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. 2016 Mar;22(3):426-32.
doi: 10.3201/eid2203.151545.

Encephalitis, Ontario, Canada, 2002-2013

Alyssa S Parpia, Ye Li, Cynthia Chen, Badal Dhar, Natasha S Crowcroft

Encephalitis, Ontario, Canada, 2002-2013

Alyssa S Parpia et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Encephalitis, a brain inflammation leading to severe illness and often death, is caused by >100 pathogens. To assess the incidence and trends of encephalitis in Ontario, Canada, we obtained data on 6,463 Ontario encephalitis hospitalizations from the hospital Discharge Abstract Database for April 2002-December 2013 and analyzed these data using multiple negative binomial regression. The estimated crude incidence of all-cause encephalitis in Ontario was ≈4.3 cases/100,000 persons/year. Incidence rates for infants <1 year of age and adults >65 years were 3.9 and 3.0 times that of adults 20-44 years of age, respectively. Incidence peaks during August-September in 2002 and 2012 resulted primarily from encephalitis of unknown cause and viral encephalitis. Encephalitis occurred more frequently in older age groups and less frequently in women in Ontario when compared to England, but despite differences in population, vector-borne diseases, climate, and geography, the epidemiology was overall remarkably similar in the two regions.

Keywords: Canada; England; Ontario; bacteria; encephalitis; epidemiology; etiology; fungi; incidence; parasites; viruses.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
Incidence rate (cases per 100,000 persons) for all-cause encephalitis and categories of encephalitis causes, by age group, Ontario, Canada, 2002–2013.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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