Is there an association between prior anti-inflammatory drug exposure and occurrence of peritonsillar abscess (PTA)? A national multicenter prospective observational case-control study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether recent systemic anti-inflammatory agents (AIAs) exposure in patients with sore throat managed with or without antibiotic therapy influenced the risk of peritonsillar abscess (PTA). We conducted a multicenter case-control study in 13 French university hospitals in 2009-2012 comparing patients admitted with PTA to matched controls: patients with sore throat but without PTA who were followed up for 10 days after visiting their primary-care physician. In the multivariate stepwise logistic regression model comparing 120 cases with PTA to 143 controls, factors significantly associated with PTA were male gender (odds ratio [OR], 2.

Peritonsillar abscess (PTA): clinical characteristics, microbiology, drug exposures and outcomes of a large multicenter cohort survey of 412 patients hospitalized in 13 French university hospitals.

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of hospitalized patients with peritonsillar abscess (PTA). We conducted a multicenter survey in 13 French university hospitals in 2009-2012 describing 412 patients. Median age was 29 year (range, 2-84) and current smoking habit was reported by 177 (43 %) patients.

Prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli in community-onset urinary tract infections in France in 2013.

Objectives: We sought to assess the importance of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae in urinary tract infections in outpatients in France.

Methods: Retrospective laboratory based survey analysing susceptibility patterns of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates providing from urines collected from outpatients during three months in 2013.

Results: Four hundred and ninety-nine laboratories collected data on 51,643 E.

[Antimicrobial in nursing homes in a French region: point prevalence survey and consumption in 2012].

Infectious diseases and bacterial resistance are gaining importance in nursing homes. A few studies about antibiotic (AB) consumption in nursing homes (NHs) already exist. A national survey was performed by the European surveillance of antimicrobial consumption with the aim of gaining insight in NHs care to all European countries.

Three years of antibiotic consumption evaluation in French nursing homes.

Objectives: We had for aim to assess antibiotic consumption and to better understand their use in nursing homes so as to target messages on relevant practice procedures sent to prescribers.

Design: The MedQual network asked nursing homes with in-house pharmacies to participate in a retrospective collection of yearly antibiotic consumption data with an Excel(®) spread sheet according to the Health Ministry recommendations.

Results: Fifty-two nursing homes participated in 2011, 2012, and 74 in 2013, accounting for 10% of the Pays de la Loire region's nursing homes and 15% of beds.

[Developing a terminology in the French language for clinical practice and research in drug safety].

While several attempts have been made to clarify the English terminology of drug-related iatrogeny, a consensus has still not been reached in the French language. We set up a multidisciplinary task force to propose a terminology that differs from the one used in pharmacovigilance and risk management. We prefer the term "adverse drug event" (ADE) over "adverse drug reaction", and recommend avoiding the term "adverse event", which is too general.

Establishing a pharmacy presence in the emergency department: opportunities and challenges in the French setting.

Overview of clinical pharmacy practice around the world shows that pharmaceutical services in emergency departments (EDs) are far less common in Europe than in North America. Reported experiences have shown the impact of a clinical pharmacy service on drug utilisation and safety issues. This commentary presents the implementation of a pharmacy presence in the ED of a French tertiary care hospital.

Adverse drug event nonrecognition in emergency departments: an exploratory study on factors related to patients and drugs.

Background: Many adverse drug events (ADEs) are not identified by emergency physicians. Research has been done to study risk factors for ADEs and help emergency physicians diagnose ADEs. However, no research has specifically examined the causes underlying a lack of attribution of ADEs to medications in emergency department (ED) patients.

Epidemiology of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant community-acquired Enterobacteria isolated from elderly patients.

Aims: This survey was made to study the epidemiology of multiresistant bacteria (MRB) in the French community, among elderly patients 65 years of age or more, carrying third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-resistant) Enterobacteriaceae, and the co-resistance of prescribed antibiotics.

Methods: The data was collected in 2009 in the West of France by MedQual, a network of 174 private laboratories.

Results: Two thousand one hundred and sixty strains of the 88,255 identified Enterobacteria strains were 3GC-resistant (2.

A national network of infectious diseases experts.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to consider the implementation of a network of infectious diseases (ID) experts to optimize the antibiotic prescriptions of community and hospital practitioners.

Methods: An observational prospective study was conducted among ID experts in the Pays-de-la-Loire Region to evaluate the number of calls and to determine the practitioner's reasons for soliciting ID expertise. For each phone consultation, four criteria were recorded during 5 days: origin of the call (internal/external), kind of question (diagnostic/therapeutic) time spent for the advice provided, type of advice.

Frequency and severity of adverse drug reactions due to self-medication: a cross-sectional multicentre survey in emergency departments.

Background: Little is known about the relation of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to self-use of medications.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of ADRs related to self-medication (ADR-SM) among emergency department (ED) patients and to describe their main characteristics.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted over a period of 8 weeks (1 March to 20 April 2010), in the ED of 11 French academic hospitals.

