Exploring convolutional neural networks with transfer learning for diagnosing Lyme disease from skin lesion images.

Background And Objective: Lyme disease which is one of the most common infectious vector-borne diseases manifests itself in most cases with erythema migrans (EM) skin lesions. Recent studies show that convolutional neural networks (CNNs) perform well to identify skin lesions from images. Lightweight CNN based pre-scanner applications for resource-constrained mobile devices can help users with early diagnosis of Lyme disease and prevent the transition to a severe late form thanks to appropriate antibiotic therapy.

Nasopharyngeal swab-induced pain for SARS-CoV-2 screening: A randomised controlled trial of conventional and self-swabbing.

Background: Massive screening campaigns for SARS-CoV-2 are currently carried out throughout the world, relying on reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) following nasopharyngeal swabbing performed by a healthcare professional. Yet, due to the apprehension of pain induced by nasopharyngeal probing, poor adhesion to those screening campaigns can be observed. To enhance voluntary participation and to avoid unnecessary exposition to SARS-CoV-2, self-swabbing could be proposed.

High Prevalence of Headaches During Covid-19 Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: To document the prevalence of new headaches in patients with Covid-19 infection and the potential association with other neuro-sensorial symptoms (anosmia and ageusia). The persistence of these symptoms 1 month after recovery was also documented.

Background: Headaches are a very common symptom of viral infections.

Lyme snap: A feasibility study of on-line declarations of erythema migrans in a rural area of France.

The incidence of Lyme borreliosis remains a matter of debate, but it can be estimated using the incidence of erythema migrans (EM), which is pathognomonic of the first phase. The aim of this prospective pilot study was to assess the feasibility of the on-line declaration of EM in rural areas where the incidence of Lyme borreliosis was previously estimated at 85 per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The study was limited to a rural area (Les Combrailles, Auvergne) of approximately 52,800 inhabitants and was preceded by an information campaign for the inhabitants and the healthcare professionals.

Skin diseases in internationally adopted children.

Internationally adopted children often present diseases contracted in the country of origin. Skin diseases are common in new arrivals, and diagnosis may prove challenging for GPs or even dermatologists if they are inexperienced in the extensive geographic and ethnic diversity of international adoptees. To analyse the frequency and characteristics of skin diseases in international adoptees.

Varicella outbreak in Sudanese refugees from Calais.

We describe an outbreak of varicella in 31 Sudanese refugees (all except one were male, mean age: 26 ± 1), from the Calais migrant camp and sheltered in a French transit area. The attack rate was 39%. Adults are scantly immunized against varicella zoster virus in East Africa and may be exposed to epidemics once in France.

Landscape and climatic characteristics associated with human alveolar echinococcosis in France, 1982 to 2007.

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a severe hepatic disease caused by Echinococcus multilocularis. In France, the definitive and intermediate hosts of E. multilocularis (foxes and rodents, respectively) have a broader geographical distribution than that of human AE.

Staphylococcus aureus-Related Diabetic Osteomyelitis: Medical or Surgical Management? A French and Spanish Retrospective Cohort.

Staphylococcus aureus is the main cause of diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) and can be treated medically or by surgery. We investigated the outcome of consecutive patients with a diagnosis of S aureus DFO retrospectively in 4 hospitals according to the type of management, medical (including debridement at bedside) or surgical. The outcome was classified as either favorable or failure (relapse, impaired wound healing, or amputation).

Suppressive therapy using azithromycin in 2 rare cases of recurrent staphylococcal infections.

Recurrent staphylococcal skin and soft tissue infections may recur despite decontamination and multiple courses of antibiotic therapy and may dramatically impair the patient's quality of life. We report successful use of long-term azithromycin prophylaxis in a recurrent laryngitis and a scalp folliculitis due to methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus.

Transmission of infectious diseases from internationally adopted children to their adoptive families.

Internationally adopted children may suffer from different pathologies, including infectious diseases contracted in the country of origin. We evaluated the frequency of infectious diseases that may disseminate from adoptees to adoptive families on their arrival in France. All children who attended the clinic for international adoption in Clermont-Ferrand from January 2009 through to December 2011 were eligible for inclusion in the study.

[Osteolytic bone lesion: vertebral alveolar echinococcosis in a patient with splenectomy].

Introduction: Osteolytic lesions are not always related to malignancies.

Case Report: We report an 82-year-old woman suffering from subcostal pain. The patient underwent a splenectomy 40 years previously.

