Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine: need of a reasoned and effective vaccine campaign.

OBJECTIVES: A strong COVID-19 vaccine campaign is needed to reach the herd immunity and reduce this pandemic infection. STUDY DESIGN: In the Foch Hospital, France, in February 2021, 451 healthcare workers were vaccinated by a first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. METHODS: Adverse effects were reported to our pharmaco-vigilance circuit, by an online and anonymous questionnaire following the first weeks of the vaccinal campaign to healthcare workers. RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-four (60.8%) of them reported multiple adverse effects. Main adverse effects reported were feverish state/chills (65.7%), fatigue/physical discomfort (62.4%), arthralgia/muscle pain (61.0%) and fever (44.5%). CONCLUSIONS: On March 2021 many European countries suspended AstraZeneca vaccine for one week due to safety uncertainty. Thus, confidence in its efficacy is undermined. However, the benefit/risk balance is clearly in favor of vaccination.

Determinants of radiological patterns and severity in immunocompromised adults with Metapneumovirus infection.

BACKGROUND: Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) belongs to the Pneumoviridae family and is responsible for respiratory infections. Mild infections are well-recognized in children, while its precise impact in various categories of immunocompromised adults has not been well addressed. RESEARCH QUESTION: We retrospectively studied HMPV infections in immunocompromised adults followed in two large French university medical centers. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We identified immunocompromised adults with positive HMPV Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for 36 months and reviewed their medical charts. For lung transplant recipients (LTR), FEV1 was collected at baseline, during and after infection. Imaging was centralized and chest involvement was categorized by dominant CT patterns. We compared severe patients (requiring oxygen or ventilation) and non hypoxemic patients. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients were included, 27 were LTR, 25 had a hematological malignancy or were hematopoietic stem cell recipients, 20 had another immunocompromised status. Twenty patients (28%) presented a hypoxemic infection, requiring hospitalization and intensive care units transfers in 50/72 (69.4%) and 9/72 (12.5%) respectively, with only one death. Hypoxemia was less pronounced in LTRs (p = 0.014). Finally, age and dyspnea remained independent factors associated with hypoxemia (p < 0.005). The most frequent radiological patterns were bronchopneumonia (34.2%) and bronchiolitis (39.5% and 64.3% in the overall population and in LTRs respectively, p = 0.045). FEV1 improved in LTRs at one month and 85% had recovered their baseline FEV1 within 6 months. INTERPRETATIONS: In immunocompromised adults, HMPV infections required frequent hospitalizations and ICU transfers, while mortality is low. In LTRs, bronchiolitis pattern was predominant with short and long-term favorable outcome.

[Pulmonary complications of Chronic Granulomatous Disease]. / Complications pulmonaires de la granulomatose septique chronique.

Chronic Granulomatosis Disease (CGD) is an inherited immune deficiency due to a mutation in the genes coding for the subunits of the NADPH oxidase enzyme that affects the oxidative capacity of phagocytic cells. It is characterized by increased susceptibility to bacterial and fungal infections, particularly Aspergillus, as well as complications associated with hyperinflammation and granulomatous tissue infiltration. There exist two types of frequently encountered pulmonary manifestations: (1) due to their being initially pauci-symptomatic, possibly life-threatening infectious complications are often discovered at a late stage. Though their incidence has decreased through systematic anti-bacterial and anti-fungal prophylaxis, they remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality; (2) inflammatory complications consist in persistent granulomatous mass or interstitial pneumoniae, eventually requiring immunosuppressive treatment. Pulmonary complications recurring since infancy generate parenchymal and bronchial sequelae that impact functional prognosis. Hematopoietic stem cell allograft is a curative treatment; it is arguably life-sustaining and may limit the morbidity of the disease. As a result of improved pediatric management, life expectancy has increased dramatically. That said, new challenges have appeared with regard to adults: difficulties of compliance, increased inflammatory manifestations, acquired resistance to anti-infectious therapies. These different developments underscore the importance of the transition period and the need for multidisciplinary management.

Synergistic effect of carbapenem-teicoplanin combination during severe Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in a kidney transplant recipient.

