Disease Debriefs

Purpose

NCCID Disease Debriefs are designed to offer timely and up-to-date knowledge on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases for Canadian public health audiences. Disease Debriefs connect readers to clinical and public health guidance, evidence, and other sources of information.

Disease Debriefs are typically organized to answer four main public health-related questions: What are important characteristics of the disease? What is happening with current outbreaks of the disease? What is the current risk for Canadians? What measures should be taken for a suspected disease case or contact?

Our aim is to provide public health personnel with crucial information in a concise format to aid in prompt identification, treatment and management.

Methods

NCCID Disease Debriefs are not comprehensive or systematic reviews of peer-reviewed literature, but instead provide a concise reference with links to more detailed information. NCCID ensures that all information and content is accurate and from reputable sources. Information is gathered from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, information from provincial public health offices and laboratories is provided, particularly case numbers during an outbreak. Links to media reports and informational videos may be included to describe new outbreaks. In instances when only limited information is available from these sources, peer-reviewed literature, reference manuals and books, and other websites may be used.

Occasionally, web-based information is noted as archived, however NCCID has verified the credibility of the archived content and has included a note to alert readers.

NCCID acknowledges that information provided by different organizations and websites may  sometimes be contradictory. Readers are encouraged to follow the links and find relevant provincial or territorial guidance as well.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

There is a range of COVID-19 disease severity, ranging from asymptomatic or mild, to moderate, severe and critical disease.
The most commonly observed symptoms of COVID-19 infection are fever, flu, fatigue, new or worsening
cough, loss of appetite, loss of smell and/or taste, muscle and body ache, and headache.