BC's Sentinel Network is a member of the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network (SPSN).
Established in 2004, the primary objective of the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network (SPSN) is to monitor the effectiveness of the annually reformulated influenza vaccine against medically attended, laboratory-confirmed influenza illness. Secondary objectives are to monitor and characterize circulating influenza and other respiratory viruses contributing to influenza-like illness in our communities.
The SPSN has produced a number of scientific publications (see below). Findings by the SPSN are also submitted to the World Health Organization to inform influenza vaccine strain selection for the northern and southern hemispheres. Influenza vaccine effectiveness findings from the Canadian SPSN over the past 21 years
Full list of SPSN publications, 2004-2025
What does the BC SPSN do?
SPSN sites within BC are primary care providers able to obtain specimens and data to contribute to vaccine effectiveness (VE) evaluation and respiratory virus monitoring and characterization by epidemiologists and virologists at the BCCDC, the headquarters for the provincial and national SPSN.
SPSN Reports
Report no.
| Epi week, year
| Period covered
|
|---|
1
| 35 to 42, 2024
| Aug. 25 to Oct. 19, 2024 (PDF)
|
2
| 35 to 47, 2024
| Aug. 25 to Nov. 23, 2024 (PDF)
|
3
| 35 to 48, 2024
| Aug. 25 to Nov. 30, 2024 (PDF)
|
4
| 35 to 50, 2024
| Aug. 25 to Dec. 14, 2024 (PDF)
|
5
| 44 to 10, 2024/25
| Oct. 27, 2024 to Mar. 8, 2025 (PDF)
|
Report no.
| Epi week, year
| Period covered
|
|---|
1
| 35 to 41, 2023
|
Aug. 27 to Oct. 14, 2023 (PDF)
|
2
| 35 to 43, 2023
|
Aug. 27 to Oct. 28, 2023 (PDF)
|
3
| 44 to 45, 2023
|
Oct. 29 to Nov. 11, 2023 (PDF)
|
4
| 44 to 47, 2023
|
Oct. 29 to Nov. 25, 2023 (PDF)
|
5
| 44 to 49, 2023
|
Oct. 29 to Dec. 9, 2023 (PDF)
|
6
| 44 to 51, 2023
|
Oct. 29 to Dec. 23, 2023 (PDF)
|
7
| 44 to 9, 2023/24
|
Oct. 29, 2023 to Mar. 2, 2024 (PDF)
|
8
| 44 to 18, 2023/24
| Oct. 29, 2023 to May 4, 2024 (PDF)
|
9
| 19 to 28, 2024
| May 5 to July 13, 2024 (PDF)
|
The SPSN is seeking participants! To find out more:
In the summer of 2015, the names of the BC and Canadian SPSNs were updated from "Sentinel Physician Surveillance Network" to "Sentinel
Practitioner Surveillance Network", to acknowledge the range of clinical expertise managing our Sentinel sites.
Updated: March 21, 2025