Rhodococcus equi is a bacterial pathogen of domestic animals that can infect immunocompromised patients, especially those with impaired cellular immunity, such as transplant recipients. No standard treatment has been established, but therapy must be prolonged, as relapses are common and can occur at the initial site or distant locations. Here we report a case of R. equi-associated pulmonary abscess in a renal transplant recipient successfully treated with a combination of carbapenem and teicoplanin. This combination was shown to be synergistic. It has minimal side effects in transplant recipients and appears to be an effective initial treatment for this severe infection.

[Management of the pulmonary complications of haematological malignancy]. / Approche diagnostique d'une pneumopathie chez un malade atteint d'hémopathie maligne.

The high frequency of pulmonary complications of haematological malignancy and the increasing number of patients treated for these disorders make it important that the respiratory physician has a structured diagnostic approach according to: 1 the immune deficiency due to the malignancy and/or the treatment administered; 2 the factors that can modify the risk of infection (anti infection prophylaxis and/or pre-emptive treatment); 3 co-morbidities; 4 extra-pulmonary manifestations. Two main situations can be identified: The patient is aplasic: Initially the pneumonias are predominantly of bacterial origin but may be fungal if the neutropenia is prolonged. The respiratory physician is faced with two problems: 1 the diagnosis of pneumonia; this may be helped by CT scanning; 2 The choice of antibiotics; this will depend on previous investigations. The patient is not aplasic: The lung disease may have many causes, mainly infectious but also drug related, tumoral, haemorrhagic or embolic. The main problem is the correct choice of investigations to establish an aetiological diagnosis. The collection of data according to a pre-established protocol based on simple factors (study of the notes and clinical examination) is one of the key elements for improving the prognosis of these patients whose management should be multidisciplinary following a pre-defined plan.

[Nontuberculous mycobacteria in cystic fibrosis]. / Mycobactéries atypiques et mucoviscidose.

Patients with cystic fibrosis are particularly at risk of infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Prevalence of these infections increases with age to around 15 %. The main species involved are M. abscessus and M. avium, the latter not found in children under 15. Diagnosis relies on clinical, radiological and above all bacteriological criteria defined by the ATS. Identification of the causal species of NTM is essential and requires genetic techniques, some of which are currently evaluated. Treatment depends on the mycobacterial species. For M. avium, combined therapy with rifampicin, clarithromycin and ethambutol must be extended 12 months after negativation. M. abscessus infection is particularly resistant to therapy. Usual treatment is a one month course of intravenous imipenem or cefoxitin plus amikacin followed by oral clarithromycin plus ethambutol for at least 12 months after negativation. In case of local lesions, surgery is an option.

[Genetic susceptibility to mycobacterial disease: Mendelian disorders of the interleukin-12 -interferon-gamma axis]. / Syndrome de susceptibilite mendélienne aux infections mycobacteriennes: défauts de l'axe Interleukine-12 - Interféron-gamma.

INTRODUCTION: Environmental non tuberculous mycobacteria and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccines are weakly virulent mycobacteria. Nevertheless they may cause severe diseases in otherwise healthy children with no overt immunodeficiency. Parental consanguinity and familial forms are frequently observed among these patients, therefore this syndrome was named "Mendelian Susceptibility to Mycobacterial Disease". STATE OF THE ART: In the last nine years, fife genes have been found to be mutated in patients with this syndrome: IFNGR1, IFNGR2, STAT1, IL12B, IL12RB1. Allelic heterogeneity accounts for ten distinct genetic disorders. Clinical phenotype differs between patients. The spectrum of disease extends from early-onset overwhelming mycobacterial infection to adult-onset localized disease and tuberculosis. Impaired IFN-gamma-mediated immunity is the common mechanism of the disease, outlining its major role in mycobacterial immunity. PERSPECTIVES AND CONCLUSIONS: Better understanding of these disorders reveals an expanding clinical phenotype which justifies studying adult patients with pulmonary non tuberculous mycobacterial infection without known risk factors, severe BCGitis and recurrent tuberculosis. Molecular diagnosis makes it possible to introduce a specific regimen based on physiopathology.