Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
The recently tabled Department of Health 2012-2013 Annual Report mentions Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus at 46.6 cases per 10,000 patients. However, on the same department website there’s an epidemiology newsletter, called Epi North 2012, Volume 22, Issue 1, which states during a similar reporting period of 16 months, field epidemiologist Katie Rutledge for the department reported laboratory results of 267 cases with 345 MRSA
infections. Factoring and removing the extra four months and when you compare apples to apples and case management reporting, this leaves a disparity of these lab results reported to what is being underreported in the annual report. Can the Minister account for this difference? Thank you.