Impact of lockdown on cardiovascular disease hospitalizations in a Zero-COVID-19 country.

OBJECTIVES: There are concerns about the potential effect of social distancing used to control COVID-19 on the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: We examined the association between lockdown and CVD incidence in a Zero-COVID country, New Caledonia. Inclusion criteria were defined by a positive troponin sample during hospitalization. The study period lasted for 2 months, starting March 20, 2020 (strict lockdown: first month; loose lockdown: second month) compared with the same period of the three previous years to calculate incidence ratio (IR). Demographic characteristics and main CVD diagnoses were collected. The primary endpoint was the change in incidence of hospital admission with CVD during lockdown compared with the historical counterpart. The secondary endpoint included influence of strict lockdown, change in incidence of the primary endpoint by disease, and outcome incidences (intubation or death) analyzed with inverse probability weighting method. RESULTS: A total of 1215 patients were included: 264 in 2020 vs 317 (average of the historical period). CVD hospitalizations were reduced during strict lockdown (IR 0.71 [0.58-0.88]), but not during loose lockdown (IR 0.94 [0.78-1.12]). The incidence of acute coronary syndromes was similar in both periods. The incidence of acute decompensated heart failure was reduced during strict lockdown (IR 0.42 [0.24-0.73]), followed by a rebound (IR 1.42 [1-1.98]). There was no association between lockdown and short-term outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that lockdown was associated with a striking reduction in CVD hospitalizations, independently from viral spread, and a rebound of acute decompensated heart failure hospitalizations during looser lockdown.

[Strongyloidiasis: a clinical, biological and epidemiological study of 350 cases (author's transl)]. / Anguillulose: analyse clinique, biologique et épidémiologique de 350 observations.

The authors report on a series of 350 cases of strongyloidiasis. The patients had come from the French West Indies or from Africa and had been living in France for less than five years. Stool examinations were performed systematically or on account of eosinophilia, which was often pronounced (400-1500 per cubic millimetre). Although 44 patients offered favourable conditions for the worms to multiply, no death was recorded. The relevant published data are discussed.

Outbreak of trichinosis near Paris.

A localised outbreak of trichinosis occurred in January 1976 in the southern suburbs of Paris. A total fo 125 cases was recorded including 30 children. The prominent symptoms were oedema of the face or eyelids, fever, and myalgia; diarrhoea was unusual and constipation common. An increased blood eosinophil count and raised serum concentrations of muscular enzymes strongly indicated trichinosis. This diagnosis was confirmed later immunologically. The parasite was found in only three out of 32 muscle biopsy specimens but this investigation was made relatively early in the disease. No deaths occurred. In all cases clinical recovery was fast and serum antibody titres were maximum during the first month and decreased slowly. The disease was milder and the recovery faster in children than adults. Epidemiological study suggested that horse meat was responsible for the infection, though no meat could be examined.

[Trichinosis: review of the epidemic in the south suburbs of Paris in January, 1976 (apropos of 125 cases)]. / Trichinose: bilan de l'épidémie de janvier 1976 dans la banlieue sud de Paris (à propos de 125 cas).

The authors report the results of the trichinosis epidemic which occurred in the southern suburbs of Paris in January 1976. 125 patients from a total of 65 families were affected. The major signs: oedema of the face and eyelids, fever and myalgia, were commonly found. There were even laboratory abnormalities with eosinophilia, increase in muscle enzymes and positive specific serology. The course over a period of months was very favourable. There were no deaths. The most severe symptoms rapidly regressed. Only myalgia and headache, and above all fatugie, persisted for 3 to 4 months, in the adults. The biological course was marked by the disappearance in one month of the majority of the disturbances seen in the acute phase, apart from the eosinophilia and serological findings which remained pathological after one year in a number of cases. The particular aetiology, due to horsemeat, may be explained by modern industrial rearing techniques and the complexity of current commercial circuits.