COVID-19: individual and herd immunity.

Immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus ensures protection against reinfection by this virus thanks to the combined action of neutralizing antibodies and T lymphocytes specific to viral proteins, in particular the Spike protein. It must be distinguished from the immune response that ensures healing of the infection following contamination that involves innate immunity, particularly type 1 interferons, and which is followed by adaptive cellular and humoral immunity. The importance of the effect of interferons is highlighted by the occurrence of severe forms of the disease in genetically deficient subjects or in patients with antibodies neutralizing type 1 interferon.

Exploring the risk of hypospadias in children born from mothers living close to a vineyard.

Hypospadias (H) is a common birth defect affecting the male urinary tract. It has been suggested that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals might increase the risk of H by altering urethral development. However, whether H risk is increased in places heavily exposed to agricultural pesticides, such as vineyards, remains debated and difficult to ascertain.

Impact of social inequalities at birth on the longevity of children born 1914-1916: A cohort study.

Background: Testing whether familial socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood is a predictor of mortality has rarely been done on historical cohorts.

Methods: The birth certificates of 4,805 individuals born 1914-1916 in 16 districts of the Paris region were retrieved. The handwritten information provided the occupation of parents, the legitimacy status, life events (e.

Data Science Priorities for a University Hospital-Based Institute of Infectious Diseases: A Viewpoint.

Automation of laboratory tests, bioinformatic analysis of biological sequences, and professional data management are used routinely in a modern university hospital-based infectious diseases institute. This dates back to at least the 1980s. However, the scientific methods of this 21st century are changing with the increased power and speed of computers, with the "big data" revolution having already happened in genomics and environment, and eventually arriving in medical informatics.

Comparing Inpatient Satisfaction Collected via a Web-Based Questionnaire Self-Completion and Through a Telephone Interview: An Ancillary Study of the SENTIPAT Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Assessing the satisfaction of patients about the health care they have received is relatively common nowadays. In France, the satisfaction questionnaire, I-Satis, is deployed in each institution admitting inpatients. Internet self-completion and telephone interview are the two modes of administration for collecting inpatient satisfaction that have never been compared in a multicenter randomized experiment involving a substantial number of patients.

Comparison of the temperature-mortality relationship in foreign born and native born died in France between 2000 and 2009.

The daily temperature-mortality relationship is typically U shaped. The temperature of minimum mortality (MMT) has been shown to vary in space (higher at lower latitudes) and time (higher in recent periods). This indicates human populations adapt to their local environment.

Prenatal loss of father during World War One is predictive of a reduced lifespan in adulthood.

Although early-life stress is known to alter health, its long-term consequences on mortality remain largely unknown. Thanks to unique French legislation established in 1917 for war orphans and children of disabled soldiers, we were able to study the adult mortality of individuals born in 1914-1916 whose fathers were killed during World War 1. Vital information and socio-demographic characteristics were extracted manually from historical civil registers for 5,671 children born between 1 August 1914 and 31 December 1916 who were granted the status of "" (orphan of the Nation).

Using spatio-temporal surveillance data to test the infectious environment of children before type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

The "hygiene hypothesis" postulates that reduced exposure to infections favours the development of autoimmunity and childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D). But on the other side, viruses, notably enteroviruses, are suspected to trigger T1D. The assessment of the possible relationships between infections and T1D still defies the classical tools of epidemiology.

Global epidemiology of type 1 diabetes in young adults and adults: a systematic review.

Background: Although type 1 diabetes (T1D) can affect patients of all ages, most epidemiological studies of T1D focus on disease forms with clinical diagnosis during childhood and adolescence. Clinically, adult T1D is difficult to discriminate from certain forms of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and from Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA).

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed to retrieve original papers in English, French and Spanish published up to November 6, 2014, reporting the incidence of T1D among individuals aged over 15 years.

Space-Time Covariation of Mortality with Temperature: A Systematic Study of Deaths in France, 1968-2009.

Background: The temperature-mortality relationship has repeatedly been found, mostly in large cities, to be U/J-shaped, with higher minimum mortality temperature (MMT) at low latitudes being interpreted as indicating human adaptation to climate.

