Air pollution exposure induces a decrease in type II interferon response: A paired cohort study.

Background: While air pollution is a major issue due to its harmful effects on human health, few studies focus on its impact on the immune system and vulnerability to viral infections. The lockdown declared following the COVID-19 pandemic represents a unique opportunity to study the large-scale impact of variations in air pollutants in real life. We hypothesized that variations in air pollutants modify Th1 response represented by interferon (IFN) γ production.

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with an increased incidence and mortality of acute respiratory distress syndrome in a large French region.

Introduction: Air pollution exposure is suspected to alter both the incidence and mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The impact of chronic air pollutant exposure on the incidence and mortality of ARDS from various aetiologies in Europe remains unknown. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of ARDS in a large European region, 90-day mortality being the main secondary outcome.

Simulating the impact of volatilization on atmospheric concentrations of pesticides with the 3D chemistry-transport model CHIMERE: Method development and application to S-metolachlor and folpet.

A module to simulate the volatilization of pesticides from soils and plants was implemented in the air quality model CHIMERE in order to simulate spatiotemporal distribution of pesticide atmospheric concentrations. Pesticide applications are spatially distributed according to the quantities of pesticides sold per municipality in France (recorded in the French BNVD-S database) and are temporally distributed according to the application periods determined with enquiries. The model was applied to S-metolachlor and folpet.

Advanced Proteomics as a Powerful Tool for Studying Toxins of Human Bacterial Pathogens.

Exotoxins contribute to the infectious processes of many bacterial pathogens, mainly by causing host tissue damages. The production of exotoxins varies according to the bacterial species. Recent advances in proteomics revealed that pathogenic bacteria are capable of simultaneously producing more than a dozen exotoxins.

Inadequate labeling of pork sausages prepared in Corsica causing a trichinellosis outbreak in France.

Three cases of human trichinellosis due to Trichinella britovi were reported in 2015 in the Southeast of France resulting from consumption of raw pork sausages (figatelli) prepared in Corsica. Fourteen other people ate figatelli from the same batch but were not infected due to the figatelli being well cooked. This is the first reported human trichinellosis outbreak due to consumption of Corsican sausages prepared from uncontrolled pork.

Low measles vaccination coverage among medical residents in Marseille, France: reasons for non-vaccination, March 2013.

Background: During 2008-12, France and Europe experienced large measles outbreaks, involving also healthcare workers (HCW). We aimed to estimate the vaccination coverage (VC) of measles among medical residents of the University of Aix/Marseille, in South-Eastern France.

Methods: In March 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional study among all medical residents of the Medical Faculty of Aix/Marseille.

Capture-recapture method for estimating annual incidence of imported dengue, France, 2007-2010.

Imported dengue cases pose the public health risk for local circulation in European areas, especially southeast France, where the Aedes mosquito is established. Using a capture-recapture method with Chao's estimator, we estimated the annual incidence of dengue fever and the completeness of existing mandatory notification and laboratory network surveillance systems. During 2007-2010, >8,300 cases with laboratory evidence of recent dengue infection were diagnosed.

[Screening and prevention of tuberculosis, an experiment in Marseille].

In order to apply the recommendations of the French High Council on Public Health (CSHPF), the association "Médecins du Monde" and the departmental centre for the fight against tuberculosis led; in 2010-2011, two campaigns for on-site screening, in Marseille, with Roma families in situations of precariousness. These campaigns came up against a number of difficulties which must be addressed in order to make them more effective.

First two autochthonous dengue virus infections in metropolitan France, September 2010.

In September 2010, two cases of autochthonous dengue fever were diagnosed in metropolitan France for the first time. The cases occurring in Nice, southeast France, where Aedes albopictus is established, are evidence of dengue virus circulation in this area. This local transmission of dengue calls for further enhanced surveillance, active case finding and vector control measures to reduce the spread of the virus and the risk of an epidemic.