Shift of the 2009-2011 measles outbreak from children to adults: an observational review at the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, France.

In 2009-2011, 113 adult in- and outpatients with measles were referred to the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand (centre of France): 71 (62.8 %) needed hospitalisation, 31 had pneumonia, 29 diarrhoea, 47 liver enzymes elevation, 38 thrombopaenia, one encephalitis and there were no deaths. Nineteen cases occurred among healthcare workers and five of them were hospital-acquired.

Populations at risk for alveolar echinococcosis, France.

During 1982-2007, alveolar echinococcosis (AE) was diagnosed in 407 patients in France, a country previously known to register half of all European patients. To better define high-risk groups in France, we conducted a national registry-based study to identify areas where persons were at risk and spatial clusters of cases. We interviewed 180 AE patients about their way of life and compared responses to those of 517 controls.

[Update on vaccine research. Proceedings of the 15th annual conference on vaccine research organized by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases].

Every year, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases brings together more than 300 participants to review progress in vaccine research and development and identify the most promising avenues of research. These conferences are among the most important scientific meetings entirely dedicated to vaccine research for both humans and animals, and provide a mix of plenary sessions with invited presentations by acknowledged international experts, parallel sessions, poster sessions, and informal exchanges between experts and young researchers. During the Fifteenth Conference that took place in Baltimore in May 2012, various topics were addressed, including the scientific basis for vaccinology; exploration of the immune response; novel vaccine design; new adjuvants; evaluation of the impact of newly introduced vaccines (such as rotavirus, HPV vaccines); vaccine safety; and immunization strategies.

[The French Committee for the prevention and control of influenza and the 2009 influenza pandemic: Lessons learnt].

The Committee for the Prevention and Control of Influenza (Comité de lutte contre la Grippe - CLCG) is an advisory committee to the French Health Minister for a medical and scientific collective expertise on the measures to be implemented to control or to reduce the impact of an epidemic or a pandemic of influenza. Appointed by decree, the CLCG consists of ex-officio members; representatives of French Agencies strongly involved by influenza and qualified personalities, representing various fields of expertise. Collective expertise is based on consensus after thorough collective discussion.

Health care support issues for internationally adopted children: a qualitative approach to the needs and expectations of families.

Background: Families of internationally adopted children may face specific problems with which general practitioners (GPs) may not be familiar. The aim of the study was to explore problems faced by families before, during and after the arrival of their internationally adopted child and to assess the usefulness of a specific medical structure for internationally adopted children, which could be a resource for the GP.

Methodology/principal Findings: We conducted a qualitative study using individual semistructured guided conversations and interviewed 21 families that had adopted a total of 26 children internationally in the Puy de Dome department, France, in 2003.

[Current events in vaccination].

The annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) ; which brought together nearly 5000 participants from over 80 countries in Vancouver, Canada, October 21 to 24, 2010 ; provided a review of the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic, evaluated vaccination programmes and presented new vaccines under development. With 12,500 deaths in the United States in 2009-2010, the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic was actually less deadly than the seasonal flu. But it essentially hit the young, and the toll calculated in years of life lost is high.

[Current events in vaccination].

The annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA); which brought together nearly 5000 participants from over 80 countries in Vancouver, Canada, October 21 to 24, 2010; provided a review of the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic, evaluated vaccination programmes and presented new vaccines under development. With 12,500 deaths in the United States in 2009-2010, the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic was actually less deadly than the seasonal flu. But it essentially hit the young, and the toll calculated in years of life lost is high.

Clinical features and evolution of alveolar echinococcosis in France from 1982 to 2007: results of a survey in 387 patients.

Background & Aims: Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a rare disease in humans, caused by the larval stage of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis.

Methods: We present here 387 detailed AE cases diagnosed in France from 1982 to 2007 actively identified by a retrospective survey performed in 1997-1998 and prospectively thereafter.

Results: Male:female ratio was 1.

Culture of per-wound bone specimens: a simplified approach for the medical management of diabetic foot osteomyelitis.

Surgical percutaneous bone biopsy specimen after a 14-day antibiotic-free period represents the gold standard of care for diabetic foot osteomyelitis but may be difficult to implement in many institutions. We evaluate a simplified strategy based on the results of per-wound bone specimen culture. For that purpose, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of 80 consecutive patients with diabetic osteomyelitis and bone sample obtained via the wound after a careful debridement.