Channel - BCCDC 2021 RESEARCH WEEK
11/2/2023 5:19:35 PM
Channel Videos
A Machine learning predictive model for overdose
Comorbidities among people who use drugs (PWUD) are significantly hard to weigh, and identify. Our aim is to create and validate an analytical predictive model that can predict the likelihood of fatal overdose among PWUD in BC.
TEAM Andy Man Yeung Tai, Alireza Kazemi, Amanda Slaunwhite, Kerry Jang, Michael Reinhard Krausz
andytai7@student.ubc.ca TEAM CONTACT
10/18/2021 4:25:00 PM
A Population Health Assessment of BC's COVID-19 Experience: Two large cross-sectional web surveys.
This population health survey consisted of two cross-sectional samples, providing insight into the experiences and unintended consequences of the COVID-19 response early in the pandemic and one year on in British Columbia. The surveys captured the effect on mental and physical wellbeing, social connectedness, economic stability, and resilience. The findings showed that the impacts were extensive and widespread, inequitably distributed, and significantly affecting vulnerable populations. The methodology is grounded within the social determinants of health providing a framework for developing population health surveys to help prioritize public health initiatives and policies.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 6:20:00 PM
A scoping review of common challenges encountered in the development of digital public health and potential solutions identified in the lite
The emergence of digital public health has not been accompanied by collective assessments of challenges inherent in integrating digital technologies to improve public health impact. We conducted a scoping review of these challenges & mapped suggested solutions. From articles published between 2000 & 2020, we found a myriad of challenges categorized as technical & non-technical. We identified 7 main strategies to strengthen development of the field including, securing political commitment; intersectoral collaboration; economic investments; standardized ethical, legal & regulatory frameworks; adaptive research & evaluation; health workforce capacity building; & transparent public engagement.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 7:35:00 PM
Acceptability and experience with HPV-based cervix screening: HPV FOCAL Online survey results
positive results. Results will be presented. Findings from this study will be valuable for education and communication planning for programs across Canada.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 6:50:00 PM
ASPIRE GENERATIONS: Gaining an understanding among mothers and children of the social and economic impacts of a cervical cancer diagnosis in Uganda
Cervical cancer is a leading cause of death in low- and middle-income countries. A cervical cancer diagnosis has a physical and emotional impact however the social and economic consequences are largely unknown. The overall study goal is to understand the social and economic impact of cervical cancer on women and children in Uganda. The results from this study will help identify and develop support needed for women and children affected by cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries. This information can be used to improve cervical cancer screening programs and serve as an example for investing in resources to support global cervical cancer screening.
TEAM Hallie Dau, Beth Payne, Carolyn Nakisige, Heather Armstrong, Laurie Smith, Gina Ogilive
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 2:50:00 PM
BCCDC Research Week 2021 - DAY 1 - WEBCAST (ZOOM)
0:00-10:05 Welcome and introduction to Research Week - David Patrick
10:05-10:50 KEYNOTE Vaccines against COVID-19 in Canada: What is next? -Caroline Quach
10:50-11:05am -Quantitative Evaluation of an Intervention Supporting Peer Workers in Overdose Response Settings Emma Ackermann
11:05-11:20 The association of variants of concern with severe outcomes following COVID-19 infection in British Columbia - Caren Rose
11:20-11:35 Intentional self-harm injuries in adolescents and youth: 10-year trends, costs and pattern in hospitalization rates in B.C. - Mojgan Karbakhsh
11:35-11:50 One and two dose vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers in BC, Canada -Shiraz El Adam,
11:50-12:05 Identification of an optimized receptor-binding domain-based subunit vaccine against SAR-CoV-2 -Hong Yu
12:05-12:20 Social contacts and transmission of COVID-19 in British Columbia, Canada -Notice Ringa
12:20-12:35 Plover: A Novel Laboratory Informatics System for BC-Wide COVID-19 Public Health Response -Chris Fjel
12:35-12:50 A scoping review of common challenges encountered in the development of digital public health and potential solutions identified
in the lite -Ihoghosa Iyamu
