[When should a stool culture be done in adults with nosocomial diarrhea?].

Objective: To assess the diagnostic efficacy, cost and possible corrective measure of the indications for routine stool cultures in nosocomial diarrhoea in adults.

Methods: A retrospective study over a 10-month period of 660 standard stool cultures, 256 of which were conducted after the 3rd day of hospitalisation, conducted in 528 patients at the hospital centre in Pau.

Results: The positivity rate of the stool cultures was of 26/336 patients (7.

[Vibrio vulnificus septicemia transmitted through a wound caused by a crustacea].

Introduction: Vibrio vulnificus proliferates during the summer in salt water where it infects the crustaceans. Expression of its pathogenicity depends on the underlying condition and mode of contamination.

Observation: A 65 year-old man presented with a Vibrio vulnificus septicaemia of cutaneous origin, transmitted when he cut himself with a crawfish.

Assisted reproduction in HIV-1-serodifferent couples: the need for viral validation of processed semen.

Background: Many HIV-infected men and women have a strong desire for a child. Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are an option for HIV-serodifferent couples to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from an infected man to the woman. Potential HIV contamination of selected spermatozoa after semen processing is an important issue in this context.