Gonorrhea rates in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are consistently 2-3 fold higher than the Canadian average. In Manitoba, absolute case counts soared from 2015 to 2020 – which partially explains why we’re seeing more disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). However, it’s not the whole story, there does seem to be something special about the strains associated with disseminated infections.

Learning Objectives

• Discuss the changing epidemiology of Gonorrhea in Canada
• Review the clinical features of Disseminated Gonococcal Infection
• Discuss the diagnosis and treatment of Disseminated Gonococcal Infection
• Describe the features of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains associated with DGI

Webinar Speakers

David Alexander, Scientist, Cadham Provincial Laboratory
Dr. David Alexander is a PhD-trained microbiologist with a long-standing interest in the epidemiology of infectious diseases. For the past 15 years, he has worked in the provincial public health laboratory system, first at the Public Health Ontario Laboratories in Toronto and then at the Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory in Regina. Since 2016, David has been a Scientist at the Cadham Provincial Laboratory in Manitoba. In pre-pandemic times, his work focused on provincial surveillance of foodborne illness and sexually transmitted infections.

Irene Martin – Head, Streptococcus and STI Unit @National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada
As Head of the Streptococcus and STI Unit, Irene provides laboratory reference and surveillance services including bacteriological and molecular characterizations for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Streptococcus agalactiae. Research and development includes: a Streptococcus and Gonococcus genomics program; development of novel molecular diagnostic assays to detect antimicrobial resistance in clinical specimens; characterizing antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and monitoring emerging resistances.

Moderator

Marc Steben, family physician, president of IUSTI-Canada and president-elect of the International Society for STD Research
As a family physician, Marc concentrates his clinical interest on sexual health, mainly chronic genital diseases. Field of research, development and publications include therapeutic approaches to chronic genital pain, prevention and treatment of genital herpes and development of HPV prophylactic vaccine.