12:50-1:05 Increased use of GetCheckedOnline for sexually-transmitted and bloodborne infections (STBBI) testing during the COVID-19 pandemic -Heather Pedersen
1:05-1:20 The You Matter Project: Partnering With People In Prison To Co-Create STBBI Policies And Guideline -Sofia Bartlett
1:20-1:35 Tick-borne Diseases and Climate Change 3 West -Erin Fraser, Stefan Iwasawa
1:35-1:50 Provincial surveillance of Risk Mitigation Guidance prescribing in British Columbia for people at risk of overdose during COVID-19 -Heather Palis Amanda Slaunwhite
Day’s Recap - Travis Salway
BC CDC Presenters
10/20/2021 5:00:00 PM
BCCDC Research Week 2021 - DAY 2 - WEBCAST
10:00-10:05 Welcome and Introduction to Research Week - Natalie Prystajecky
10:05-10:20 From the horse’s mouth: Calls to the BC Drug and Poison Information Centre related to ivermectin ingestion during the COVID-19 pandemic -Cheryl Young,
10:20 - 10:35 Prospective Evaluation of Immunity After COVID Vaccines Study -Brynn McMillan
10:35 - 10:50 Population contact patterns in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a population-based survey in Canada -Prince A. Adu
10:50 - 11:05 Mapping Spatial Variations in Fatal Overdose Risk in BC -Kevin Hu
11:05-11:20am Take Home Naloxone Program Summary Report 2020 - Key Findings and Recommendations - Rachael Geiger
11:20 - 11:35 A Population Health Assessment of BC’s COVID-19 Experience: Two large cross-sectional web surveys -Kate Claydon-Platt
11:35 - 11:50 Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Relation to Substance Use Disorders - Wenqi Gan
11:50 - 12:05 Acceptability and experience with HPV-based cervix screening: HPV FOCAL Online survey results - Laurie W Smith,
12:05 - 12:20 Nanopore metagenomic sequencing for detection and characterization of SARS-CoV-2 -
12:20 - 12:35 Using Community Smoking Rates and Radon Levels to Optimize Radon Mitigation Programs -David McVea
12:35 - 12:50 Mental health service use and unmet need among BC adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic -Lauren Gorfinkel
12:50 - 1:05 Mink Farm Worker COVID-19 Surveillance in BC: Design, Implementation, and Findings - Elaine Chan
1:05 - 1:50 KEYNOTE Solastalgia: Climate change and public health in British Columbia - Sarah Henderson
1:50-2:00 Day’s Recap and Closing Remarks - David Patrick
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 5:00:00 PM
COVID-19 Consent to Contact Registry
The COVID-19 Consent to Contact Registry Database (CCRD) contains the contact details of people who have previously tested positive for COVID-19 and have given their consent to be contacted about related research. Qualified B.C. researchers can access the registry and connect with participants about research opportunities across the province.
TEAM Abdullah Mamun, Chau Chin Yo, Joel Cheung, Isaac Clark, David Patrick
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 3:55:00 PM
Day's Recap
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 8:50:00 PM
Developing Multiplex PCR Set Targeting Five Pathogens for Improved Tick-Borne Disease Surveillance
As climate change creates favourable environmental conditions for ticks in Canada, spread of tick-borne diseases (TBD) into British Columbia is a major concern. The current tick surveillance in-house qPCR assay at BCCDC Public Health Laboratory can detect Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, and Ehrlichiosis. This study aims to add two new targets for detection of Rickettsia rickettsii and Babesia microti to the current tick surveillance qPCR assay. By including R. rickettsii and B. microti, the causative agents of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Babesiosis respectively, a single assay will be able to detect five most common TBDs found in North America and increase TBD surveillance in B.C.
TEAM Kathy Wong, Min-Kuang Lee, Navdeep Chahil, Muhammad Morshed
CONTACT: kathy.wong@bccdc.ca
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 4:50:00 PM
Disinfecting effectiveness of lab-grade and household sanitizers against SARS-CoV-2 surrogate MS2 on plastic and stainless steel surfaces
Lab-grade (n=11) and household (n=10) grade disinfectants were tested for the virucidal activities against bacteriophage MS2, a surrogate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, on plastic and stainless steel surfaces. The lab-grade sanitizers containing ethanol concentrations up to 90% showed 1-2.5 log PFU/ml reductions on both surfaces, and the 70% isopropanol and isopropanol-based formula also reduced MS2 by 0.7-1.5 log PFU/ml on both surfaces. Household sanitizers containing 1.84% or 3% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) reduced 4.15-6.23 log PFU/ml MS2 on hard surfaces. The use of ethanol and NaClO-based product was a potential surface decontamination strategy in the food industry.
