Newswise — A long awaited Canadian study on the effectiveness of universal vaccination for seasonal influenza was published by Canadian researchers yesterday in the open access journal PLoS Medicine. The study was led by Dr. Jeff Kwong, a CIHR-funded researcher at the Institute of Clinical and Evaluative Sciences and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
The province of Ontario in Canada has the world's only universal vaccination program. Dr. Kwong and his colleagues examined the effect of Ontario's universal vaccination program on influenza-related mortality and use of health care services relative to other Canadian provinces, which have targeted vaccination programs. These researchers found that universal vaccination was associated with reductions in influenza-related deaths, hospitalizations and doctor visits Attached is a copy of the PLoS Medicine paper. It can also be downloaded at http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050211.
The study was reported in the Canadian media today. I've inserted below a story published by the Canadian Press.
Dr. Bhagirath Singh, scientific director of the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity and one of Canada's leading infectious disease experts is available to comment on the significance of this study. Dr. Singh was instrumental in securing the resources needed to carry out the study. I would be pleased to schedule an interview for you with Dr. Singh or Dr. Kwong. David
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