An acute gastroenteritis (AG) outbreak occurred among participants in an obstacle race in France in the summer of 2015. An investigation in two phases was conducted to identify the source of infection and document the extent of the outbreak. First, a message on a social media website asked racers to report any symptoms by email to the Regional Health Agency of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: During 2008-12, France and Europe experienced large measles outbreaks, involving also healthcare workers (HCW). We aimed to estimate the vaccination coverage (VC) of measles among medical residents of the University of Aix/Marseille, in South-Eastern France.
Methods: In March 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional study among all medical residents of the Medical Faculty of Aix/Marseille.
On June 15th, 2010, the Var district was hit by heavy rain causing floods and mudslides. A nursing home for elderly people was subject to an emergency evacuation and had to relocate 140 residents in other hosting facilities in the region. A prospective cohort study was conducted through two evaluations of the residents' health conditions: before the flood and five months after they had returned in their homes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe diagnostic value of RT-PCR of amniotic fluid (AF) for prenatal diagnosis of congenital rubella virus infection in 45 pregnant women with confirmed primary infection was assessed. Specificity of RT-PCR was 100% and sensitivity ranged between 83 and 95%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn France, two sources of data, the mandatory notification and the laboratory network EPIBAC, allow the health authorities to follow the incidence of bacterial meningitis (BM) and to assess the relative frequency of the micro-organisms responsible for such infection. In 1999, more than 1,000 cases of BM were notified in France. The more common micro-organisms were: Streptococcus pneumoniae 46%, Neisseria meningitidis 32% and Streptococcus agalactiae(or Streptococcus B) 11%.
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