Special Immunization Clinic Network

The Special Immunization Clinic (SIC) Network conducts standardized assessments of patients with medically challenging AEFI and potential contraindications to immunization, and evaluates vaccine safety, effectiveness and coverage in immunocompromised patients at 12 clinics across 6 provinces. The network has built a national registry of patients assessed in the clinics and their outcomes after revaccination. Results to date support the safety of re-immunization in patients with mild to moderate AEFI and those with potential contraindications to immunization.

The network also supports two multi-center studies: “Vaccinating children after chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)”, which aims to identify risk factors for low vaccine titres in children treated for ALL and determine the safety and immunogenicity of booster immunization after chemotherapy. Enrollment and follow up are ongoing and results are expected in Spring 2018. The study,”Immunization of children with primary immune deficiencies (PID)” aims to describe the attitudes and practices of immunologists, pediatricians and infectious disease specialists caring for children with PID, and to estimate vaccine coverage and timeliness among children diagnosed with PID before age 7. Recruitment started in February 2017 and results are expected in winter 2018.

Co-Investigators:

• Francois Boucher, Université Laval
• Catherine Burton, University of Alberta
• Rupesh Chawla, University of Calgary
• Cora Constantinescu, University of Calgary
• Shelley Deeks, Public Health Ontario
• Gaston de Serres, Université Laval
• Scott Halperin, Dalhousie University
• Athena McConnell, University of Saskatchewan
• Shelly McNeil, Dalhousie University
• Shaun Morris, Hospital for Sick Children
• Francisco Noya, McGill University
• Dr. Taj Jadavji, University of Calgary
• Jeffrey Pernica, McMaster University
• Anne Pham-Huy, University of Ottawa
• Earl Rubin, McGill University
• Soren Gantt, University of British Columbia
• Manish Sadarangani, University of British Columbia
• Bruce Tapiéro, CHU Sainte-Justine
• Wendy Vaudry, University of Alberta