Antibiotic Therapy for 6 or 12 Weeks for Prosthetic Joint Infection.

Background: The management of prosthetic joint infection usually consists of a combination of surgery and antimicrobial therapy. The appropriate duration of antimicrobial therapy for this indication remains unclear.

Methods: We performed an open-label, randomized, controlled, noninferiority trial to compare 6 weeks with 12 weeks of antibiotic therapy in patients with microbiologically confirmed prosthetic joint infection that had been managed with an appropriate surgical procedure.

A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study Evaluating the Efficacy of a Combination of Propolis and Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) (DUAB®) in Preventing Low Urinary Tract Infection Recurrence in Women Complaining of Recurrent Cystitis.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to compare the efficacy of a product containing cranberry and propolis (DUAB) to placebo for reducing frequency of cystitis in women with recurrent acute cystitis.

Method: A multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized study of women aged >18 years with at least 4 episodes of cystitis in the previous 12 months was performed. The number of cystitis episodes over a 6-month follow-up was the primary end point.

Characteristics of and risk factors for severe neurological deficit in patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis: A case-control study.

Severe neurological deficit (SND) is a rare but major complication of pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis (PVO). We aimed to determine the risk factors and the variables associated with clinical improvement for SND during PVO.This case-control study included patients without PVO-associated SND enrolled in a prospective randomized antibiotic duration study, and patients with PVO-associated SND managed in 8 French referral centers.

Susceptibility Pattern of Microorganisms Isolated by Percutaneous Needle Biopsy in Nonbacteremic Pyogenic Vertebral Osteomyelitis.

Pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) is diagnosed according to several lines of evidence: clinical, biological, radiological, and histological. Definitive diagnosis requires the isolation of a causative pathogen or histological confirmation. The aim of our study was to describe the microorganisms isolated by percutaneous needle biopsy (PNB) and to analyze their susceptibility patterns, in order to assess the possibility of empirical combination therapy for the treatment of nonbacteremic patients without resorting to PNB.

Nontuberculous Mycobacteria: An Underestimated Cause of Bioprosthetic Valve Infective Endocarditis.

Background.  Atypical mycobacteria, or nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), have been barely reported as infective endocarditis (IE) agents. Methods.

Antibiotic treatment for 6 weeks versus 12 weeks in patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis: an open-label, non-inferiority, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Duration of treatment for patients with vertebral osteomyelitis is mainly based on expert recommendation rather than evidence. We aimed to establish whether 6 weeks of antibiotic treatment is non-inferior to 12 weeks in patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis.

Methods: In this open-label, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial, we enrolled patients aged 18 years or older with microbiologically confirmed pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis and typical radiological features from 71 medical care centres across France.

Safety and immunogenicity of yellow fever 17D vaccine in adults receiving systemic corticosteroid therapy: an observational cohort study.

Objective: To assess the safety and immunogenicity of live attenuated yellow fever (YF) 17D vaccine in adults receiving systemic corticosteroid therapy.

Methods: All adult travelers on systemic corticosteroid therapy who had received the YF17D vaccine in 24 French vaccination centers were prospectively enrolled and matched with healthy controls (1:2) on age and history of YF17D immunization. Safety was assessed in a self-administered standardized questionnaire within 10 days after immunization.

Frequent carriage of Panton-Valentine leucocidin genes by Staphylococcus aureus isolates from surgically drained abscesses.

Between 1 February and 15 April 2002, 95 patients were admitted to Gaston Bourret Territorial Hospital (New Caledonia, France) for drainage of community-acquired soft tissue abscesses. Staphylococcus aureus was detected in 68 cases (72%). Two-thirds of the patients with S.

Association between Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying gene for Panton-Valentine leukocidin and highly lethal necrotising pneumonia in young immunocompetent patients.

Background: Between 1986 and 1998, eight cases of community-acquired pneumonia due to Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying the gene for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) were recorded in France, six of which were fatal. We aimed to assess the clinical features of these eight cases, and those of other cases identified prospectively, and to compare them with the characteristics of patients with pneumonia caused by PVL-negative strains.

Methods: We compared eight retrospective and eight prospective cases of PVL-positive S aureus pneumonia with 36 cases of PVL-negative S aureus pneumonia.