TEAM: Lin Chen, Yoyo Lee, Yvonne Ma, Sung Sik Jang, Karen Fong, Siyun Wang
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 2:20:00 PM
Dried Blood Spots to Measure SARS-CoV-2 and Endemic Human Coronavirus Seroreactivity
Dried blood spot collection offers a cheap and easily scaled means to measure SARS-CoV-2 seroreactvity from natural infection or immunization. We validated the performance of dried blood spot collection in a cross-sectional serological survey within British Columbia and report the diagnostic accuracy. Dried blood spot collected samples resulted by an electrochemiluminescence assay reliably detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies against the viral Spike and Nucleocapsid proteins. Dried blood spot collected samples should be considered a valid alternative to serum from venipuncture to measure SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
TEAM Aidan Nikiforuk, Citlali Marquez, Brynn Millan Bonny So, Ella Chan, Agatha Jassem and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 4:00:00 PM
End of Day Summary - David Patrick
Day’s Recap and Closing Remarks - David Patrick
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 8:50:00 PM
Exploring the link between sedentary behaviour and mental health outcomes in British Columbian youth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Studies have shown that increased sedentary behaviour in youth is related to an increase in adverse mental health outcomes, but evidence of this effect during the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. With the large-scale adoption of online schooling due to COVID-19 in many regions, youth may be facing increased sedentary behaviour resulting in increased adverse mental health outcomes. This study, a comprehensive self-reported survey of social and emotional development, health, and well-being of participating British Columbia Grade 11 students, aims to elucidate the relationship between sedentary behaviour and mental health outcomes to inform future research and policy implementation.
TEAM Akash Sharma, David Long, Hasina Samji
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 4:20:00 PM
From the horse’s mouth: Calls to the BC Drug and Poison Information Centre related to ivermectin ingestion during the COVID-19 pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, increasing numbers of Canadians have been using ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug used to treat infections in both humans and livestock.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 5:05:00 PM
Geographic Distribution of Conversion Therapy in Canada
Sexual orientation or gender identity or expression change efforts (SOGIECE), also known as “conversion therapy”, refers to any practice designed to change, deny, or discourage one’s feelings of sexual attraction to members of the same gender; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBQ) identity; non-conforming gender expression; or gender identity that differs from sex at birth. The objective of the research is to conduct a geospatial analysis tracking the location of conversion therapy practices in Canadian provinces, territories, and municipalities. Findings will help inform policies to eliminate these discredited practices harming thousands of LGBTQ2S+ individuals.
TEAM Amrit Tiwana
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 4:40:00 PM
Identification of an optimized receptor-binding domain-based subunit vaccine against SAR-CoV-2
Current vaccine efforts to combat SAR-CoV-2 are focused on spike protein, the primary target for neutralizing antibodies. SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) is immunodominant and accounts for 90% of serum neutralizing activity. In this study, we constructed various versions of SAR-CoV-2 RBD as well as spike protein. Then we conducted several mouse trials to evaluate the immune responses after vaccination of these antigens that are formulated in alum or a Th1 adjuvant DDA/TDB. We would like to identify an optimized RBD-based subunit vaccine for a human clinical trial.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 6:50:00 PM
Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Mutational Profiles Associated with Breakthrough Infections
COVID-19 vaccination is a key tool in the pandemic response. However, the emergence of new variants may undermine the efficacy of current vaccines. Mutations in the Spike protein, such as E484K, have been associated with lower vaccine effectiveness. Therefore, we defined a subset of 29,080 samples with 639 breakthrough infection and 2079 distinct spike mutation profiles, which would challenge traditional statistical analysis. We investigate penalized logistic regression’s ability to select mutation profiles associated with breakthrough infections. Identification of breakthrough mutation profiles will help aid future vaccine development and vaccination campaigns.
