Hospitalization Rates for Gastroenteritis with Dehydration, 3 months – 17 Years, by Prov/Terr
* Data for Quebec were not available at the time of analysis
** Due to small numbers in the Territories, numbers were combined.
Data from custom runs from the Canadian Institutes for Health Information Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) / Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB), Januar
In 2014 and 2015, the rate of hospitalization for gastroenteritis with dehydration among children and youth in Canada, 3 months to 17 years of age was 79.1 per 100,000 population.
The Maritime provinces all had higher rates than the national average with the highest rate in New Brunswick (209.9 per 100,000); Saskatchewan had the second highest rate overall (130.2 per 100,000).
The lowest rate was in Manitoba (36.7 per 100,000).
This indicator does not include children who have underlying gastrointestinal problems such as inflammatory bowel disease, that would predispose them to gastroenteritis.
To see the technical appendix for these indicators, click here.
Survey data do not include First Nations children living on reserve. This may result in undercounting of children with inequities in access in some provinces/territories.
Implications
Differences across provinces may reflect in part the introduction of rotavirus vaccine programmes, whereby provinces and territories have universally funded this vaccine for young children. Rotavirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in children. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Nunavut are the only jurisdictions in Canada which as of September 2016 were not funding this vaccine.1
1https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/provincial-territorial-immunization-information/provincial-territorial-routine-vaccination-programs-infants-children.html)