Assessment of blood enterovirus PCR testing in paediatric populations with fever without source, sepsis-like disease, or suspected meningitis: a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study.

Background: Enteroviruses are the most frequent cause of acute meningitis and are seen increasingly in sepsis-like disease and fever without source in the paediatric population. Detection of enterovirus in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens by PCR is the gold standard diagnostic test. Our aim was to assess a method of detecting enterovirus in blood specimens by PCR.

Randomized intubation with polyurethane or conical cuffs to prevent pneumonia in ventilated patients.

Rationale: The occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is linked to the aspiration of contaminated pharyngeal secretions around the endotracheal tube. Tubes with cuffs made of polyurethane rather than polyvinyl chloride or with a conical rather than a cylindrical shape increase tracheal sealing.

Objectives: To test whether using polyurethane and/or conical cuffs reduces tracheal colonization and VAP in patients with acute respiratory failure.

[Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection among health care workers from the emergency department of Meaux hospital using an interferon gamma release assay].

Objective: To determine the prevalence of the latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among health care workers (HCW) of the emergency ward of Meaux hospital, by comparing it with two witnesses units: the orthopaedic surgery ward (referral service to low risk) and the respiratory ward (referral service to high risk).

Methods: From July to December 2008, on a voluntary basis, anonymised blood samples of any HCW of the three departments were carried out by the occupational health service. Determination of interferon gamma was released by the test "QuantiFERON-TB Gold" (QFT).

Esophageal tuberculosis in a patient on maintenance dialysis: advantages of interferon-gamma release assay.

Patients with chronic renal failure have a higher risk of developing tuberculosis compared to the general population, and especially extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. This pathology is often difficult to diagnose and requires a combination of multidisciplinary examinations. The confirmation of the diagnosis is important in order to quickly match the treatment with the pathology.

Severe group a streptococcus infection after thyroidectomy: report of three cases and review.

Background: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is an uncommon cause of infection after clean surgery in non-pregnant adults.

Methods: Report of three cases and review of the literature. results: For the first time in France, severe GAS infections were observed in three patients who underwent thyroidectomy at three hospitals.

Streptococcus sinensis: an emerging agent of infective endocarditis.

The identification by conventional methods of viridans streptococcal species, which are rarely encountered clinically, requires confirmation by genomic methods. We characterized a strain of Streptococcus sinensis responsible for infective endocarditis by sequencing both the 16S rRNA and the manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase genes.

An outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus surgical-site infections initiated by a healthcare worker with chronic sinusitis.

An investigation was performed following two methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus surgical-site infections in a 946-bed French general hospital. The investigation revealed that the outbreak involved 7 patients in 2 surgical wards and that infections were probably contracted in the operating theater from a healthcare worker suffering from chronic sinusitis.

Reproducibility of protected specimen brush and bronchoalveolar lavage conserved at 4 degrees C for 48 hours.

Objective: Protected specimen brush (PSB) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) are proposed in combination to optimize antimicrobial treatment. Nevertheless, they are only validated for immediate laboratory processing. This study was therefore conducted to determine whether 48 h conservation at a mere 4 degrees C enables good culture reproducibility for both PSB and BAL.