Soto, Julio C.
Barakat, Mireille
Drolet, Marie-Josée
Gauvin, Denis
Huot, Caroline
Article History
Received: 13 September 2019
Accepted: 5 February 2020
First Online: 4 March 2020
Compliance with ethical standards
: This investigation was conducted in accordance with the legal mandate granted to public health authorities by Quebec’s Public Health Act (R.S.Q., chapter S-2.2. Article 1. Updated July 1, 2018). The authors who were part of the investigation team were legally appointed by the director of public health of the affected region to act under this mandate that endorses the main principles of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (Canadian Institutes of Health Research CitationRef removed). The study did not directly involve subjects but rather the events that happened to them and these were reported by the people who gave their oral informed consent to participate in the investigation at the time of the interviewer’s phone call. Participants had the right to refuse to answer any questions and to abandon the investigation at any time. Parents or legal guardians gave consent for children under the age of 14 years.
: All data were treated confidentially and analyzed without nominal identification. Authorized personnel with access to the databank were bound by oaths to comply with the confidentiality standards. Data and measures relating to manipulation, analysis, storage, and eventual destruction have been and will be processed according to the <i>Institut national de santé publique du Québec</i> information, protection, and security policy (PO-04-2014).
: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.