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About TIBDN

The Toronto Invasive Bacterial Diseases Network (TIBDN) is a collaboration of all hospitals, microbiology laboratories, infection control practitioners, physicians and public health units serving the populations of metropolitan Toronto, Peel, Hamilton, Halton, Durham, York, and Simcoe Regions.

TIBDN performs population-based surveillance for selected serious bacterial and viral infections, collecting isolates, as well as clinical and epidemiologic data.

The goal of this network is to reduce morbidity and mortality from infectious disease by using surveillance to better understand risk factors for infection, and to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these infections.  TIBDN also provides an infrastructure for collaborative health research, including special studies aimed at identifying risk factors for disease, post-licensure evaluation of vaccine efficacy and monitoring effectiveness of prevention policies. TIBDN also aims to leverage information from the network to advance our knowledge and understanding of other serious diseases: the network collaborates actively with investigators wishing to initiate surveillance for new diseases in our area (eg. recently for rotavirus infections, West Nile virus, community-acquired MRSA), and aims to provide isolates and information to investigators studying pathogenesis, illness burden, impact of vaccination or treatment programs, and antimicrobial resistance.

At this time, TIBDN conducts surveillance for five pathogens: group A and group B streptococcus (GAS, GBS), Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and laboratory confirmed influenza.