Cessation of screening for intestinal carriage of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in a low-endemicity intensive care unit with universal contact precautions.

OBJECTIVES: The usefulness of screening for carriage of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) with active surveillance cultures (ASC) remains equivocal in low-endemicity intensive care units (ICUs). Our primary objective was to appraise the impact of ceasing ASC on the incidence of ICU-acquired ESBL-E infections in an ICU with universal contact precautions (CP). Patient outcomes and carbapenem consumption were also investigated. METHODS: A single-ICU, retrospective, uncontrolled before-and-after study including all patients admitted for ≥3 days during two consecutive 1-year periods with and without ASC. RESULTS: A total of 524 and 545 patients were included during the ASC and the no-ASC periods, respectively. Twenty-eight patients (5.3%) from the ASC period were ESBL-E carriers. An ICU-acquired ESBL-E infection (median duration of risk exposure, 4 (range 2-9) days for both periods) occurred in 1.1% and 1.5% of patients admitted during the ASC and the no-ASC periods (p = 0.64), with no inter-period variation in incidence after adjustment on competing risks of death and ICU discharge (standardized hazard ratio (SHR) 2.32, 95% CI 0.80-6.73, p = 0.12). An admission during the no-ASC period exerted no independent impact on the hazards of ESBL-E infections (adjusted OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.38-3.50, p = 0.79), in-ICU death (SHR 1.22, 95% CI 0.93-1.59, p = 0.15) and extended length of stay (SHR for discharge 0.89, 95% CI 0.79-1.01, p = 0.08). Carbapenem exposure in patients without ESBL-E infection decreased between the ASC and no-ASC periods (75 versus 61 carbapenem-days per 1000 patient-days, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In a low-endemicity ICU with universal CP, the withdrawal of routine screening for ESBL-E carriage had no significant effect on the incidence of ICU-acquired ESBL-E infections and patient outcomes. Carbapenem consumption decreased in patients without ESBL-E infection.

Clinical severity and molecular characteristics of circulating and emerging rotaviruses in young children attending hospital emergency departments in France.

Group A rotavirus (RVA) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in young children worldwide. A prospective surveillance network has been set up to investigate the virological and clinical features of RVA infections and to detect the emergence of potentially epidemic strains in France. From 2009 to 2014, RVA-positive stool samples were collected from 4800 children <5 years old attending the paediatric emergency units of 16 large hospitals. Rotaviruses were then genotyped by RT-PCR with regard to their outer capsid proteins VP4 and VP7. Genotyping of 4708 RVA showed that G1P[8] strains (62.2%) were predominant. The incidence of G9P[8] (11.5%), G3P[8] (10.4%) and G2P[4] (6.6%) strains varied considerably, whereas G4P[8] (2.7%) strains were circulating mostly locally. Of note, G12P[8] (1.6%) strains emerged during the seasons 2011-12 and 2012-13 with 4.1% and 3.0% prevalence, respectively. Overall, 40 possible zoonotic reassortants, such as G6 (33.3%) and G8 (15.4%) strains, were detected, and were mostly associated with P[6] (67.5%). Analysis of clinical records of 624 hospitalized children and severity scores from 282 of them showed no difference in clinical manifestations or severity in relation to the genotype. The relative stability of RVA genotypes currently co-circulating and the large predominance of P[8] type strains may ensure vaccine effectiveness in France. The surveillance will continue to monitor the emergence of new reassortants that might not respond to current vaccines, all the more so as all genotypes can cause severe infections in infants.

The high burden of hospitalizations for primary EBV infection: a 6-year prospective survey in a French hospital.

Primary Epstein-Barr virus infection (PEI) is acquired increasingly later in life in developed countries, involving a growing number of adults. No studies have examined the effect of age on PEI. We conducted a prospective, single-centre, noninterventional survey to assess the clinical and economic effects of PEI care according to age. We included all serology-confirmed cases observed in all departments of a large regional hospital. Clinical and biologic data, therapeutics and costs of care were examined. Over a 6-year period, we included 292 subjects (148 children and 144 adults) with a median age of 15.4 years (range 9 months to 79 years). Adults were hospitalized more often (83% vs. 60%) and for longer periods of time (median 4 days vs. 2 days) than children (p ≤ 0.0001 for both). Two adults required a secondary transfer into the intensive care unit, although no children did. Typically, adults showed higher levels of activated lymphocytes and liver abnormalities. They also required the use of systemic corticosteroids more often (45% vs. 23%, p < 0.0001) and for longer periods of time (median 7 days vs. 3 days, p 0.02) than children. Overall, the costs were significantly higher for adults than for children (median, €1940 vs. €1130, p < 0.0001), mainly because of the frequency and duration of hospitalizations. Age increases the immune response and clinical severity of PEI, resulting in substantial additional costs for the community. Better recognition of the disease in adults could shorten the average length of hospital stay.

Outbreak of leptospirosis in New Caledonia: diagnosis issues and burden of disease.

A leptospirosis epidemic affected New Caledonia during the first semester of 2008. A total of 135 cases were diagnosed with a relatively low fatality rate of 3.7%. Heavy rainfalls, related to La Niña, favoured this epidemic. The PCR, routinely used, confirmed 54% of the cases, and the microagglutination test 56%. Epidemiological and economical data on this epidemic are presented and discussed.