TEAM Yayuk Joffres, Chad Fibke, Natalie Prystajecky John Tyson, Linda Hoang, Naveed Janjua, Mel Krajden, Hind Sbihi
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 3:20:00 PM
Impact of direct-acting antiviral treatment on mortality related to extrahepatic manifestations
Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with an increased risk of deaths related to extrahepatic manifestations (EHM). The sustained virologic response (SVR) following the highly effective direct-acting antivirals (DAA) has been linked to decreased all-cause and liver-related mortality. However, evidence on the impact of DAA on EHM-related mortality is lacking. This analysis assessed the impact of DAA treatment and SVR on reducing mortality related to EHM using a large population-based, comprehensive linked administrative data in British Columbia, Canada.
TEAM Dahn Jeong, Stanley Wong, Mohammad E. Karim, Sofia Bartlett, James Wilton, Jean D. Makuza, Héctor Alexander Velásquez García, Mawuena Binka, Hasina Samji, Amanda Yu, Maria Alvarez, Mel Krajden, Naveed Z. Janjua
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 3:10:00 PM
Increased use of GetCheckedOnline for sexually-transmitted and bloodborne infections (STBBI) testing during the COVID-19 pandemic
GetCheckedOnline remained available during the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike many sexual healthcare services which reduced capacity or services. We used linked GetCheckedOnline program and laboratory testing data to compare program measures during the pandemic (Mar 2020 to Feb 2021) to pre-pandemic (Mar 2018 to Feb 2020) using descriptive statistics and interrupted time series analysis. The increase in testing, percent positive, those reporting symptoms, being a contact to an STBBI, and using GetCheckedOnline for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic suggest the program has filled a gap in STBBI testing services. GetCheckedOnline remains a critical service for sexual healthcare in BC.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 7:50:00 PM
Intentional self-harm injuries in adolescents and youth: 10-year trends, costs and pattern in hospitalization rates in B.C.
Youth Suicide and self-harm are among the top injury priorities in British Columbia, requiring a comprehensive and integrated approach for prevention. The term ‘intentional self-harm’ encompasses injuries incurred due to suicide attempts as well as non-suicidal self-harm. In this presentation, the trends and patterns of hospitalizations for intentional self-harm injuries among British Columbian adolescents and youth (10-24 yr) from 2010 to 2019, by sex, 5-year age groups, and injury cause will be demonstrated. We also aim to present the length of stay and costs of these injuries and discuss implications for prevention and intervention.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 6:20:00 PM
KEYNOTE Vaccines against COVID-19 in Canada: What is next?
The past 18 months have put immunization committees in the spotlight, like never before. This presentation will recap the decisions taken, the evidence used to support these decisions, and the challenges ahead.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 5:05:00 PM
Mapping Spatial Variations in Fatal Overdose Risk in BC
The overdose crisis is more complicated than ever as the risk distribution is now affected by interventions in addition to the endogenous factors. We used a spatial modelling approach to estimate fatal overdose risk per event, with covariate adjustments at the individual level. We found the odds of fatal overdose in some regions were 50% higher than in others. Temporal variations (2015 - 2018) in fatal risks were also modelled, and we observed an increasing trend over the entire province. However, risk in the Interior and Northern BC increased earlier and faster, suggesting that these regions may lack harm reduction services to counteract the province-wide increasing illicit drug toxicity.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 5:50:00 PM
Mental health service use and unmet need among BC adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic
Although the pandemic has revealed clear vulnerabilities in youth mental health, it is unclear whether high-risk groups are accessing services, and which have been left with unmet need. We therefore completed a school-based cross sectional survey of 1,928 BC adolescents to assess characteristics associated with mental health care access and unmet need during the pandemic. We ultimately found substantial unmet need for mental health care services, particularly among youth with signs of depression, anxiety and/or gender and sexual minorities. Interventions aimed at mitigating the mental health impacts of the pandemic should consider expanding outreach to these underserved groups.
TEAM Lauren Gorfinkel, Gaelen Snell, David Long, Judy Wu, Mari del Casal, Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, Martin Guhn, Hasina Samji
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 7:35:00 PM
Mink Farm Worker COVID-19 Surveillance in BC: Design, Implementation, and Findings
Outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 on two BC mink farms at the end of 2020 highlighted the rapid need for timely mink farm worker and animal surveillance. A COVID-19 surveillance system was subsequently designed using a One Health approach, incorporating mink farm worker, animal, and environmental testing, and allowing the linkage of epidemiological, laboratory, and genomic information. We describe the design and implementation of the mink farm worker component of the surveillance system and summarize findings to date.
