[In-house PCR practical knowledge: a sufficient validation according to NF EN ISO 15189?].

As far as molecular biology is concerned, numerous are laboratories using in-house method. Used since many years, medical biologists have often a good practical knowledge about them. According to ISO 15189 accreditation, is this knowledge sufficient for the validation of these methods? We have asked this question ourselves about our in-house Leishmaniasis PCR.

[Automatic platelets numbering with citrate as anticoagulant: is the result valid?].

Platelets count is usually realised on EDTA anticoagulant. This one is sometimes able to generate platelets agregats. That is the reason why the first thing to do encountering thrombopenia is to check for agregats on blood thin smear.

[Apport de l'immunocapture-Elisa au diagnostic de l'infection à virus grippal A(H1N1)pdm09 : une alternative à la RT-PCR ?].

Aim Of The Study: To evaluate immunocapture-Elisa (ICE) sensitivity versus RT-PCR in diagnosis of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus infection.

Methods: Sixty-seven RT-PCR-negative and 282 RT-PCR-positive nasopharyngeal swabs collected during winter 2009-2010 have been analyzed using ICE.

Results: Among all the samples tested, a sensitivity of 31.

Identification of the five human Plasmodium species including P. knowlesi by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Recently, Plasmodium knowlesi has been recognised as the fifth Plasmodium species causing malaria in humans. Hundreds of human cases infected with this originally simian Plasmodium species have been described in Asian countries and increasing numbers are reported in Europe from travellers. The growing impact of tourism and economic development in South and Southeast Asia are expected to subsequently lead to a further increase in cases both among locals and among travellers.

Three related cases of cutaneous anthrax in France: clinical and laboratory aspects.

Anthrax is an acute bacterial infection caused by Bacillus anthracis. The infection is cutaneous in about 95% of human cases and respiratory in about 5%. Approximately 2000 cases of cutaneous anthrax are reported annually worldwide.

[Pneumocystis jiroveci: epidemiological, pathophysiological and biological update].

One century after its discovery, Pneumocystis jiroveci is an infectious agent still responsible of a high mortality rate among immunocompromised patients. Molecular biology advances have authorized some important progress mainly concerning epidemiology, pathophysiology and biological diagnosis. It has also brought a lot of publication on the subject.

Molecular diagnosis of disseminated adiaspiromycosis due to Emmonsia crescens.

Emmonsia crescens is a saprophytic fungus that is distributed worldwide, causing diseases mostly in rodents. It has also been described, though rarely, as an etiologic agent of pulmonary pathology in humans, potentially leading to death. A case of pulmonary adiaspiromycosis is reported in a 30-year-old immunocompetent man.

[Bacterial meningitis in HIV patient: think about co-infections!].

The authors report the case of an African 34-year-old patient who was admitted to the intensive care unit for bacterial meningitis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. A meningeal co-infection due to Cryptococcal neoformans was found the 3rd day in an HIV infection context. Cryptococcus neoformans detection in cerebrospinal fluid, using the India-ink stain, has a low sensibility which imposes the search of cryptococcal antigen and the culture of cerebrospinal fluid.

[Inter-laboratory reproducibility of pulsed-field electrophoresis for the study of 12 types of Pseudomonas aeruginosa].

The increasing hospital-to-hospital transmission of multiple drug-resistant bacteria is a major concern for bacteriology laboratories involved in nosocomial infection control. The interlaboratory reproducibility of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa typing was evaluated by asking four hospital laboratories (two in Lyon, one in Brest, and one in Marseille) to study 11 P. aeruginosa isolates, some of which were epidemiologically related, and the reference strain ATCC 27853.

[Histamine food poisoning].

The authors describe a collective histamine related food-poisoning epidemic that occurred in the Navy due to the consumption of imported smoked swordfish (Xyphias gladius). Twenty cases were detected. The relative risk among consumers of swordfish is at 7.