Improvement of patient care through hirudotherapy and the management of leeches from their reception to their disposal in France.

Objective: Medicinal leech therapy - known as hirudotherapy (HT) - is an empirical medical technique that has become popular again in reconstructive surgery. However, at each step of leech management there are risks for blood contamination of the caregivers and severe infections for patients. This reduces the success of the treatment.

Professional practice for COVID-19 risk reduction among health care workers: A cross-sectional study with matched case-control comparison.

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are particularly exposed to COVID-19 and therefore it is important to study preventive measures in this population.

Aim: To investigate socio-demographic factors and professional practice associated with the risk of COVID-19 among HCWs in health establishments in Normandy, France.

Methods: A cross-sectional and 3 case-control studies using bootstrap methods were conducted in order to explore the possible risk factors that lead to SARS-CoV2 transmission within HCWs.

Healthcare associated coronavirus disease 2019 among health care workers in Normandy, France: a multi-center study.

Introduction: In the early phase of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic in France, knowledge of SARS-COV-2 characteristics was limited, and personal protective equipment (PPE) was lacking. Thus, health care workers (HCWs) were exposed to nosocomial transmission.

Methods: A multicenter regional descriptive study of fifty-two heath care facilities covering 30,533 HCWs in western Normandy, France, from March 3 to March 27, 2020, before the incidence threshold of 10/100,000 inhabitants was crossed in the study area.

Enterobacteriaceae surgical site infection after cardiac surgery: the hypothetical role of vancomycin.

Background: In the middle of October 2011, the Hygiene Department of Caen University Hospital suspected an outbreak of surgical site infections (SSI) after open-heart operations with an unusually high proportion of microorganisms belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. The attack rate was 3.8%, significantly different (p = 0.

Rapid detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci from rectal swabs by the Cepheid Xpert vanA/vanB assay.

The detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci using a novel commercial multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay (Xpert vanA/vanB, Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) was evaluated on 804 rectal swab specimens. Compared to enriched culture, sensitivity and negative predictive value of this method were 100%. Many false-positive results were recovered (sensitivity, 85.