Covichem: A biochemical severity risk score of COVID-19 upon hospital admission.

Clinical and laboratory predictors of COVID-19 severity are now well described and combined to propose mortality or severity scores. However, they all necessitate saturable equipment such as scanners, or procedures difficult to implement such as blood gas measures. To provide an easy and fast COVID-19 severity risk score upon hospital admission, and keeping in mind the above limits, we sought for a scoring system needing limited invasive data such as a simple blood test and co-morbidity assessment by anamnesis.

Safety of hydroxychloroquine and darunavir or lopinavir in COVID-19 infection.

Background: Combination therapy with hydroxychloroquine and darunavir/ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir has been suggested as an approach to improve the outcome of patients with moderate/severe COVID-19 infection.

Objectives: To examine the safety of combination therapy with hydroxychloroquine and darunavir/ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir.

Methods: This was an observational cohort study of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia treated with hydroxychloroquine and darunavir/ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir.

Central nervous system candidiasis beyond neonates: Lessons from a nationwide study.

Unlabelled: Though candidiasis is the most frequent invasive fungal infection, Candida spp. central nervous system (CNS) infections are rare but severe. To further describe clinico-patho-radiological presentations of this entity, we report a retrospective study from January 2005 to December 2018 including patients aged ≥ 28 days with proven or probable CNS candidiasis in France.

Thymic Epithelial Tumor-Associated Cytopenia: A 10-Year Observational Study in France.

Introduction: Thymic epithelial tumor (TET)-associated cytopenia is rare but difficult to treat.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective study of TET and associated forms of cytopenia in France. Cases were collected by the French National Reference Center for Autoimmune Cytopenia and the French National Thymic Malignancy Interest Group (Réseau Tumeurs Thymiques et Cancer) and through a call for cases by the French Society of Internal Medicine.

Paradoxical anti-TNF-associated TB worsening: Frequency and factors associated with IRIS.

Objectives: Paradoxical tuberculosis (TB) worsening, an example of the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), is an increasing phenomenon now described in several settings, including anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) discontinuation during biotherapy-induced TB. To better recognize it, we analyzed the frequency and factors associated with anti-TNF-induced TB-IRIS.

Methods: Case-control study on anti-TNF-associated TB patients.

Melioidosis in a European traveler without comorbidities: a case report and literature review.

Melioidosis is an endemic disease in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. It habitually affects immune-depressed hosts and may have a wide range of clinical manifestations. The use of positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) has not been described previously for this disease.

Parental consanguinity is associated with a severe phenotype in common variable immunodeficiency.

The DEFI study has collected clinical data and biological specimens from kindreds with CVID. Patients with demonstrated parental consanguinity (cCVID group) were compared to patients without parental consanguinity (ncCVID). A total of 24 of the 436 patients with CVID had consanguineous parents.

Circulation of multiple patterns of unique recombinant forms B/CRF02_AG in France: precursor signs of the emergence of an upcoming CRF B/02.

Background: HIV-1 group M is characterized by substantial genetic diversity, and includes nine subtypes, more than 45 circulating recombinant forms (CRFs), and numerous unique recombinant forms (URFs). In France, the epidemic is characterized by predominance of subtype B strains, increasing prevalence of non-B subtypes (CRF02_AG being the most prevalent) and increasing at-risk behaviour in the MSM population. The high prevalence and co-circulation of B and CRF02_AG strains in this population raise the possibility that recombinant forms might emerge and spread.

Paradoxical exacerbation of tuberculosis after TNFα antagonist discontinuation: beware of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.

Paradoxical worsening of tuberculosis associated with immune reconstitution during antiretroviral therapy in patients with HIV infection is known as the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS). Here, we report a case of paradoxical worsening of IFN-alpha induced tuberculosis in a patient experiencing reconstitution of pathogen-specific immune responses after discontinuing TNFα antagonist therapy. This case serves to alert clinicians that complications such as tuberculosis may worsen after TNFα antagonist discontinuation.

Tenosynovitis as a possible feature of immune reconstitution syndrome during highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART).

An immune reconstitution syndrome (IRS) occurs in between 10% and 25% of patients starting highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). A 49-year-old patient presents a tenosynovitis 6 weeks after HAART initiation. In our patient, exhaustive tests for infectious, inflammatory and drug-related causes of tenosynovitis were negative.