Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 variants with complementary surveillance systems: risk evaluation of the Omicron JN.1 variant in France, August 2023 to January 2024.

BackgroundEarly detection and characterisation of SARS-CoV-2 variants have been and continue to be essential for assessing their public health impact. In August 2023, Santé publique France implemented enhanced surveillance for BA.2.

The transition from cigarette smoking to the exclusive or partial use of e-cigarettes: A multi-stage mixed methods study among French university students.

Background: Few studies have estimated the frequency of e-cigarette use by smoking status among French young adults, and how those who smoke tobacco start and continue to use e-cigarettes. Our aim was to describe e-cigarette use among students who smoked tobacco.

Methods: A multi-stage, mixed methods study was conducted at the University of Bordeaux between September 2018 and March 2020.

Guía mexicana para el diagnóstico y el tratamiento del hemangioma infantil.

Infantile hemangioma is a benign vascular tumor, the most common in childhood, whose natural evolution is the disappearance of the lesion in the pediatric age and which has effective and safe treatments that limit its growth and favor its disappearance at younger ages. Infantile hemangioma continues to be a reason for attention to complications, due to erroneous diagnoses, lack of knowledge of the condition, late referral or fear of the effects of the medications used for its treatment. Furthermore, its presence is normalized without taking into account that it can cause uncertainty, anxiety, feelings of guilt and, as a consequence, a significant impact on the quality of life, mainly in the parents or caregivers of the child.

ReporType: A Flexible Bioinformatics Tool for Targeted Loci Screening and Typing of Infectious Agents.

In response to the pressing need for continuous monitoring of emergence and circulation of pathogens through genomics, it is imperative to keep developing bioinformatics tools that can help in their rapid characterization and classification. Here, we introduce ReporType, a versatile bioinformatics pipeline designed for targeted loci screening and typing of infectious agents. Developed using the snakemake workflow manager, ReporType integrates multiple software for read quality control and de novo assembly, and then applies ABRicate for locus screening, culminating in the production of easily interpretable reports for the identification of pathogen genotypes and/or screening of specific genomic loci.

Prevalence, lived experiences and user profiles in e-cigarette use: A mixed methods study among French college students.

Background: Little is known about e-cigarette use in French students. Our aims were to estimate the prevalence of e-cigarette experimentation and current e-cigarette use; describe the reasons for using e-cigarettes; explore the vaping experience and identify the profiles of e-cigarette users.

Methods: We used a sequential, explanatory mixed methods design in a sample of French college students.

Avian anti-HBV immunoglobulin: New tool to improve hepatitis B diagnosis methods.

Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) could be used in serological diagnosis focused on several infectious agents. This study aims to produce IgY anti-hepatitis B virus surface antigen (anti-HBs) and to assess its use in enzyme immunoassays. Antibodies were produced by immunizing chickens with Hepatitis B vaccine associated (group A), or not, with adjuvant CpG-ODN (group B).

Evaluating the ability of an artificial-intelligence cloud-based platform designed to provide information prior to locoregional therapy for breast cancer in improving patient's satisfaction with therapy: The CINDERELLA trial.

Background: Breast cancer therapy improved significantly, allowing for different surgical approaches for the same disease stage, therefore offering patients different aesthetic outcomes with similar locoregional control. The purpose of the CINDERELLA trial is to evaluate an artificial-intelligence (AI) cloud-based platform (CINDERELLA platform) vs the standard approach for patient education prior to therapy.

Methods: A prospective randomized international multicentre trial comparing two methods for patient education prior to therapy.

Rapid investigation of BA.4/BA.5 cases in France.

Aim: We aimed to describe the characteristics of individuals infected by BA.4 or BA.5 in France in comparison to BA.

Feasibility of dried blood spot for hepatitis C diagnosis in vulnerable subjects and people living in remote areas from Brazil.

Background: Agile, accessible and cheap diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is essential to achieve the elimination of this infection, worldwide, as mandated by the World Health Organzation as part of its strategy for 2030. Dried blood spots (DBS) can be an attractive alternative for sample collection among people living in remote areas and vulnerable populations due to the less invasive collection, its biosafety, and storage & transportation of samples at room temperature.

Design: This study aims to estimate the usefulness of dried blood spot samples for the diagnosis and the assessment of HCV infection rates in three different settings in Brazil.

[Acne in the newborn.].

Neonatal acne (NA) is a transitory dermatosis that occurs between the second and fourth weeks of life in 20% of children. This condition is more frequent in males, with a male-female ratio of 4.5:1.

Dried blood spot sampling as an alternative for the improvement of hepatitis B and C diagnosis in key populations.

Background: To achieve the elimination of hepatitis B and C, there is an urgent need to develop alternative strategies to increase the access of diagnosis, particularly among key populations such as people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), individuals with coagulopathies and chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.

Aim: To evaluate the use of dried blood spot (DBS) in the detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) markers.

Methods: A total of 430 individuals comprised of people living with HIV, coagulopathies and CKD provided paired serum and DBS samples.

Evaluation of accuracy of hepatitis B virus antigen and antibody detection and relationship between epidemiological factors using dried blood spot.

Dried blood spots (DBS) testing might increase the access for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) diagnosis, but little is known about the performance of these assays in real life conditions. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of HBsAg, anti-HBc and anti-HBs detection in DBS in clinical settings and field studies and to evaluate demographic and risk behaviour according the presence of HBsAg and anti-HBc. Paired sera and DBS samples were obtained from 2309 individuals from 3 groups, defined as follows: G1: clinical setting (n = 5-19), G2: general population (n = 1305) and G3: vulnerable individuals that could be more exposed to blood contact (n = 485).

Usefulness of automated assays for detecting hepatitis B and C markers in dried blood spot samples.

Objective: Dried blood spots (DBSs) can be used as an alternative to serum samples because they are easily collected and can be transported without refrigeration to reference laboratories for diagnosis. The present study was performed to evaluate the utility of electrochemiluminescence immunoassay "ECLIA" for anti-HCV, HBsAg and anti-HBc detection from DBS samples.

Results: Anti-HCV was detected in 103 DBS samples from 108 paired, positive serum and undetected in 364 DBS samples from 366 paired, negative specimens, giving a sensitivity of 95.

Utility of oral fluid samples for hepatitis B antibody detection in real life conditions.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) testing in oral fluid samples may provide advantages in diagnosis, screening or prevalence studies, especially among individuals with venous access difficulties. This study aims to optimize one commercially available assay for detecting total anti-HBc marker in oral fluid samples and to evaluate its utility under real life conditions in different settings for the purposes of prevalence and diagnostic studies.

Methods: Oral fluid was collected using a Salivette device and some parameters were initially evaluated: type of elution buffer and sample volume.

Applicability of Oral Fluid and Dried Blood Spot for Hepatitis B Virus Diagnosis.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major causes of chronic liver disease worldwide; however most of individuals are not aware about the infection. Oral fluid and dried blood spot (DBS) samples may be an alternative to serum to HBV diagnosis to increase the access to diagnosis in remote areas or high-risk groups. The main objective of this review is to give an insight about the usefulness of oral fluid and DBS for detecting HBV markers.

Cross-sectional study to determine viral hepatitis knowledge in different urban populations in Brazil.

Aim: To evaluate viral hepatitis knowledge among individuals from different resource areas and health conditions to identify possible gaps.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out among 447 individuals from five distinct populations in Brazil: Southeast Viral Hepatitis Ambulatory ( = 100), South ( = 89) and Northeast ( = 114) Health Center, Southeast ( = 77) and Northeast ( = 67) low resource areas. All individuals answered a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics and viral hepatitis awareness.

Determination of hepatitis B, C and D prevalence among urban and Amerindian populations from the Eastern Brazilian Amazon: a cross sectional study.

Background: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HDV in urban populations and Amerindians living in the state of Tocantins (Eastern Amazon).

Methods: A total of 948 individuals were recruited in Tocantinopolis city (Tocantins state) of whom 603 were Amerindians (from 6 tribes) and 345 were non-Amerindians (6 urban areas of Tocantinópolis city). Anti-HCV, HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, anti-HBc IgM, anti-HBe, HBeAg, and anti-delta antibodies were determined using enzyme immunoassay.

Assessing hepatitis B immunity using dried blood spot samples from HIV+ individuals.

This study aims to evaluate the utility of an optimized enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect and quantify antibodies against hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) in dried blood spots (DBSs) within the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. Serum and DBS samples were obtained from 56 HIV+ and 99 HIV- patients and subjected to EIA for the detection of anti-HBs, where sample volume and cut off value were modified for DBS testing. Sensitivities of anti-HBs detection in DBS were 79.

Comparison of the performance of enzyme immunoassays for hepatitis B and C detection in dried blood spot.

Dried blood spots (DBSs) could be an alternative to serum for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis. This study aims to evaluate two enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for HBsAg and anti-HCV detection using DBS. Serum was tested using commercial EIA.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Viral Hepatitis Perception among Residents from Southeast and North Regions of Brazil.

Few data are available regarding viral hepatitis perception among the general global population. The present study aims to estimate the perception of viral hepatitis in a cohort of individuals living in two geographical regions of Brazil: North (Manaus city (MA)) and Southeast (Rio de Janeiro city (RJ)). A cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out among 287 subjects recruited in MA (134) and RJ (153).

Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C virus infection among alcoholic individuals: importance of screening and vaccination.

Drug users have been reported to have an increased risk for acquisition of viral hepatitis. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection and usefulness of saliva for HBsAg and anti-HCV detection in alcoholic patients.A total of 90 alcoholic patients were recruited in 2013.

Evaluation of HBsAg and anti-HBc assays in saliva and dried blood spot samples according HIV status.

Influence of HIV status in HBV markers detection in saliva and dried blood spots (DBS) was not well established. This study aims to evaluate the performance of optimized commercial immunoassay for identifying HBsAg and anti-HBc in saliva and DBS according HIV status. A sum of 535 individuals grouped as HIV, HBV, HIV/HBV and HIV/HBV- were recruited where 347 and 188 were included for HBsAg and anti-HBc evaluation, respectively.