Association between sexual behaviour and head and neck cancer in the French West Indies: a case-control study based on an Afro-Caribbean population.

Background: Worldwide, a significant proportion of head and neck cancers is attributed to the Human papillomavirus (HPV). It is imperative that we acquire a solid understanding of the natural history of this virus in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) development. Our objective was to investigate the role of sexual behaviour in the occurrence of HNSCC in the French West Indies.

Head and neck cancer risk factors in the French West Indies.

Objectives: The incidence of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in the French West Indies (FWI) is relatively high, despite a low prevalence of tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking. Little is known about other risk factors in the FWI. We assessed associations between several factors and HNSCC risk, their population attributable fractions (PAF) in the FWI, and compared these PAFs by subsite, sex and age.

Shifting From Sectoral to Integrated Surveillance by Changing Collaborative Practices: Application to West Nile Virus Surveillance in a Small Island State of the Caribbean.

After spreading in the Americas, West Nile virus was detected in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) for the first time in 2002. Ever since, several organizations have conducted research, serological surveys, and surveillance activities to detect the virus in horses, birds, mosquitoes, and humans. Organizations often carried them out independently, leading to knowledge gaps within the current virus' situation.

Seroprevalence of chikungunya virus infection among HIV-infected adults in French Caribbean Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe in 2015: A cross-sectional study.

Background: In 2014, a first outbreak of chikungunya hit the Caribbean area where chikungunya virus (CHIKV) had never circulated before.

Methodology/principal Findings: We conducted a cross-sectional study to measure the seroprevalence of CHIKV immediately after the end of the 2014 outbreak in HIV-infected people followed up in two clinical cohorts at the University hospitals of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Study patients were identified during the first months of 2015 and randomly selected to match the age and sex distribution of the general population in the two islands.

Frequent high-risk HPV co-infections excluding types 16 or 18 in cervical neoplasia in Guadeloupe.

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth cancer worldwide. The Human Papilloma Virus is responsible for 99% of the cases but the distribution of its genotypes varies among populations. We aimed to identify HPV genotypes distribution in women with grade 2/3 cervical intraepithelial dysplasia or invasive cervical cancer in Guadeloupe, a French Caribbean territory with a population mainly of African descent.

Increasing prevalence and local transmission of non-B HIV-1 subtypes in the French Antilles and French Guiana between 1995 and 2018.

The Caribbean and South American French Overseas Territories (CSAFOT) are the regions most heavily affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) epidemic in France. Although dominated by HIV-1 subtype B, the detection of non-B subtypes and the great proportion of HIV-positive persons born abroad demonstrated the potential for local spread of non-B subtype strains in CSAFOT. To reconstruct the epidemiologic dynamics of major non-B subtype clusters spreading in CSAFOT, we conducted phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of 2,523 HIV-1 sequences collected from patients living in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana from 1995 to 2018.

Joint effect of tobacco, alcohol, and oral HPV infection on head and neck cancer risk in the French West Indies.

We investigated the role of tobacco and alcohol consumption on the occurrence of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), and the joint effects of these factors with oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the French West Indies, in the Caribbean. We conducted a population-based case-control study (145 cases and 405 controls). We used logistic regression models to estimate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Experimental Assessment of Zika Virus Mechanical Transmission by .

The pandemic emergence of several mosquito-borne viruses highlights the need to understand the different ways in which they can be transmitted by vectors to human hosts. In this study, we evaluated the propensity of to transmit mechanically Zika virus (ZIKV) using an experimental design. Mosquitoes were allowed to feed on ZIKV-infected blood and were then rapidly transferred to feed on ZIKV-free blood until they finished their meal.

Outbreak of Chikungunya in the French Caribbean Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe: Findings from a Hospital-Based Surveillance System (2013-2015).

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) emerged in the Caribbean island of Saint-Martin in December 2013. We implemented a hospital-based surveillance system to detect and describe CHIKV cases including severe forms of the infection and deaths in the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. A case was defined as a patient with a CHIKV laboratory confirmation cared for in a public hospital for chikungunya for at least 24 hours, and a severe CHIKV case was defined as a CHIKV case presenting one or more organ failures.

Pregnancy Outcomes after ZIKV Infection in French Territories in the Americas.

Background: The risk of congenital neurologic defects related to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has ranged from 6 to 42% in various reports. The aim of this study was to estimate this risk among pregnant women with symptomatic ZIKV infection in French territories in the Americas.

Methods: From March 2016 through November 2016, we enrolled in this prospective cohort study pregnant women with symptomatic ZIKV infection that was confirmed by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) assay.

Prevalence of oral HPV infection among healthy individuals and head and neck cancer cases in the French West Indies.

Purpose: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is known to play a role in the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and to date, no study has reported on the association between oral HPV infection and HNSCC in the Caribbean. The objective was to determine the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the French West Indies (FWI), overall and by HPV genotype, among HNSCC cases and healthy population controls.

Method: We used data from a population-based case-control study conducted in the FWI.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome and Chikungunya: Description of All Cases Diagnosed during the 2014 Outbreak in the French West Indies.

The Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has been reported as a possible complication of acute chikungunya infection. The chikungunya epidemics, which occurred in Martinique and Guadeloupe in 2014, affected 308,000 people in these two islands. GBS occurred during or immediately after acute chikungunya infection in 13 patients (10 men, three women; mean age: 61 years).

Severe Thrombocytopenia after Zika Virus Infection, Guadeloupe, 2016.

Severe thrombocytopenia during or after the course of Zika virus infection has been rarely reported. We report 7 cases of severe thrombocytopenia and hemorrhagic signs and symptoms in Guadeloupe after infection with this virus. Clinical course and laboratory findings strongly suggest a causal link between Zika virus infection and immune-mediated thrombocytopenia.

Serovar diversity of pathogenic Leptospira circulating in the French West Indies.

Background: Leptospirosis is one of the most important neglected tropical bacterial diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, very little is known about the circulating etiological agents of leptospirosis in this region. In this study, we describe the serological and molecular features of leptospires isolated from 104 leptospirosis patients in Guadeloupe (n = 85) and Martinique (n = 19) and six rats captured in Guadeloupe, between 2004 and 2012.

Severe leptospirosis in hospitalized patients, Guadeloupe.

We evaluated prognostic factors for leptospirosis in 168 consecutive hospitalized patients in Guadeloupe. Factors independently associated with severity included chronic hypertension or chronic alcoholism, late initiation of antibacterial therapy, abnormal chest auscultation results, icterus, oligoanuria, disorders of consciousness, elevated aspartate aminotransferase levels, hyperamylasemia, and Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohemorrhagiae.