Imported malaria in pregnant women: report from a French University Centre.

OBJECTIVE: To describe malaria during pregnancy outside endemic areas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all cases of imported malaria during pregnancy, diagnosed over a 11-year period in a French hospital. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We recovered 18 cases, all from sub-Saharan countries. The infection could appear distantly from arrival in France (up to 36 months), was asymptomatic in 3 cases, with anemia being the most common marker of infection (n = 14). The adverse consequences for the fetus (n = 3) or the newborn (n = 4) were frequent. Physicians should be aware of these atypical presentations in order to anticipate the diagnosis and improve the maternal and fetal prognosis.

[A western cohort of urinary schistosomiasis]. / Bilharziose urinaire : une série française.

UNLABELLED: Urinary schistosomiasis is very frequent, but there are few data upon its epidemiology in western countries. We wanted to describe the cohort from Tenon hospital, in Paris, France, near a big subsaharian community. METHODS: We searched in our clinical files database for "urinary schistosomiasis" encoding. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 207 men and 34 women seen for the first time at the mean age of 34, mainly for haematuria or LUTS. Patients were mainly native from subsaharian Africa. The lost to follow up rate was 54%. Diagnosis was made on sole endoscopic finding in half of the cases. For non-tumor pathology, were made seven cystoplasties et 12 ureteral dilations. Tumoral pathology was frequent and severe (15/81 from the same age range), mainly represented by urothelial histology (8/14). Imported cases were rare (five cases). CONCLUSION: Despite its limitations, different characteristics from this cohort seemed noticeable: frequency of sole lower urinary tract symptoms, frequency and severity of tumoral diseases, mainly with urothelial carcinoma as histology.

[Malaria among immigrants, experience of a Parisian hospital (2006-2010)]. / Paludisme chez les migrants, expérience d'un hôpital parisien (2006-2010).

In recent days immigrants represent the main risk group for imported malaria in northern countries. Most of them are migrants returning to their country of origin to visit friends and relatives (VFR). We retrospectively examined the main clinical, biological, and therapeutic data of all malaria cases in immigrants from 2006 to 2010 in Tenon hospital, Paris. The hospital is situated in a Paris district with an important African community. During the study period 239 imported malaria cases were observed in adults of which 199 were immigrants, 186 VFR, and 13 recently arrived. Most cases were from sub-Saharan Africa and Comoro islands. Chimioprophylaxis was not taken in 81.2% of VFR. It was inadequate in 43.7% and not taken correctly in 84.4%. Plasmodium falciparum was the most frequent species identified: 190/199 (95.5%). Severe P. falciparum malaria was observed in 25 cases (13.2%); two of them were recently arrived. One patient, African VFR, died. In this series two high-risk groups were represented: HIV-infected patients and pregnant women. Six of the HIV patients had severe malaria and all pregnant women had anemia. Our results are similar to those observed recently in other European countries. Mean age of VFR is increasing and the risk for severe P. falciparum malaria became identical to the one observed in non-immune travelers. Protection measures remain still insufficient in this population of travelers.

The risk of going abroad in sickle cell disease: a study of 148 adults.

Going abroad is considered to be a risk for acute complications in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Our objective was to describe the risk in our cohort of adult SCD patients. Complications occurring during a trip were recorded from adults with SCD seen at a routine visit in a referral centre and during hospitalizations for acute complications. One hundred and eight patients participated; mean age=26.8 (± SD 7.3; range 18-56) years. Eighty-two patients travelled in the previous year, half of them in Africa. Among patients going to endemic areas, 68% of patients received chemoprophylaxis against malaria. Health problems occurred in 53 (65%) travellers: vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) (68%), fever (19%), diarrhoea (19%), broncho-pulmonary symptoms (11%), headaches (8%), vomiting (6%), and cutaneous wound (4%). Sixteen patients required hospitalization; no specific infection was diagnosed. The prevalence of VOC during the trip was higher than the frequency of VOC during the year before. Patients who developed severe complications were not the most symptomatic patients from SCD. Our study showed that going abroad is associated with a large number of acute complications in adults with SCD. Complications were mostly VOC, and severity was unpredictable. Prevention should be improved.

[Emergence of Chagas' disease in Europe: description of the first cases observed in Latin American immigrants in mainland France]. / Emergence de la maladie de Chagas en Europe: à propos des premiers cas observés chez des migrants latino-américains en France métropolitaine.

This article describes the first cases of imported Chagas' disease detected in Paris, France. A total of 18 cases were recorded in two teaching hospitals between 2004 and 2007. There were 12 women and six men with a mean age of 38 years. All patients were Latin American immigrants who had recently arrived in France from Bolivia (Cochabamba and Santa-Cruz departments) 17 cases and from Salvador in 1. Eleven patients presented an asymptomatic indeterminate form of the chronic disease. Seven presented chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy including two with severe symptoms requiring placement of a pacemaker. Obtaining serological tests to confirm the diagnosis was difficult. All except one patient who was older than 50 years were treated with benznidazole. Based on these findings, the main priorities for management imported Chagas' disease in France are improvement of serological diagnosis and prevention of vertical transmission.

International institutions, global health initiatives and the challenge of sustainability: lessons from the Brazilian AIDS programme.