TEAM Elaine Chan, Emily Newhouse, Adrianna Paiero, Yin Chang, Erin Fraser, Inna Sekirov, Natalie Prystajecky, Veronic Clair
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 7:50:00 PM
Nanopore metagenomic sequencing for detection and characterization of SARS-CoV-2
Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS) may allow for the detection of pathogens that can be missed in targeted assays. The goal of this study was to assess the performance of nanopore-based Sequence-Independent Single Primer Amplification for the detection and characterization of SARS-CoV-2. We report 100% specificity overall and 95.2% sensitivity for specimens with a RT-PCR cycle threshold value less than 30. We assembled high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genomes and found 100% concordance with variant of concern PCR results. This study supports future work examining the broader feasibility of nanopore mNGS as a diagnostic strategy for the detection and characterization of viral pathogens.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 7:05:00 PM
One and two dose vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers in BC, Canada
Healthcare workers (HCWs) in British Columbia were amongst the first prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination, with varying intervals between two mRNA COVID-19 vaccine doses applied. We used a test-negative design to compare odds of vaccination among SARS-CoV-2 test-positive and weekly-matched (6:1), randomly-sampled, test-negative HCWs using the Workplace Health Incident Tracking and Evaluation (WHITE) database which includes all HCWs employed by health authorities in BC. Adjusted VE was estimated using conditional logistic regression. We present one and two dose VE overall and by time since last dose. Two dose VE will also be presented by interval between first and second doses.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 6:35:00 PM
Persistence of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Long Term Care Residents Over Seven Months After Two COVID-19 Outbreaks
The COVID-19 pandemic remains a public health challenge worldwide, and there is a paucity of evidence investigating the long-term durability of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in high-risk populations, such as the elderly. We evaluated the antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 and endemic human coronaviruses in long term care residents following two COVID-19 outbreaks in the same facility, seven months apart. Our findings support and expand on current knowledge, and can help guide public health measures and vaccine implementation guidelines.
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 4:35:00 PM
Plover: A Novel Laboratory Informatics System for BC-Wide COVID-19 Public Health Response
RESULTS: The Public Health Lab at BCCDC was ordered by PHO to aggregate, report, and make available BC-wide COVID-19 virus testing in early 2020. The "Plover" system was deploy for production use within a month of BC's first COVID case, and now supports more than 130 active users at the PHL and across BC and Yukon. It receives COVID-19 virus testing data for all COVID-19 testing in BC, including all hospital and public health labs, private labs, and Point of Care testing, and generates automatic case notifications within 1 hour of test received. Use of a robust, widely-used open-source software framework (Django) allowed for rapid, continuous development,deployed on IMITS secure environment.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 7:20:00 PM
Population contact patterns in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a population-based survey in Canada
Interpersonal interaction between infectious and uninfected individuals facilitates the spread of COVID-19. We used data from the BC COVID-19 Population Mixing Patterns survey (BC-Mix) to investigate the contact patterns of residents of British Columbia over a period of one year (September 2020 to August 2021) during the pandemic. Contact patterns in British Columbia varied between September 2020 and July 2021, with a marked decline in average daily contacts noted immediately following the introduction of stricter physical distancing measures in November 2020.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 5:35:00 PM
Preventing Opioid Deaths due to COVID Related Increase in Smoking Illicit Substances (Preventing OD CRISIS)
POSTER PRESENTER EMAIL CONTACT: tamara.chavez@bccdc.ca
The project implemented a novel continuous pulse oximetry monitoring protocol that better matches overdose prevention sites services (OPS) to the needs of people who smoke opioids during COVID-19 and evaluated the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability. The four partnering OPS from Victoria and Vancouver successfully implemented our protocol. The project improved capacity and comfort levels among peer researchers, participants, and OPS staff on using continuous pulse oximetry. Our study offers crucial lessons about engaging people with lived experience in participatory research on people who smoke opioids. We engaged people with lived experience in every aspect of the study.
