The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) has recommended moving from universal newborn ocular prophylaxis, to universal prenatal screening for Neisseriae gonorrhoeae (GC) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and treatment of those with positive results in order to eradicate infection and prevent intrapartum transmission to the newborn.
Infants and young children are at particular risk of contracting pertussis until they have completed their primary immunization series. For maximum protection, children need a primary series of pertussis-containing vaccine at two, four, and six months followed by booster doses at 18 months, between four to six years of age, and again as part of the school-based immunization program, which in Nova Scotia, occurs in Grade 7.
The best way to prevent mortality and significant morbidity from pertussis is for health care providers to:
The current recommendation from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), Canadian Pediatric Cardiology Association (CPCA), and the Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) is that pulse oximetry screening should be routinely performed in all healthy newborns to enhance the detection of critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) in Canada.