Health impact of unicellular algae of the Ostreopsis genus blooms in the Mediterranean Sea: experience of the French Mediterranean coast surveillance network from 2006 to 2009.

Objective: Ostreopsis ovata and Ostreopsis siamensis are tropical unicellular algae that have been found recently in the Mediterranean. Both of these dinoflagellates produce palytoxin (PTX)-like toxins that are powerful vasoconstrictors in mammals. Since 2003, Ostreopsis blooms in Italy and Spain have been accompanied by reports of respiratory problems and skin/mucosa irritation in persons in contact with toxic microalgal cells (epiphytes, plankton, or sea spray) or associated toxins.

A case of autochthonous Plasmodium vivax malaria, Corsica, August 2006.

A case of Plasmodium vivax malaria was diagnosed in Corsica in summer 2006. This is the first case of autochthonous transmission of malaria to be reported in Corsica since 1972. Corsica is a well-known malaria endemic region characterised, for several years now by an anophelism situation without malaria disease, due to the presence of An.

[Genital infections in women, in community practice. Comparison of two studies, 1987 and 2002].

One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six clinical and biological cervico-vaginal flora samples from genital infections in women observed in community practice in 1987 were compared to 368 samples collected in 2001. The diagnosis of sexually transmitted infection (STI) was rarely made. Nonetheless, examining these samples made it possible either to prescribe a specific treatment for a confirmed infection (chlamydia, trichonomiasis, candidiasis, gonococci, vaginosis), or to modify a long-term treatment that was often ineffective and sometimes badly tolerated.

Outbreak of typhoid fever on the French Riviera.

A case-control study was conducted to establish the source of a community outbreak of typhoid fever in Utelle, France, a village located in the Alpes-Maritimes district of the French Riviera. Thirteen confirmed cases of typhoid fever and 41 confirmed community controls were included in the study. Cases and controls did not differ regarding ingestion of water.

[Knowledge, opinions and attitudes of physicians regarding air pollution in the Bouches-du-Rhône].

Objective: To evaluate knowledge, opinions and attitudes of physicians towards prevention of health consequences from air pollution, especially photo-chemical pollution.

Methods: A questionnaire was prepared by a multidisciplinary group from published literature on Health impact of air pollution and from local context. It was administered on line among a random sample of physicians practising in the County of the Bouches du Rhône (Marseille, South-eastern France).

Gaseous air pollution and atopy.

Background: Photochemical air pollutants are commonly thought to be implicated in the gradual increase in the prevalence of atopy. However, no epidemiological data are available.

Methods: To clarify this issue, we performed a cross-sectional epidemiological survey in 2604 primary school children, 10 and 11 years old, living in seven communities among which some have the highest photochemical exposure in France.

The prevalence of reported asthma is independent of exposure in house dust mite-sensitized children.

In areas with low house dust mite (HDM) allergen exposure, both mite sensitization and asthma prevalence are low. In most other areas, HDM allergen exposure is higher than the threshold for sensitization. In this setting, is HDM allergen exposure a factor which is causally related to the development of asthma in HDM-sensitive individuals? To answer this question, the cumulative prevalence of asthma was evaluated in a group of 157 schoolchildren, aged 10 and 11 yrs, who were allergic to HDM allergen, and compared it with HDM allergen exposure and atopic status, using univariate and multivariate analysis.

Urban outbreak of Q fever, Briancon, France, March to June 1996.

Q fever is an ubiquitous zoonosis caused by the rickettsial organism Coxiella burnetii. Both sporadic cases and epidemics occur in areas where sheep and goats are bred. The main route of transmission is by inhalation of aerosols from the environment (soil

Diffusion of enoxacin into the cerebrospinal fluid in dogs with healthy meninges and with experimental meningitis.

After a 1 h intravenous injection of 12.5 and 25 mg/kg enoxacin in dogs with healthy meninges, the concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid observed between 90 and 240 min averaged 2.6 (1.