The ongoing structuring of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in middle schools in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.

CONTEXT: As is the case throughout France, vaccination coverage against human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region is too low to limit viral circulation and to have an impact on the incidence of virus-induced pathologies. INTERVENTION METHODOLOGY: The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Health Agency (ARS) has decided to set up a large-scale vaccination action in the 7th-grade classes of all 643 Nouvelle-Aquitaine middle schools during the 2023-2024 school year. This public health intervention targeting 11-to-13-year-olds shall bring together national education, health Insurance, the regional center for pharmaco-vigilance, and private health professionals. A call for applications (January 2023) led to the recruitment of vaccination centers tasked with the deployment of mobile teams. A tool for dematerialization of parental authorization was devised. A communication agency was recruited (March 2023) to set up targeted social marketing actions and increase the rate of adherence. EXPECTED RESULTS: Close to 25% of parents are likely to respond favorably to the vaccination offer. The project should help not only to increase vaccination coverage of adolescents through intervention in middle schools, but also have an impact on the demand for vaccination among city-based healthcare professionals. CONCLUSION: Increased vaccination coverage should ultimately reduce the incidence of HPV-induced pathologies. A catch-up campaign could be carried out in high schools from the 2027/2028 school year.

Strengthened Ebola surveillance in France during a major outbreak in West Africa: March 2014-January 2016.

Introduction An unprecedented outbreak of Ebola virus diseases (EVD) occurred in West Africa from March 2014 to January 2016. The French Institute for Public Health implemented strengthened surveillance to early identify any imported case and avoid secondary cases. METHODS: Febrile travellers returning from an affected country had to report to the national emergency healthcare hotline. Patients reporting at-risk exposures and fever during the 21st following day from the last at-risk exposure were defined as possible cases, hospitalised in isolation and tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Asymptomatic travellers reporting at-risk exposures were considered as contact and included in a follow-up protocol until the 21st day after the last at-risk exposure. RESULTS: From March 2014 to January 2016, 1087 patients were notified: 1053 were immediately excluded because they did not match the notification criteria or did not have at-risk exposures; 34 possible cases were tested and excluded following a reliable negative result. Two confirmed cases diagnosed in West Africa were evacuated to France under stringent isolation conditions. Patients returning from Guinea (n = 531; 49%) and Mali (n = 113; 10%) accounted for the highest number of notifications. CONCLUSION: No imported case of EVD was detected in France. We are confident that our surveillance system was able to classify patients properly during the outbreak period.

[Longitudinal follow-up of contact subjects of cases of tuberculosis in Paris]. / Suivi longitudinal des sujets contacts de cas de tuberculose à Paris.

AIM: To our knowledge, the proportion of active tuberculosis diagnosed after 12-18 months during a screening tuberculosis process in a specialized centre (centre de lutte antituberculeuse [CLAT]) has not been described in France. The majority of other countries do not have any recommendation to screen at this time. METHODS: We evaluated the number of treated or not treated latent tuberculosis infections (LTI) identified during tuberculosis screening. We identified the causes of ITL non-treatment, the number of active disease cases and the proportion of subjects lost to follow-up after 12-18 months. RESULTS: Among the 1066 contact subjects, 159 (15 %) had a positive QuantiFERON-TB-Gold In-Tube(®) test. A prophylactic treatment with Rifinah(®) was given to 97 (61 %) subjects, 7 (7.3 %) having developed side effects that led to treatment interruption. A high proportion (56 %) of contact subjects were lost of follow-up and the main reason for no prophylactic treatment (20/52, 38 %) was due to these losses. No active disease cases were identified among the 474 (44 %) contact subjects who had a chest X-ray after 12-18 months follow-up by the CLAT. The low level of positive QuantiFERON-TB-Gold In-Tube(®) tests (15 %) could be explained by the high specificity of this test and the strong proportion of occupational contacts, of whom a probably significant number were not exposed to active disease. CONCLUSION: The absence of active disease at 12-18 months and a majority (56 %) of contact subjects lost from follow-up at this period let us propose not to recall contact subjects at 12-18 months with the exception of those living under the same roof as the index case and/or those having a cumulative contact time of greater than 100 hours during the theoretical infectious period. This proposal remains to be confirmed by other studies, particularly including possible secondary cases diagnosed outside the screening periods by the CLAT.

[The impact of screening sickle-cell carriers in the general population. A retrospective study in the Paris screening center]. / L'impact du dépistage du trait drépanocytaire en population. Une étude rétrospective au Centre d'information et de dépistage de la drépanocytose (Paris).

BACKGROUND: Since 2006 the CIDD, the Paris information and screening center for sickle-cell disease, provides free assistance for adults who may be at risk of having children with sickle-cell disease. Recently, an increasing number of parents of a silent-carrier newborn detected by systematic neonatal screening are attending the center. We present a retrospective study of the impact of such information and screening on people. METHODS: The study involved 81 silent-carrier men and women aged 18 to 45 years, interviewed using a telephone questionnaire (n=70) or during consultation (n=11) one to three years after screening. RESULTS: The study group represented 12% of individuals attending the center with the same characteristics. In general, the information delivered concerning sickle-cell disease and silent-carriers was well understood although concerns about personal and family history and the correctness of prior knowledge revealed a lack of information input from the environment (media, schools, health professionals). Poorly assimilated information involved three subjects: the difference between trait and disease; the difference between type of hemoglobin and blood group; and Mendelian transmission. The screening result was not a cause of separation among couples and was often passed on to family or friends. Disparities in adherence to prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy were mainly related to different representations of disease severity. CONCLUSION: Joint screening of newborns and their parents is a good measure for adults, who are satisfied with being informed despite the psychological difficulties involved. However the implication for children detected remains a relevant issue because of the persistent perception of the trait as a pseudo-disease and the risk of reification of a biological difference between relatives.

Impact of free on-site vaccine and/or healthcare workers training on hepatitis B vaccination acceptability in high-risk subjects: a pre-post cluster randomized study.

Despite recommendations for adults at high-risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, HBV vaccine uptake remains low in this population. A pre-post randomized cluster study was conducted to evaluate the impact of on-site free HBV vaccine availability and/or healthcare worker training on HBV vaccination acceptability in high-risk adults consulting in 12 free and anonymous HIV and hepatitis B/C testing centres (FATC). The FATC were randomly allocated into three groups receiving a different intervention: training on HBV epidemiology, risk factors and vaccination (Group A), free vaccination in the FATC (Group B), both interventions (Group C). The main outcomes were the increase in HBV vaccination acceptability (receipt of at least one dose of vaccine) and vaccine coverage (receipt of at least two doses of vaccine) after intervention. Respectively, 872 and 809 HBV-seronegative adults at high-risk for HBV infection were included in the pre- and post-intervention assessments. HBV vaccination acceptability increased from 14.0% to 75.6% (p <0.001) in Group B and from 17.1% to 85.8% (p <0.001) in Group C and HBV vaccine coverage increased from 9.4% to 48.8% (p <0.001) in Group B and from 11.2% to 41.0% (p <0.001) in Group C. The association of training and free on-site vaccine availability was more effective than free on-site vaccine availability alone to increase vaccination acceptability (ratio 1.14; from 1.02 to 1.26; p 0.017). No effect of training alone was observed. These results support the policy of making HBV vaccine available in health structures attended by high-risk individuals. Updating healthcare workers' knowledge on HBV virus and its prevention brings an additional benefit to vaccination acceptability.