TEAM Jane Buxton, Jessica Moe, Tamara Chavez
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 2:15:00 PM
ProbeTools: User-friendly hybridization probe design for hypervariable viral taxa
Hybridization probes are commonly used to enrich viral genomes for sequencing, which is necessary for high-throughput applications. Designing hybridization probes for viral taxa can be difficult, however, due to extensive hypervariability caused by adaptation to new hosts and antigenic drift. ProbeTools applies a heuristic k-mer clustering approach to facilitate the probe design process. We used ProbeTools to design a panel of probes for capturing avian influenza viruses (AIVs). Our panel provided broadly inclusive capture across all AIV subtypes, demonstrated in silico on tens-of-thousands of reference sequences and in vitro on a representative collection of 22 egg-cultured viral isolates.
TEAM Kevin Kuchinski, Jun Duan, Chelsea Himsworth, William Hsiao, Natalie Prystajecky
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 3:35:00 PM
Promoting vaccine confidence in Provincial Correctional Centres: co-developing strategies with people who are incarcerated
People who experience criminalization are more likely to acquire COVID-19, be hospitalized for it, and die from it. Vaccinations have been proven to significantly mitigate adverse outcomes. However, vaccine acceptance among people who are criminalized is low. We are conducting an integrated knowledge translation study with people who are incarcerated to co-create peer education strategies that promote vaccine confidence.
TEAM Julia S Parrilla, Diana Zohdy, Jane Buxton, Sofia Bartlett
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 4:10:00 PM
Prospective Evaluation of Immunity After COVID Vaccines Study
Addressing vaccine immunity and protection in population groups that have an increased risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19, such as those aged 50 years and above, is paramount to inform public health policies on the deployment of booster vaccines. This study will establish the vaccine-elicited humoral immunity and immune protection of the different COVID-19 vaccines by measuring the concentration of antibodies that are able to recognize SARS-CoV-2 virus in the blood. Findings obtained from this study will provide scientific evidence on vaccine effectiveness in those at higher risk of developing severe disease and will help guide public health policy on vaccination schedules.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 5:20:00 PM
Provincial surveillance of Risk Mitigation Guidance prescribing in British Columbia for people at risk of overdose during COVID-19
On March 26th 2020 BC’s Ministry of Health introduced a Risk Mitigation Guidance (RMG) document, permitting physicians to prescribe pharmaceutical alternatives (e.g.opioids, stimulants) to the toxic drug supply to people at risk of overdose. RMG prescriptions were identified using PharmaNet (drug dispensation database) data retrieved from the BCC19C. From March 2020 to June 2021, 8,939 people were identified as having been dispensed RMG medications. The demographics of RMG recipients were consistent with those of people experiencing overdose in BC. Unprecedented overdose rates persist in BC and expanded implementation efforts are required for RMG to reach people at highest risk of overdose.
TEAM Heather Palis, Bin Zhao, Amanda Slaunwhite
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 8:35:00 PM
Quantitative Evaluation of an Intervention Supporting Peer Workers in Overdose Response Settings
An intervention model ‘ROSE’ was piloted at two organizations in BC. R: Recognition of Peer Work, O: Organizational Support, S: Skill Development and E: for Everyone. Quantitative surveys were administered at sites pre- and post- implementation. We found an increase in the peers’ perception of fair pay and recognition. More participants, post- implementation, feel satisfied by their work and feel connected to each other. There was also a decline in the ranking of “work situation” as a stressor. The majority of the strategies were rated “extremely effective” by participants. These results are promising and call for the expansion of the ROSE model to other sites.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 5:50:00 PM
Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Relation to Substance Use Disorders
This cohort study examined the associations of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with substance use disorder (SUD) and alcohol, cannabis, opioid, or stimulant use disorder using a large random sample of BC residents without CVD at baseline (N = 617,863). During a 4-year follow-up period, 17,360 (2.8%) people developed CVD, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.74 (95% CI, 1.60-1.89) for people with SUD compared with people without SUD. The corresponding HR was 1.75 (1.59-1.94), 1.31 (1.02-1.67), 2.08 (1.74-2.48), and 1.78 (1.49-2.11), respectively, for people with alcohol, cannabis, opioid, and stimulant use disorder. The findings suggest that SUD, especially opioid use disorder, is a risk factor for CVD.
