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SPECIAL IMMUNIZATION CLINICS (SIC) NETWORK The Special Immunization Clinics (SIC) Network started in 2013 and is now established in 13 hospitals across Canada. The network offers consultation services to patients who suffered adverse events following immunization (AEFI) and require additional vaccination, and those with underlying conditions which may increase their risk of AEFI or result in a lower immune response to vaccination. The past year was mostly devoted to developing within the network by presenting the network and standardized patient evaluation and management clinics to local and provincial public health authorities protocols, performing needs assessments through and professional associations of healthcare workers literature reviews and both prospective and (e.g., primary care physicians, pediatricians, and retrospective studies, setting up clinics across Canada, immunization nurses). and obtaining ethics approval. Participating sites have now started to recruit patients. The network The network plans to conduct retrospective studies enlists the expertise of infectious diseases specialists, to evaluate vaccination practices throughout Canada allergists and clinical immunologists to evaluate for patients with several underlying conditions, and patients referred to a Special Immunization Clinic. continue to document risks of AEFI recurrence and/ Other relevant subspecialists may be required on a or vaccine safety concerns for patients with underlying case-by-case basis. medical conditions based on a systematic review of the literature. This information will be compiled in While offering clinical services to patients, the a virtual library made accessible to the SIC Network network pursues several research objectives: (a) to members. estimate the probability of AEFI recurrence following revaccination of patients with a history of AEFI; (b) Further funding will be sought from provincial to compare the clinical severity of the recurrent AEFI governments to help sustain the clinical activities of compared to the frst occurrence, (c) to identify risk the network following the end of PCIRN’s current factors of recurrences; (d) to estimate the safety of term. SIC also plans to submit a new proposal to study vaccinating patients with potential contraindications to potential biomarkers which may help identify patients vaccination. at higher risk of developing allergy-like symptoms following immunization. The secondary objectives of the network are (a) to assess causality in the occurrence of AEFI presenting for consultation to a SIC, (b) to provide a platform for prospective multi-center studies on AEFI, and (c) to develop expert resources that will enhance public health pharmacovigilance capacity to respond to emerging safety signals and provide surge capacity needed for pandemic preparedness. For the upcoming (2014-2015) year, the network’s objectives are to continue to strengthen the SIC Network by engaging allergists and clinical immunologists in participating hospitals. SIC plans to expand the number of patients seen and recruited 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 5