Acute diarrhea in adults consulting a general practitioner in France during winter: incidence, clinical characteristics, management and risk factors.

Background: Data describing the epidemiology and management of viral acute diarrhea (AD) in adults are scant. The objective of this study was to identify the incidence, clinical characteristics, management and risk factors of winter viral AD in adults.

Methods: The incidence of AD in adults during two consecutive winters (from December 2010 to April 2011 and from December 2011 to April 2012) was estimated from the French Sentinelles network.

Epidemiology and viral etiology of the influenza-like illness in corsica during the 2012-2013 Winter: an analysis of several sentinel surveillance systems.

Influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance is important to identify circulating and emerging/reemerging strains and unusual epidemiological trends. The present study aimed to give an accurate picture of the 2012-2013 ILI outbreak in Corsica by combining data from several surveillance systems: general practice, emergency general practice, hospital emergency units, intensive care units, and nursing homes. Twenty-eight respiratory viruses were retrospectively investigated from patients in general practice with ILI.

Genetic drift of influenza A(H3N2) viruses during two consecutive seasons in 2011-2013 in Corsica, France.

The 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 post-pandemic influenza outbreaks were characterized by variability in the A(H3N2) influenza viruses, resulting in low to moderate vaccine effectiveness (VE). The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular evolution and vaccine strain match of the A(H3N2) influenza viruses, having been circulated throughout the population of the French Corsica Island in 2011-2012 and again in 2012-2013. Clinical samples from 31 patients with confirmed A(H3N2) influenza viruses were collected by general practitioners (GPs) over these two consecutive seasons.

Estimating the excess of inappropriate prescriptions of anti-dopaminergic anti-emetics during acute gastroenteritis epidemics in France.

Purpose: Anti-dopaminergic anti-emetics (ADA) use for the treatment of nausea associated with gastroenteritis (GE) can be considered inappropriate, as their effects are not supported by evidence of clinical efficacy and can potentially induce serious adverse events.

Objective: This study quantifies the suboptimal consumption of ADA attributable to seasonal GE epidemics in France and its cost.

Methods: GE epidemiological data were collected and transmitted by the general practitioners (GPs) of Sentinelles network.

Simultaneous investigation of influenza and enteric viruses in the stools of adult patients consulting in general practice for acute diarrhea.

Background: Gastrointestinal symptoms are not an uncommon manifestation of an influenza virus infection. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the presence of influenza viruses in the stools of adult patients consulting their general practitioner for uncomplicated acute diarrhea (AD) and the proportion of concurrent infections by enteric and influenza viruses.

Method: A case-control study was conducted from December 2010 to April 2011.

Genetic structure of human A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 influenza virus on Corsica Island: phylogenetic analysis and vaccine strain match, 2006-2010.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyse the genetic patterns of Hemagglutinin (HA) genes of influenza A strains circulating on Corsica Island during the 2006-2009 epidemic seasons and the 2009-2010 pandemic season.

Methods: Nasopharyngeal samples from 371 patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) were collected by General Practitioners (GPs) of the Sentinelles Network through a randomised selection routine.

Results: Phylogenetic analysis of HA revealed that A/H3N2 strains circulating on Corsica were closely related to the WHO recommended vaccine strains in each analyzed season (2006-2007 to 2008-2009).

Nationwide surveillance of 18 respiratory viruses in patients with influenza-like illnesses: a pilot feasibility study in the French Sentinel Network.

The aim of the present study was to test the feasibility of integrating the diagnosis of 18 respiratory viruses into clinical surveillance of influenza-like illness using a PCR-DNA microarray detection assay. The study took place in the French Sentinel Network, a nationwide surveillance network of General Practitioners (GPs) representative of French GPs in terms age, location, and type of practice (urban/rural). Three virological laboratories also participated in the study.

Pertussis prevention and diagnosis practices for adolescents and adults among a national sample of French general practitioners.

Authors report a cross-observational study conducted to determine the awareness and adherence of general practioners (GPs) to pertussis vaccine guidelines; to identify the barriers encountered by GPs to adhering to these guidelines; and to describe diagnosis and case management approaches for adolescent and adult pertussis in France. This study, conducted independently of any pharmaceutical companies, concludes that greater awareness of the public health morbidity and mortality of pertussis, intensive immunization adherence for all those in contact with infants, and adherence to routine immunization schedules are necessary to reduce the burden of disease due to Bordetella pertussis. The barriers encountered (the most important were the incomprehension of patients who are not informed about the circulation of pertussis in the adult population and the fact that pertussis is not commercialized as a monovalent vaccine) should be examined further as they do not seem to be related to a lack of GP knowledge.

Co-circulation of two genetically distinct sub-groups of A/H3N2 influenza strains during the 2006-2007 epidemic season in Corsica Island, France.

Background: Influenza virus is one of the major viral respiratory pathogens infecting human beings.

Objectives: To determine the influenza A virus variants responsible for the 2006-2007 epidemic season in Corsica Island, France.

Study Design: Of 134 nasal samples of adult patients tested by culture and RT-PCR assays, 85 influenza A strains were identified; 81 (95%) were sub-typed as A/H3N2 and 4 (5%) were sub-typed as A/H1N1.