TEAM Wenqi Gan, Jane Buxton, Heather Palis, Bin Zhao, Naveed Janjua, Amanda Slaunwhite
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 6:35:00 PM
Role of Cellular Autophagy ("Self-eating") in the Activity and Therapeutic Efficacy of Novel Site-Specific Immunomodulators
Chronic immune activation is etiologically-linked to the pathology of inflammatory bowel disorders, certain cancers, and persisting infections (eg. HIV). Recently, microbe-derived Site-Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs; Qu Biologics) have been described to repurpose the immune response, and to exert therapeutic effects at specific sites of pathology. Such therapeutic effects have been observed in animal models and patients with ulcerative colitis and lung cancer for eg. The mechanism for these effects and their organ/site-specific nature are poorly understood. Our results suggest that SSIs may act through the cellular autophagy pathway, a critical immune defense and inflammatory regulator.
TEAM: Martin Kwok, Shirin Kalyan, Mark Bazett, Ezra Kwok, Vikramaditya G. Yadav, Marko Kryworuchko
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 3:40:00 PM
Selected indicators of pre-pandemic health and well-being status of British Columbians
The poster will present data on the health and well-being status of British Columbians (aged 12+) in the pre-pandemic situation using a set of selected indicators based on the Canadian Community Health Survey. The data analysis results presented will serve as the baseline data visualization of pandemic and post-pandemic health and well-being status at a later period, when their comparable data become available.
TEAM: Eugene Cheung, Rita Zhang, Drona Rasali, Rose Jose, Kate Smolina
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 2:25:00 PM
Solastalgia: Climate change and public health in British Columbia
Climate change is a complex and daunting global challenge, but its specific impacts can manifest at relatively small spatial scales. This is particularly relevant for BC, which has a large landmass, a complex topography, and a low population density in many areas. We are already experiencing different climatic changes at different speeds, and the public health impacts of these changes can vary by location and population susceptibility. This talk will provide an overview of the most pressing climate threats in BC, the relevant health research, the evidence gaps, and the challenges ahead.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 8:05:00 PM
Take Home Naloxone Program Summary Report 2020 - Key Findings and Recommendations - M. Geiger
In 2020, British Columbia's Take Home Naloxone (THN) program continued to expand access to naloxone with record high kit shipment and distribution. However, despite these successes, 2020 also saw a record number of deaths in BC due to illicit drug toxicity and over 17,000 paramedic attended overdose events. We aim to highlight THN program expansion and uptake but acknowledge that naloxone is not enough to stop preventable harms associated with toxic drug poisoning. Program recommendations are informed by an understanding that safe supply, expanded harm reduction services and the removal of policies that criminalize people who use drugs are essential to ending the opioid crisis.
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 6:05:00 PM
The 2019 HCV cascade of care for children and youth in British Columbia, Canada
Canadian children and youth are at risk from HCV through a few mechanisms. About 3,500 women in Canada with chronic HCV deliver babies each year and vertical transmission can occur among 5-10% of deliveries. Other sources of risk include immigrating to Canada from HCV endemic countries, having parents who are living with HCV, being street-involved, and using substances without adequate harm reduction supports. Monitoring of HCV services use among this population is essential to support Canada’s hepatitis elimination goals. We constructed the HCV cascade of care for children and youth living with HCV in British Columbia in 2019.
TEAM Dahn Jeong, Margo Pearce, Amanda Yu, Laura Sauvé, Rick Schreiber, Jean D. Makuza, Prince A. Adu, Héctor Alexander Velásquez García, Sofia Bartlett, Hasina Samji, Mawuena Binka, Jane Buxton, David Goldfarb, Chelsea Elwood, Stanley Wong, Maria Alvarez, Neora Pick, Naveed Z. Janjua
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 3:15:00 PM
The Application of Machine Learning and Predictive Modelling to Understand Risk of Overdose (A preliminary model)
In April 2016, British Columbia declared a public health emergency under the Public Health Act in response to increasing non-fatal and fatal overdose events in the province. Overdose remains a significant public health challenge. In 2020, 5.5 people died from illicit drug overdoses every day. Despite previous research that has identified risk factors for overdose, there is limited knowledge on their potential to predict fatal opioid overdose events. In this poster, we will describe the application of these machine learning methods to create two preliminary models to predict fatal overdose using data from the BC Provincial Overdose Cohort.
