clinical breastfeeding medicine training
• continuing education in advanced breastfeeding medicine skills
• international guest speakers
• strong Canadian representation

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