The sustainability of successful public health programmes remains a challenge in low and middle income settings. These programmes are often subjected to mobilization-demobilization cycle. Indeed, political and organizational factors are of major importance to ensure this sustainability. The cooperation between the World Bank and the Brazilian AIDS programme highlights the role of international institutions and global health initiatives (GHI), not only to scale up programmes but also to guarantee their stability and sustainability, at a time when advocacy is diminishing and vertical programmes are integrated within health systems. This role is critical at the local level, particularly when economic crisis may hamper the future of public health programmes. Political and organizational evolution should be monitored and warnings should trigger interventions of GHI before the decline of these programmes.

[Chagas disease]. / Maladie de Chagas.

Chagas disease (human American trypanosomiasis) is a zoonose caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. Vectors are Triatoma spp. insects. T. cruzi can also be transmitted by blood transfusion, organ transplantation, and transplacentally. Infection is generally acquired during infancy. The acute infection is rarely symptomatic and is followed by a chronic phase. Chronic infected people are asymptomatic (indeterminate stage) and may remain at this stage for the rest of their lives. About a third of infected people will develop a chronic Chagas disease which affects the heart and the digestive tract. Morbidity and mortality of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) are high. Specific treatment of asymptomatic infected individual could reduce the risk of progression to CCC. With control initiatives case incidence declined in most endemic countries. American trypanosomiasis has become an emerging imported disease in North America and Europe because of the migration of population originating from endemic zones. They are only two available drugs for specific treatment of Chagas disease: benznidazole and nifurtimox. Both have frequent side effects and variable efficacy according the phase of the disease. There is an urgent need for new treatments and better serological tests. Policies must be developed to avoid the risk of transmission trough blood transfusion and transplantation in developed countries.

[Experience of targeted screening of Chagas disease in Ile-de-France]. / Expérience de dépistage ciblé de la maladie de Chagas en Ile-de-France.

2009 is marked by the centenary of the discovery by Carlos Chagas of Human American Trypanosomiasis. As a result of international cooperation its incidence has been falling in endemic areas, whereas North America and Europe are witnessing an increase in the number of imported cases. In metropolitan France, 18 such cases were reported between 2004 and 2007. Recently, estimates based on immigration figures have been made and suggest that about 1,500 imported cases can be expected in France. The object of this article is to assess the value of targeted screening of an at-risk population, originally from Latin America and now living in the Ile-de-France (area centred on Paris). The serological techniques employed were indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and, depending on the case, 2 or 3 Elisa tests (Biomérieux, Biokit and Wiener). Trypanosoma cruzi serology was considered positive when the IIF was superior or equal to 200, or when two Elisa's were > 1, or when the IIF was superior or equal to 100 with at least one Elisa > 1. PCR was performed in 48 cases, which were considered to be positive. The tests were carried out on a voluntary basis after a publicity campaign within the Latin American community in the Ile-de-France. In this article, we present the findings of the first year of screening. Two hundred and fifty-four individuals were screened for Chagas' disease between June 2008 and June 2009. The median age was 33 years [11-63], the male/female ratio 102/152. Overall prevalence of positive serology was 23.6% (60/254). For six patients, the results were classified as "uncertain" (discordant serological tests). Of the seropositive group, 87.4% were Bolivian and 100% presented as a chronic form. Of these, 23.6% presented with functional cardiac manifestations and 22% with gastro-intestinal problems. The PCR was positive in 61% of the seropositive individuals. Clinical evaluation together with other investigations and therapeutic intervention is being carried out at present. These results confirm that metropolitan France is subject to the emergence of Chagas' disease in a non-endemic zone. This confirms the value of screening in at-risk populations, in particular because of the recent broadening of indications for antiparasitic treatment. In addition it is relevant to the prevention of vertical transmission or infection via organ donation, which could arise in France. These results also demonstrate continuing difficulties in the interpretation of serological results and the usefulness of PCR, which might increase sensitivity substantially.

[Chagas disease and immunodeficiency: HIV infection and transplantation]. / Maladie de Chagas et immunodépression: infection par le VIH et transplantation.

In the immunocompromised patients, the main features of Chagas disease are severe clinical manifestations during the acute phase and reactivations occurring during the chronic phase. Reactivation is defined by a demonstration of trypomastigots on microscopic examination of blood or the identification of amastigots on biopsy samples and/or acute clinical manifestations during the chronic phase. In HIV patients, meningo-encephalitis and myocarditis are the major clinical syndromes of reactivation. In transplanted patients, cutaneous lesions often reveal the reactivation. A parasiticidal treatment (nifurtimox or benznidazole) should be initiated immediately. A secondary prophylaxis is indicated for HIV patients with CD4 cells count < 200/mm3. In the near future, quantitative PCR could allow to diagnose early reactivation, to initiate preemptive therapy and to closely monitor the therapeutic response. Due to the severe manifestations and prognosis of Chagas disease in the immunocompromised host, two serologic tests must be performed in the patient with an history of residency in endemic countries.

A case of ciguatera fish poisoning in a French traveler.

Ciguatera is a toxic poisoning due to ingestion of fish and is rarely reported in France. Little is known about this imported tropical disease. We present a case observed in Paris in a traveller returning from the Dominican Republic.