Retrospective study of pneumonia due to Panton-Valentine leukocidin-producing Staphylococcus aureus in Reunion.

OBJECTIVE: Panton-Valentine leukocidin-producing Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing pneumonia is an unusual cause of community-acquired pneumonia, although associated with a high case fatality. This infection mainly affects young individuals, without any history, and is most often preceded by flu-like symptoms. METHOD: We focused on patients presenting with Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing pneumonia in Reunion (Indian Ocean) admitted to the emergency department. We performed a retrospective study based on data collected from laboratory registers and medical files of patients presenting with Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing pneumonia in Reunion between December 2014 and December 2017. RESULTS: A total of 16 patients were recruited for this study, with a median age of 40.5 years. More than half of patients had previously been admitted to the emergency department for acute respiratory distress syndrome or severe sepsis. Fourteen patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and six patients died (five premature deaths). CONCLUSION: Physicians should be aware of this infection during the flu season and quickly adapt the specific antibiotic treatment, including a drug inhibiting toxin production. As methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is very rarely observed in Reunion, physicians can still adapt the empirical treatment, without glycopeptides.

[Medication errors: analysis of a digoxin overdose case in a neonatology unit]. / Erreur médicamenteuse : analyse d'un surdosage en digoxine dans un service de néonatalogie.

Neonatology and pediatrics are units where medication errors occur. Indeed, the complexity of nursing care, the lack of information and marketing authorization for drugs contribute to the occurrence of often underestimated iatrogenic events. Through a case of digoxin overdose in a neonatology unit, each stage of the drug circuit was analyzed. From prescription to administration to dispensation, the accumulation of individual errors put a newborn in danger. The analysis and declaration of such events can improve safety and the quality of patient care.