Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Résumé : International audience
In 2002, the French Food Safety Agency drew attention to the lack of information on the prevalence of human cryptosporidiosis in the country. Two years later, the ANOFEL Cryptosporidium National Network (ACNN) was set up to provide public health authorities with data on the incidence and epidemiology of human cryptosporidiosis in France. Constituted on a voluntary basis, ACNN includes 38 hospital parasitology laboratories (mainly in university hospitals). Each laboratory is engaged to notify new cases of confirmed human cryptosporidiosis, store specimens (e.g. stools, duodenal aspirates or biopsies) and related clinical and epidemiological data, using data sheet forms. From January 2006 to December 2009, 407 cryptosporidiosis cases were notified in France and 364 specimens were collected. Of the notified cases, 74 were children under four years of age, accounting for 18.2%. HIV-infected and immunocompetent patients represented 38.6% (n=157) and 28% (n=114) of cases, respectively. A marked seasonal pattern was observed each year, with increased number of cases in mid to late summer and the beginning of autumn. Genotyping of 345 isolates from 310 patients identified C. parvumin 168 (54.2%) cases, C. hominis in 113 (36.4%) and other species in 29 (9.4%), including C. felis (n=15), C. meleagridis (n=4), C. canis (n=4), Cryptosporidium chipmunk genotype (n=1), Cryptosporidium rabbit genotype (n=1) and new Cryptosporidium genotypes (n=4). These data represent the first multisite report of laboratory-confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis in France.
ISSN: 1560-7917

hal-00926813
https://hal-unilim.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00926813
PUBMED : 20739000

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the primary cause of nosocomial diarrhoea in industrialised countries, usually occurring as a complication of antibiotic therapy in elderly patients. Landmark events contributed to boosting interest in CDI over the last 10 years, including the emergence of unusually severe and recurrent CDI due to the NAP1/BI/027 strain, as well as reports suggesting that CDI is also significantly encountered in patients previously considered at no risk, such as community-acquired CDI in patients with no recent antibiotic use, or CDI during pregnancy. Despite this growing interest from the medical community, we do not know the real dimensions of the disease for the following reasons: (i) despite comprehensive guidelines published in Europe and in the USA, most laboratories still use diagnostic tests with suboptimal sensitivity as a 'rule-out' test, hence a significant proportion of CDIs remain undiagnosed; (ii) use of PCR as a stand-alone test by others will probably overestimate the real incidence of CDI and jeopardise any comparison between institutions with different diagnostic procedures; and (iii) transversal studies, with optimum design and diagnostic tests, are rapidly outdated due to the dramatic changes in CDI epidemiology that may occur from one year to another. To get an accurate picture of the real dimensions of the CDI issue, we need more systematic use of an adequate and homogeneous diagnostic strategy in the field as well as the implementation of continuous monitoring of CDI incidence through surveillance programmes.
ISSN: 0924-8579

inserm-00863350
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00863350
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00863350/document
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00863350/file/Clostridium_difficile_infections._Do_we_know_the_real_dimensionssur the_problem-accepted.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2013.04.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
American Journal of Hematology

hal-01113050
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01113050
DOI : 10.1002/ajh.23941

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
In this paper we present a microfluidic architecture dedicated to the study of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) deformability in microchannel smaller than the cell shape (biconcave disc of 7-8 μm in diameter) and cell capability to pass through slits separated by a gap value down to 2 μm, acting as a filter. This device is use in the context of RBCs disorders affecting their deformability, which is analysed versus number of cells trapped in the filter. This device can be seen as mimicking the human spleen. Microfabrication of the chip is based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) associated to a two level thick photoresist mould (SU8). One level is used for microfluidic access with a 25 μm thickness towards the studied zone. The second level concerns the mimicking zones where RBCs flow through 5 μm down to 2 μm-wide slits acting like a mechanical filter. This level has a thickness of 5 μm. Devices have been tested on RBCs having specific disorder on their mechanical elasticity in order to validate the design principle. Two cases are presented in this paper: a.) Sickle RBCs inducing cell rigidity at two levels b.) Parasitized RBCs by Plasmodium falciparum. On both cases, we clearly show that deformability of RBCs influences the capability to pass through small slits (down to 2um) and thus is in relation with the pathology stage. This spleen-like microfluidic chip mimicking the RBCs filtering function is a promising tool for the exploration of RBC disorders combined with mechanical alterations.
4th European Conference on Microfluidics
Limerick, Ireland

hal-01113061
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01113061

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess, for the first time, the nature of the indoor air contamination of hospitals. METHODS AND FINDINGS: More than 40 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including aliphatic, aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons, aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, ethers and terpenes were measured in a teaching hospital in France, from sampling in six sampling sites--reception hall, patient room, nursing care, post-anesthesia care unit, parasitology-mycology laboratory and flexible endoscope disinfection unit--in the morning and in the afternoon, during three consecutive days. Our results showed that the main compounds found in indoor air were alcohols (arithmetic means ± SD: 928±958 µg/m³ and 47.9±52.2 µg/m³ for ethanol and isopropanol, respectively), ethers (75.6±157 µg/m³ for ether) and ketones (22.6±20.6 µg/m³ for acetone). Concentrations levels of aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons, ketones, aldehydes and limonene were widely variable between sampling sites, due to building age and type of products used according to health activities conducted in each site. A high temporal variability was observed in concentrations of alcohols, probably due to the intensive use of alcohol-based hand rubs in all sites. Qualitative analysis of air samples led to the identification of other compounds, including siloxanes (hexamethyldisiloxane, octamethyltrisiloxane, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane), anesthetic gases (sevoflurane, desflurane), aliphatic hydrocarbons (butane), esters (ethylacetate), terpenes (camphor, α-bisabolol), aldehydes (benzaldehyde) and organic acids (benzoic acid) depending on sites. CONCLUSION: For all compounds, concentrations measured were lower than concentrations known to be harmful in humans. However, results showed that indoor air of sampling locations contains a complex mixture of VOCs. Further multicenter studies are required to compare these results. A full understanding of the exposure of healthcare workers and patients to complex mixtures of chemical compounds can then be related to potential health outcomes.
ISSN: 1932-6203

hal-00874694
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00874694
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00874694/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00874694/file/VOC_Contamination-accepted.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0055535