Psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in community pharmacists: A longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has negatively affected the mental health of frontline health care workers, including pharmacists. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this longitudinal study was to assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in French owner community pharmacists. METHODS: We conducted a postal-based survey to assess the psychological difficulties of the COVID-19 outbreak in French owner community pharmacists based on 3 psychologically validated self-report questionnaires: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Impact of Event Scale-revised (IES-R), and Maslach Burnout Inventory. The baseline assessment was during the first sanitary lockdown period and the second one 5 months later. RESULTS: The sample consists of 135 owner community pharmacists. At follow-up, 67 answered the questionnaires (response rate: 49.6%). The mean scores of the PSS and IES-R significantly decreased (P = 0.002). Fifteen pharmacists reported significant posttraumatic stress symptoms (23.1%) at baseline and 11 at follow-up (16.4%, P = 0.02). Age and sex were not significantly associated with persistent posttraumatic stress or burnout symptoms. CONCLUSION: This is the first longitudinal study that showed the psychological impact of owner community pharmacists as health care workers dealing with their community's COVID-19 outbreak. Based on validated self-report questionnaires, stress, posttraumatic stress, and burnout symptoms decreased during follow-up. It is necessary to continue monitoring psychological difficulties for health care workers, especially during consecutive waves of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Long-Term In vitro Cultivation of Plasmodium falciparum in a Novel Cell Culture Device.

The standard in vitro cultivation procedure for Plasmodium falciparum requires gas exchange and a microaerophilic atmosphere. A novel system using a commercially available cell culture device (Petaka G3™; Celartia Ltd., Powell, OH) was assessed for long-term cultivation of a P. falciparum reference laboratory clone in normal air. Parasite growth during 30 days was similar, or better, in Petaka G3 than that in the standard cultivation method with gas exchange in a CO2 incubator. The successful cultivation of P. falciparum in the Petaka G3 device suggests that low O2 content available in hemoglobin and dissolved gas in the blood is sufficient for long-term cultivation. This finding may open the way to novel methods to cultivate and adapt P. falciparum field isolates to in vitro conditions with more ease.

Mycoflora and multimycotoxin detection in corn silage: experimental study.

Agricultural activities involve the use of crop preservation such as "trench-type" silo, which can sometimes be contaminated by fungi. To investigate the exposure of livestock and farm workers to fungal spores and mycotoxins, a multimycotoxin analysis method has been developed. Six mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, citrinin, deoxynivalenol, gliotoxin, ochratoxin A, and zearalenone) were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry after solid-phase extraction. An experimental study of fungal species and mycotoxins was conducted in corn silage (Normandy, France) during 9 months of monitoring. The results indicated the recurrence of around 20 different species, with some of them being potentially toxigenic fungi such as Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Fusarium verticillioides, and Monascus ruber, and the detection of aflatoxin B1 (4-34 ppb), citrinin (4-25 ppb), zearalenone (23-41 ppb), and deoxynivalenol (100-213 ppb). This suggested a possible chronic exposure to low levels of mycotoxins.

Mycoflora and mycotoxin production in oilseed cakes during farm storage.

Agricultural activities involve the use of oilseed cakes as a source of proteins for livestock. Because the storage of oilseed cakes could induce the development of molds and the production of mycotoxins, a survey was conducted during the 5 months of farm storage. Mycoflora was studied by microscopic examinations, and the presence of Aspergillus fumigatus was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. A multimycotoxin method was developed to quantify seven mycotoxins (aflatoxin B(1), alternariol, fumonisin B(1), gliotoxin, ochratoxin A, T-2 toxin, and zearalenone) in oilseed cakes by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Among 34 fungal species identified, A. fumigatus and Aspergillus repens were observed during 5 and 4 months, respectively. Gliotoxin, an immunosuppressive mycotoxin, was quantified in oilseed cakes up to 45 microg/kg, which was associated with the presence of toxigenic isolates of A. fumigatus.