By August 2022, 2½ years into the COVID-19 pandemic, most children and adults younger than 60 years had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 or showed evidence of having been infected by the virus, new data suggest.
A Canadian seroprevalence study of almost 14,000 people found that fewer than 50% of people older than 60 years (the age group that is most vulnerable to severe outcomes) showed evidence of immunity from infection or had been vaccinated by August 2022. Older adults, who have the lowest infection rates but are at highest risk of severe outcomes, should continued to be prioritized for vaccination, according to the authors.
The data were published online December 5 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Children Most Affected
Previous evidence suggests that a combination of infection and vaccination exposure may induce more robust and durable hybrid immunity than either infection or vaccination alone, study author Danuta Skowronski, MD, MHSc, an epidemiologist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver, told Medscape Medical News.
Dr Danuta Skowronski
“Our main objective was to chronicle the changing proportion of the population considered immunologically naive and therefore susceptible to SARS-CoV-2,” she added. “It’s relevant for risk assessment to know what proportion has acquired some priming for more efficient immune memory response to the virus, because that reduces the likelihood of severe outcomes.” Standardized seroprevalence studies are essential for informing COVID-19 response, particularly in resource-limited regions.
The investigators analyzed anonymized residual sera from children and adults in an outpatient laboratory network in British Columbia’s Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley region. They used at least three immunoassays per serosurvey to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 spike (from vaccine) and to nucleocapsid antibodies (from infection).
The researchers determined any seroprevalence (vaccine-induced, infection-induced, or both) on the basis of a positive finding on any two assays. Infection-induced seroprevalence was also defined by dual-assay positivity but required both antinucleocapsid and antispike detection. Their estimates of infection-induced seroprevalence indicated considerable underascertainment of infections by standard case-based surveillance reports.
During the first year of the pandemic, when public health measures to curtail viral transmission were in place, the study population’s seroprevalence rate was less than 1% for the first three measurements. It was less than 5% by January 2021. With age-based vaccine rollouts, however, seroprevalence increased dramatically during the first half of 2021 to 56.2% by May–June 2021 and to 83% by September–October 2021. More than 85% of the population remained uninfected.
Infection-induced seroprevalence was less than 15% in September–October 2021 until the arrival of the Omicron waves, after which it rose to 42.5% by March 2022 and 61.1% by July–August 2022. Combined seroprevalence from vaccination or infection was more than 95% by the summer, with most children, but fewer than half of adults older than 60 years, showing evidence of having been infected.
“We found the highest infection rates among children, closely followed by young adults, which may reflect their greater interconnectedness, including between siblings and parents in the household, as well as with peers in schools and the community,” the authors write. They note that the low cumulative infection rates among older adults may reflect their higher vaccination rates and greater social isolation.
US data show similar age-related infection rates, but data among children from other Canadian provinces are limited, the authors write.
Broadly Applicable Findings
Commenting on the study for Medscape, Marc Germain, MD, PhD, vice president of medical affairs and innovation at Héma-Québec in Quebec City, said that the pattern observed in British Columbia is representative of what happened across Canada and the United States, including the sweeping effect of the Omicron variant and the differences in impact according to age. “But regional differences might very well exist — for example, due to differential vaccine uptake — and are also probably related in part to the different testing platforms being used,” he said. Germain was not involved in the study.
Dr Marc Germain
Caroline Quach-Thanh, MD, PhD, a pediatrician and epidemiologist-infectologist at the University of Montreal, pointed out that in Quebec, seroprevalence surveys that were based on residual blood samples from children and adults who visited emergency departments for any reason showed higher rates of prior infection than the British Columbia surveys. “But Dr Skowronski’s findings are likely applicable to settings where some nonpharmacological interventions were put in place, but without strict confinement — and thus are likely applicable to most settings in the US and Canada.” Quach-Thanh was not involved in the study.
Dr Caroline Quach-Thanh
She added that the use of residual blood samples always entails a risk for bias, “but the fact that the study method was stable should have captured a similar population from time to time. It would be unlikely to result in a major overestimation in the proportion of individuals positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.”
A recent global meta-analysis found that while global seroprevalence rates have risen considerably, albeit variably by region, more than a third of the world’s population is still seronegative to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The Public Health Agency of Canada and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research provided funding for the study. Skowronski has received institutional grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Foundation for Public Health for other SARS–CoV-2 work. Germain and Quach-Thanh have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
CMAJ. Published online December 4, 2022. Full text
Diana Swift is a freelance medical journalist based in Toronto.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
