Adverse events following mass antibiotic prophylaxis during a Group A Streptococcus outbreak in the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School
Between December 2016 and March 2018, two outbreaks of Group A (GAS) infection occurred at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School. A voluntary mass antibiotic prophylaxis (MAP) program was implemented in March 2018, to interrupt an ongoing GAS outbreak, and to prevent future outbreaks. In...
Saved in:
Published in | Canada communicable disease report Vol. 46; no. 9; pp. 264 - 271 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada
03.09.2020
|
Series | Force health protections |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Between December 2016 and March 2018, two outbreaks of Group A
(GAS) infection occurred at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School. A voluntary mass antibiotic prophylaxis (MAP) program was implemented in March 2018, to interrupt an ongoing GAS outbreak, and to prevent future outbreaks.
Instructors and recruits were offered a one-time intramuscular injection of 1.2 million units penicillin G benzathine (PGB). Individuals with a penicillin allergy were offered azithromycin; 500 mg orally once weekly for four consecutive weeks. Instructors and recruits were also asked to complete a voluntary and anonymous survey one week after receipt of MAP, to detect MAP-related adverse events.
MAP was offered to 2,749 individuals; 2,707 of whom agreed to receive it (98.5% uptake). The majority of personnel experienced adverse events in the days following MAP; 92.3% of personnel who received PGB reported localized pain at the injection site, and 70.2% of personnel who received azithromycin reported gastrointestinal symptoms. However, only five cases of serious adverse events were reported, and less than 1% of recruits could not complete their basic military training course because of MAP-related adverse events.
The MAP program implemented in March 2018 was the first of its kind in the Canadian Armed Forces, and the largest single use of PGB in a defined group in Canada. It resulted in very few serious adverse events and with minimal impact on military recruits' successful completion of recruit training. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 FG — Formatting and administration of survey, review and editing of manuscript MT — Review and editing of manuscript EG — Review and editing of manuscript Authors’ statement: DL — Conceptualization of manuscript, original draft, review and editing of manuscript NJ — Administration of survey, review and editing of manuscript BS — Data curation, formal analysis, review and editing of manuscript KB — Review and editing of manuscript KS — Conceptualization and drafting of survey, data curation, formal analysis, review and editing of manuscript |
ISSN: | 1188-4169 1481-8531 |
DOI: | 10.14745/ccdr,v46i09a03 |