[Self-medicating behaviours in patients admitted to a medical emergency department].

Objective: To describe the self-medicating behaviours (SMBs) in patients admitted to a tertiary care medical emergency department (ED); to study the factors associated with SMBs.

Methods: Observational cross-sectional study conducted in 2009. Included patients were interviewed about their SMBs using a standardized questionnaire.

Relationship between hospital antibiotic use and quinolone resistance in Escherichia coli.

Background: The relationship between the hospital use of various classes of antibiotics and resistance of Escherichia coli to quinolones remains debated. Our aim was to study the relationship between the hospital use of 16 classes of antibacterial agents and the incidence of quinolone-resistant E. coli isolates.

A questionnaire to document self-medication history in adult patients visiting emergency departments.

Purpose: To develop the first questionnaire to obtain a complete medication history by documenting self-medication history in adult patients admitted to a medical emergency department (ED).

Methods: A Questionnaire to document Self-Medicating Behaviours (QSMB) was developed between January and September 2008 (reference period), tested and refined between October and December 2008, and used routinely between January and December 2009 (routine period) in a tertiary care medical ED. The rate of SMBs measured with QSMB during the routine period was compared to the SMB rate measured with a spontaneous reporting method during the reference period.

Implementing a clinical pharmacy survey of adverse drug events in a French emergency department.

Background: The prevalence of adverse drug events (ADEs) occurring in the ambulatory setting is high, requiring the development of a coherent and comprehensive patient-safety policy framework. Former experiences demonstrated that emergency department (ED) surveillance can help characterise the burden of outpatient ADEs. We developed a clinical pharmacy programme called the clinical pharmacy survey of adverse drug events (CPSA) to support interventions and research projects in the area of ADE prevention and management.

Assessment of adverse drug event recognition by emergency physicians in a French teaching hospital.

Objectives: The frequency and the severity of drug-related visits in emergency department (ED) make the improvement of adverse drug event (ADE) recognition a crucial issue. As part of a research project aiming to improve the diagnosis and the management of ADEs in ED, the authors conducted a pilot study whose primary objective was to assess ADE recognition by emergency physicians.

Methods: The patients presenting to the ED were included at randomised time periods between 1 October 2007 and 31 March 2008 in this prospective cross-sectional study.

[Grapefruit consumption and food-drug interaction hazard].

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of grapefruit consumption in patients admitted to a tertiary care emergency department (ED) and its potential impact on the risk of fruit-drug interaction.

Methods: Observational cross-sectional study conducted in a medical ED between July and December 2009. Data analysis searched for the main drugs which can dramatically interact with grapefruit and for adverse drug events (ADEs).

Who are the carriers of MRSA in the community? A prospective study in the Pays de la Loire region of France.

The aim of this study was to determine the demographic characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriers in the community, to assess their risk factors and possible past hospitalization history and to describe the different resistance phenotypes of community isolates of S. aureus. Data were collected over the course of 16 months (from June 2005 to September 2006) in the Pays de la Loire region of France by MedQual, a network of private biological analysis laboratories.

Susceptibility to the main antibiotics of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains identified in community acquired infections in France (MedQual, 2004-2007).

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility of bacterial strains identified in community-acquired infections. Surveillance was made by a network of 32 medical analysis laboratories in the five departments of the French Region "Pays de la Loire".

Methods: All Escherichia coli (E.

[Use of rapid diagnostic tests of tonsillitis in medical practice. Survey conducted from November 2006 to January 2007 in Pays de la Loire (France)].

Introduction: The use of the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and the strategy of management of pharyngitis in medical practice are little known.

Methods: During the 2006-2007 winter, a survey was conducted in the Pays de la Loire Region to evaluate the use of the RDT. A focus group was also organised.

[Prior use of anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drugs in patients hospitalized for peritonsillar abscess].

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of patients hospitalized for a peritonsillar abscess over a 1-year period and to evaluate the proportion of patients exposed to anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drugs before hospitalization.

Design: Adult patients hospitalized in the ENT department at the Nantes University Hospital were included in the study during 2006. Data related to prior use of anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drugs, microbiology and treatment was analyzed.

[Information for the patient in hospitals: the implicit shared role among professionals].

Objective: Perceived practices declared by physicians were assessed in order to determine the role of the different professionals in patient medical information, the communication methods and traceability practices used in patient files. Method Data were collected using an anonymous questionnaire sent by mail in April 2003 to the 794 physicians of the University Hospital of Nantes (France).

Results: The participation rate was of 38% (302 responses) and differed according to the medical categories: university professors (44%), young seniors (50%), hospital practitioners (43%) and practitioners under contract (21%).

[Drug administration to paediatric inpatient].

Objective: Available commercial drugs in France are often unsuitable for children. The aim of this study was, for every medicinal form orally or parenterally administered, to identify and to quantify difficulties met by the nurses administering drugs to paediatric inpatients and to propose solutions to main identified problems.

Material And Method: The study was realized in 14 hospitals by direct observation.