title: Laboratory diagnosed human viral infections in Canada, 1980-1988. Trends and clinico-epidemiological characteristics.
abstract: Between 1980 and 1988, the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC) received 261,573 reports of positive laboratory diagnoses of viral and selected nonviral agents from Canadian laboratories for the determination of the distribution of these agents with age, seasonality, periodicity, and symptoms. The agents most frequently associated with diseases of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, skin, and mucous membranes, the eye, and the central nervous system are identified and ranked. The temporal patterns of common enteroviruses and vaccine preventable diseases are also described. New diagnostic techniques, availability of diagnostic services, awareness of the role an agent plays in disease, and real changes in the occurrence of a disease may influence the number of positive laboratory reports.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory for Special Pathogens, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health and Welfare, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012621:Seasons; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*