TEAM Andy Man Yeung Tai, Alireza Kazemi, Amanda Slaunwhite, Kerry Jang, Michael Reinhard Krausz
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 4:30:00 PM
The association of variants of concern with severe outcomes following COVID-19 infection in British Columbia
The prevention of serious illness is a priority in public health management for communicable disease prevention; and is of paramount importance during a pandemic, when public health measures need to be put in place. This work is a retrospective multivariable analysis of the relationship between variants of concern (i.e alpha, gamma, delta) and severe outcomes (i.e. hospitalization, critical care and death), following COVID-19 infection in British Columbia using linked data. The analyses will examine the differential effect of the relationship between VOC and outcomes by age and sex.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 6:05:00 PM
The 'geographic' argument for Covid-19 booster shots
Booster shots for Covid-19 are being debated around the world for use in bolstering immunity with the hopes of stagnating infection rates of the virus. The discussion has been focused around which demographic of individuals should be considered for a booster, whether it be age group or health status. We propose a BC specific argument for the strategic administration of booster shots looking at geographical location as an important variable. While certain at-risk demographics would certainly benefit from a booster shot, we present an argument for prioritizing boosters for those living in remote areas and low vaccination rates to prevent the general transmission of more transmissible variants.
TEAM: Chirag Chopra, Archit Purohit, Hillary Spencer
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 2:30:00 PM
The You Matter Project: Partnering With People In Prison To Co-Create STBBI Policies And Guidelines
Universally offering screening for Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections (STBBIs) results in higher uptake of testing in correctional settings. However, there is no guidance on how to implement these policies in prisons in person-centred, culturally safe and trauma informed ways. To address this, the You Matter project has created a framework to incorporate the experiences and preferences of key stakeholders, including people with lived or living experience of incarceration, Correctional Health Services staff, and correctional officers, into the development of policies and guidelines for universal STBBI screening and linkage to care in Provincial Correctional Centres (PCCs).
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 8:05:00 PM
Tick-borne Diseases and Climate Change 3 West
The TCC-3W (Tick-borne and Climate Change - 3 West) project is a One Health initiative that is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The project aims to improve the evidence base and response capacity to address the impacts of climate change on tick-borne diseases in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. The primary goals of the project are to: 1) improve surveillance of ticks and tick borne diseases; 2) develop data models to explore the potential impact of climate on tick distribution and abundance and the occurrence of tick borne diseases; and 3) to enhance communication and collaboration across disciplines, agencies, and stakeholders in Alberta, BC, and Saskatchewan.
BC CDC Presenters
10/19/2021 8:20:00 PM
Using Community Smoking Rates and Radon Levels to Optimize Radon Mitigation Programs
Radon is a leading environmental cause of lung cancer. The risk of radon-attributable lung cancer is particularly high in smokers due to an interaction with tobacco smoke. This risk can be
BC CDC Presenters
10/21/2021 7:20:00 PM
What Meaningful Engagement Looks Like: Perceptions of Peer Research Assistants involved in the Peer2Peer Project
The Peer2Peer Project is aimed at identifying, designing, implementing and evaluating support interventions for peer workers in overdose response settings. A key tenet of this project is the meaningful engagement of peer workers. The project team consists of academic researchers and peer research assistants (PRAs) who are representatives with lived/ living experience of substance use from each of the pilot sites. In this presentation, we will share the results of a qualitative evaluation to assess the benefits, challenges and impact of peer engagement on the PRAs involved in the Peer2Peer Project, and highlight what PRAs described as meaningful engagement
TEAM Zahra Mamdani, Jantzen Fan, Jane A. Buxton
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 3:50:00 PM
When Unique Identifiers Fail: Using NLP Techniques to Associate Database Records to Individuals By Name
Ideally, individuals within the healthcare system can be uniquely identified by using their provincial healthcare numbers (PHNs.) However as data is collected, entered, and shared by healthcare professionals, errors such as typos, misaligned delimiters, or dropped values makes relying on PHNs not always possible. We present our approach to timely group together records associated to a single patient across several million records in PLOVER using natural language processing as well as techniques to validate the formed groups.
TEAM: Kyle Clarkson, Phillip Dumitru, Chris Fjell
BCCDC POSTER PRESENTER
10/18/2021 2:40:00 PM
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