Identification and prioritization of bioaccumulable pharmaceutical substances discharged in hospital effluents.

The consumption of pharmaceuticals and their excretion in wastewater is a continuous source of pollution for aquatic ecosystems. In certain cases these compounds are found in the environment at concentrations high enough to cause disturbance in aquatic organisms. Aware of this problem hospitals are giving increasing attention to the nature of their effluents and their impact on the environment, by implementing more efficient effluent management policies.

Maternal infection rates after cesarean delivery by Pfannenstiel or Joel-Cohen incision: a multicenter surveillance study.

Objective: Our purpose was to evaluate maternal nosocomial infection rates according to the incision technique used for caesarean delivery, in a routine surveillance study.

Study Design: This was a prospective study of 5123 cesarean deliveries (43.2% Joel-Cohen, 56.

Daily physicochemical, microbiological and ecotoxicological fluctuations of a hospital effluent according to technical and care activities.

The problem of hospital effluents falls into the framework of hazardous substances due to the specific substances used and discharged for the most part into urban drainage networks without prior treatment. This in-depth study has led to greater understanding of the effluents discharged by hospitals. The experimental program implemented consisted in carrying out parallel sampling of the effluents of one hospital: a 24 h-average sample and 5 periodic samples corresponding to fractions of times and hospital activities.

Decreased rates of nosocomial endometritis and urinary tract infection after vaginal delivery in a French surveillance network, 1997-2003.

Objectives: To identify independent risk factors for endometritis and urinary tract infection (UTI) after vaginal delivery, and to monitor changes in nosocomial infection rates and derive benchmarks for prevention.

Design: Prospective study.

Methods: We analyzed routine surveillance data for all vaginal deliveries between January 1997 and December 2003 at 66 maternity units participating in the Mater Sud-Est surveillance network.

Effect of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis against group B streptococcal infection on comparisons of rates of endometritis and urinary tract infection in multicenter surveillance.

Objective: To establish whether antibiotic prophylaxis against group B streptococcal infection may be a confounding factor in comparisons of rates of endometritis and urinary tract infection after vaginal delivery.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Maternity units at 48 hospitals in a regional surveillance network in France during 2001-2004.