Surveillance of laboratory exposures to human pathogens and toxins: Canada 2018.

Background The Laboratory Incident Notification Canada (LINC) surveillance system monitors laboratory incidents reported under the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act. The year 2018 marks the third complete year of data. Objective To describe the laboratory exposure and laboratory-acquired infection incidents that occurred in Canada in 2018 compared to previous years, and then by sector, human pathogens and toxins involved, number of affected persons, incident type and root causes. Methods Laboratory incidents that occurred in 2018 were reported through the LINC system. The number of laboratory incidents, people exposed and laboratory-acquired infections were compared to previous years, then the incidents were analyzed by sector, human pathogen or toxin involved, the type of incident, people exposed, route of exposure and root causes. Microsoft Excel 2016 was used for descriptive analysis. Results In 2018, there were 89 exposure incidents to human pathogens and 235 people were exposed. There were five suspected and one confirmed laboratory-acquired infections. This was approximately twice the number of exposure incidents that were reported in 2017 (n=44) and 2016 (n=46). The highest number of exposure incidents occurred in the academic and hospital sectors, and the ratio of incidence to licences was the lowest in the private sector. The majority of incidents (n=50; 56%) involved Risk Group 2 human pathogens that were manipulated in a Containment Level 2 laboratory. Most exposures were related to sharps or procedures and the most common people exposed were laboratory technicians. Human interaction and standard operating procedures were the leading root causes. Conclusion Although overall the annual incidence of laboratory exposures in Canada remains relatively low, the incidence was higher in 2018 than in previous years. Whether this is a true increase in incidence or an increase in reporting is not known at this time as baseline estimates are still being established.