La surveillance microbiologique des endoscopes comme élément d'assurance qualité au Centre hospitalier territorial de Nouvelle-Calédonie entre 2012 et 2020.

CONTEXTE: Les endoscopes souples sont des appareils complexes non autoclavables qui doivent subir une désinfection de haut niveau. La présence de souillures et de biofilms peut être à l'origine d'infection et favoriser la diffusion de résistances aux antibiotiques. La surveillance microbiologique des endoscopes est recommandée en France mais reste controversée au niveau international. L'objectif de cette étude est d'évaluer l'apport de cette surveillance comme élément d'assurance qualité en Nouvelle Calédonie. Méthode. Nous avons revu l'ensemble des contrôles microbiologiques effectué sur les endoscopes souples entre le 1er janvier 2012 et le 31 décembre 2020 au Centre hospitalier territorial (CHT) de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Nous avons évalué le taux de contamination et identifié les principaux microorganismes isolés. Résultats. Six-cent-cinq contrôles microbiologiques d'endoscopes ont été analysés. Au total, 87 prélèvements (14,4 %) n'atteignaient pas le niveau cible. Le taux de non-conformité variait de 25,0 % à 4,5 % en fonction des années. Les cholédoscopes et les échoendoscopes étaient les appareils (p = 0,0035) les plus contaminés. Les principaux microorganismes identifiés étaient des bactéries gram positives comme les staphylocoques à coagulase négative (n = 122) et Micrococcus sp (n = 97), et des bactéries gram négatives dont Moraxella sp (n = 31) et des Pseudomonas (n = 17). CONCLUSION: Cette étude a permis d'évaluer l'efficacité de la désinfection des endoscopes souples utilisés au CHT. Le taux global de contamination (14,4 %) est conforme aux chiffres publiés dans différentes études. Cette surveillance permet d'identifier des écarts dans le processus de désinfection et d'apporter les mesures correctives qui garantissent la sécurité des patients.

A 1-Year Study on the Detection of Human Enteric Viruses in New Caledonia.

Human enteric viruses occur in high concentrations in wastewater and can contaminate receiving environmental waters. Due to the lack of data on the prevalence of enteric viruses in New Caledonia, the presence and the concentrations of enteric viruses in wastewater and seawater were determined. Untreated wastewater and seawater samples were collected monthly for 1 year from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and from the WWTP's outlet, located directly on a popular recreational beach. Samples were tested for norovirus genogroups I and II (NoV GI and GII), astroviruses (AsV), sapoviruses (SaV), enteroviruses (EV), hepatitis A viruses (HAV), rotaviruses (RoV), human adenoviruses (HAdV) and human polyomaviruses (HPyV). To support these data, faecal samples from cases of gastroenteritis were tested for the first time for NoV and detected in the population. NoV GI, NoV GII, EV, SaV, HAdV and HPyV were detected in all wastewaters, RoV in 75% and AsV in 67%. HAV were not detected in wastewater. Overall, 92% of seawater samples were positive for at least one virus. HPyV were detected most frequently in 92% of samples and at concentrations up to 7.7 × 10(3) genome copies/L. NoV GI, NoV GII, EV, SaV, RoV and HAdV were found in 33, 66, 41, 33, 16 and 66% of seawater samples, respectively. AsV were not detected in seawater. This study reports for the first time the presence of NoV and other enteric viruses in New Caledonia and highlights the year-round presence of enteric viruses in the seawater of a popular beach.

Prevalence, quantification and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. on chicken neck-skins at points of slaughter in 5 major cities located on 4 continents.

Quantitative data on Campylobacter contamination of food are lacking, notably in developing countries. We assessed Campylobacter contamination of chicken neck-skins at points of slaughter in 5 major cities in Africa (Dakar in Senegal, Yaounde in Cameroon), Oceania (Noumea in New Caledonia), the Indian Ocean (Antananarivo in Madagascar) and Asia (Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam. One hundred and fifty slaughtered chickens were collected in each of the 5 major cities from semi-industrial abattoirs or markets (direct slaughter by the seller), and 65.5% (491/750) were found to be Campylobacter-positive. Two cities, Yaounde and Noumea, demonstrated high prevalence Campylobacter detection rates (92.7% and 96.7% respectively) in contrast with HCMC (15.3%). Four species were identified among 633 isolates, namely C. jejuni (48.3%), C. coli (37.3%), C. lari (11.7%) and C. upsaliensis (1%). HCMC was the only city with C. lari isolation as was Antananarivo for C. upsaliensis. C. coli was highly prevalent only in Yaounde (69.5%). Among the 491 samples positive in Campylobacter detection, 329 were also positive with the enumeration method. The number of Campylobacter colony-forming units (CFU) per gram of neck-skin in samples positive in enumeration was high (mean of the log(10): 3.2 log(10) CFU/g, arithmetic mean: 7900CFU/g). All the cities showed close enumeration means except HCMC with a 1.81 log(10) CFU/g mean for positive samples. Semi-industrial abattoir was linked to a significant lower count of Campylobacter contamination than direct slaughter by the seller (p=0.006). On 546 isolates (546/633, 86.3%) tested for antibiotic susceptibility, resistance to erythromycin, ampicillin and ciprofloxacin was observed for respectively 11%, 19% and 50%. HCMC was the city where antibiotic resistant rates were the highest (95%, p=0.014). Considering the 329 positive chickens in Campylobacter enumeration, the mean number of resistant isolates to at least 2 different antibiotic families (19.8%), may be estimated ca. 1500CFU/g; the corresponding mean of the log(10) would be 2.5 log(10)CFU/g. As chickens are sold at slaughter and brought directly at home to be cooked, these data suggest a high probability of cross-contamination. A substantial proportion of isolates are drug-resistant, which could lead to potential public health issues. Health authorities should consider measures to reduce Campylobacter contamination of chicken during farming and at slaughter, and to provide appropriate food hygiene education. Further studies are needed in particular to investigate food-handling practices in domestic kitchens.

Peptide arrays for highly sensitive and specific antibody-binding fluorescence assays.

We report a novel generation of peptide arrays fabricated by site-specific ligation of glyoxylyl peptides onto glass slides covered by a semicarbazide sol-gel layer. These arrays allowed the highly sensitive and specific detection of antibodies in very small blood samples from infected individuals using three model peptidic epitopes (HCV Core and NS4, EBV Capsid) in an immunofluorescence assay. Comparison with standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) demonstrated a large gain in sensitivity and specificity. These unique properties, combined with the possibility to immobilize glycoproteins such as antibodies, offer the possibility to perform sandwich immunofluorescent assays in a highly parallel format.