Objectives: Our aim was to partition space with a high-resolution grid to assess the temperature-mortality relationship in a territory with wide climate diversity, over a period with notable climate warming.

Methods: The 16,487,668 death certificates of persons > 65 years of age who died of natural causes in continental France (1968-2009) were analyzed.

Covariation of the incidence of type 1 diabetes with country characteristics available in public databases.

Background: The incidence of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in children varies dramatically between countries. Part of the explanation must be sought in environmental factors. Increasingly, public databases provide information on country-to-country environmental differences.

Comparison of a French pediatric type 1 diabetes cohort's responders and non-responders to an environmental questionnaire.

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) incidence has doubled since the 1980's for children aged <5 years old, potentially relevant environmental factors having thus to be sought early in the patient's life. The identification of environmental factors that can explain the changing epidemiology of T1D requires comprehensive environmental inquiries. However, a limitation is the willingness of patients and families to complete these environmental questionnaires.

An open source software for fast grid-based data-mining in spatial epidemiology (FGBASE).

Background: Examining whether disease cases are clustered in space is an important part of epidemiological research. Another important part of spatial epidemiology is testing whether patients suffering from a disease are more, or less, exposed to environmental factors of interest than adequately defined controls. Both approaches involve determining the number of cases and controls (or population at risk) in specific zones.

EpiBasket: how e-commerce tools can improve epidemiological preparedness.

Background: Should an emerging infectious disease outbreak or an environmental disaster occur, the collection of epidemiological data must start as soon as possible after the event's onset. Questionnaires are usually built de novo for each event, resulting in substantially delayed epidemiological responses that are detrimental to the understanding and control of the event considered. Moreover, the public health and/or academic institution databases constructed with responses to different questionnaires are usually difficult to merge, impairing necessary collaborations.

Age distribution of cases and deaths during the 1889 influenza pandemic.

Using historical data taken from archival records from five European countries and the United States, we evaluate the age distributions of influenza cases and deaths during the 1889 influenza pandemic. We found that the clinical attack rate in 1889 was relatively high and constant between the ages of 1 and 60 years, but was lower outside of the extremes of this age range. By contrast, age-specific influenza-related mortality rates were J-shaped and increased with age beyond 20 years.

Transmission parameters of the A/H1N1 (2009) influenza virus pandemic: a review.

Background: The new influenza virus A/H1N1 (2009), identified in mid-2009, rapidly spread over the world. Estimating the transmissibility of this new virus was a public health priority.

Methods: We reviewed all studies presenting estimates of the serial interval or generation time and the reproduction number of the A/H1N1 (2009) virus infection.

Modelers' perception of mathematical modeling in epidemiology: a web-based survey.

Background: Mathematical modeling in epidemiology (MME) is being used increasingly. However, there are many uncertainties in terms of definitions, uses and quality features of MME.

Methodology/principal Findings: To delineate the current status of these models, a 10-item questionnaire on MME was devised.

Surgical mask to prevent influenza transmission in households: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: Facemasks and respirators have been stockpiled during pandemic preparedness. However, data on their effectiveness for limiting transmission are scarce. We evaluated the effectiveness of facemask use by index cases for limiting influenza transmission by large droplets produced during coughing in households.

A method for selecting and monitoring medication sales for surveillance of gastroenteritis.

Purpose: Monitoring appropriate categories of medication sales can provide early warning of certain disease outbreaks. This paper presents a methodology for choosing and monitoring medication sales relevant for the surveillance of gastroenteritis and assesses the operational characteristics of the selected medications for early warning.

Methods: Acute diarrhoea incidences in mainland France were obtained from the Sentinelles network surveillance system for the period 2000-2009.

Sex effect in mouse and human prion disease.

Sex effect on the incubation period of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) disease in human and ME-7 murine models was investigated. In the 167 vCJD cases reported in the United Kingdom as of January 2009, age at onset was significantly lower in female patients (by 2 years) than in male patients after stratification on birth cohort. In C57/Bl6N mice infected with ME-7 scrapie strain, incubation was shorter in female than in male mice.