Publications by authors named "Benedicte Delaere"

Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study was to collect epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, imaging, management, and follow-up data on cases of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) diagnosed and/or followed up within the Namur Hospital Network (NHN) in order to gather information on the challenges, pitfalls, and overall experience in the diagnosis and treatment of AE.

Methods: EchiNam was a multicenter retrospective study. Patients diagnosed and/or treated for probable or confirmed AE in the NHN between 2002 and 2023 were included in the study.

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Background: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with haematological malignancies. Accurate diagnosis of IA is challenging due to non-specific symptoms and the impact of antifungal prophylaxis on biomarker sensitivity.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the diagnostic performance of three serum biomarkers: Galactomannan Ag VirClia Monotest (VirClia), Wako β-D-Glucan Test (Wako BDG), and MycoGENIE Real-Time PCR (MycoGENIE PCR).

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Influenza A viruses circulated in Europe from September 2023 to January 2024, with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 predominance. We provide interim 2023/24 influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) estimates from two European studies, covering 10 countries across primary care (EU-PC) and hospital (EU-H) settings. Interim IVE was higher against A(H1N1)pdm09 than A(H3N2): EU-PC influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 IVE was 53% (95% CI: 41 to 63) and 30% (95% CI: -3 to 54) against influenza A(H3N2).

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers used EmsB microsatellite polymorphism to analyze 18 samples from Belgian AE patients, identifying three distinct genetic profiles among these specimens.
  • * Findings suggest Belgian E. multilocularis specimens show genetic diversity and share profiles with red foxes in neighboring regions, but no clear link was found between genetic profiles and geographical location, indicating the need for further research.
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Background: To support the COVID-19 pandemic response, many countries, including Belgium, implemented baseline genomic surveillance (BGS) programs aiming to early detect and characterize new SARS-CoV-2 variants. In parallel, Belgium maintained a sentinel network of six hospitals that samples patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and integrated SARS-CoV-2 detection within a broader range of respiratory pathogens. We evaluate the ability of the SARI surveillance to monitor general trends and early signals of viral genetic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and compare it with the BGS as a reference model.

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BackgroundKnowledge on the burden attributed to influenza viruses vs other respiratory viruses in children hospitalised with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) in Belgium is limited.AimThis observational study aimed at describing the epidemiology and assessing risk factors for severe disease.MethodsWe retrospectively analysed data from routine national sentinel SARI surveillance in Belgium.

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BackgroundSeasonal influenza-like illness (ILI) affects millions of people yearly. Severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), mainly influenza, are a leading cause of hospitalisation and mortality. Increasing evidence indicates that non-influenza respiratory viruses (NIRV) also contribute to the burden of SARI.

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Hospital staff are a priority target group in the European COVID-19 vaccination strategy. Measuring the extent of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and understanding the reasons behind it are essential to be able to tailor effective communication campaigns. Using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical framework, a survey was conducted among staff members of a Belgian three-site hospital center between 6 and 20 January 2021.

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Background: Seasonal human coronaviruses (hCoVs) broadly circulate in humans. Their epidemiology and effect on the spread of emerging coronaviruses has been neglected thus far. We aimed to elucidate the epidemiology and burden of disease of seasonal hCoVs OC43, NL63, and 229E in patients in primary care and hospitals in Belgium between 2015 and 2020.

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BackgroundRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of severe respiratory illness in young children (< 5 years old) and older adults (≥ 65 years old) leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend the implementation of a dedicated surveillance in countries.AimWe tested the capacity of the severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) hospital network to contribute to RSV surveillance in Belgium.MethodsDuring the 2018/19 influenza season, we started the SARI surveillance for influenza in Belgium in week 40, earlier than in the past, to follow RSV activity, which usually precedes influenza virus circulation.

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Objective: To assess the prevalence of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults hospitalized for a respiratory infection in the winter months and to evaluate the impact of a viral diagnosis on empirical antimicrobial management (antibiotics and antivirals).

Design: Observational cohort study.

Setting: Acute-care university hospital.

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Optimising antibiotic administration is critical when dealing with pathogens with reduced susceptibility. Vancomycin activity is dependent on the area under the concentration-time curve over 24 h at steady-state divided by the minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC/MIC), making continuous infusion (CI) or conventional twice daily administration pharmacodynamically equipotent. Because CI facilitates drug administration and serum level monitoring, we have implemented a protocol for CI of vancomycin by: (i) examining whether maintaining stable serum concentrations (set at 25-30 mg/L based on local susceptibility data of Gram-positive target organisms) can be achieved in patients suffering from difficult-to-treat infections; (ii) assessing toxicity (n = 94) and overall efficacy (n = 59); and (iii) examining the correlation between AUC/MIC and the clinical outcome in patients for whom vancomycin was the only active agent against a single causative pathogen (n = 20).

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Background: Description of the clinical pictures of patients colonized or infected by ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates and admitted to hospital are rather scarce in Europe. However, a better delineation of the clinical patterns associated with the carriage of ESBL-producing isolates may allow healthcare providers to identify more rapidly at risk patients. This matter is of particular concern because of the growing proportion of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae species isolates worldwide.

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Objectives: To evaluate a simple treatment algorithm in sternal wound infection (SWI) allowing for primary closure and to describe the different surgical techniques and their associated morbidity and mortality.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all patients operated on between 1996 and 2004 in a single tertiary care institution. All epidemiological and surgical data were prospectively collected in our database.

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A 39-year-old healthy female patient with an unremarkable medical history complained about a rapidly progressive pain for a period of 1 month at the level of the anterior part of the right leg that was not relieved by NSAIDs. She mentioned only that she resumed her high level sport training 6 months before the onset of the symptoms. There was no specific history of trauma, fever, or other distinctive symptoms.

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