Institut de veille sanitaire

About: Institut de veille sanitaire is a healthcare organization based out in Saint-Maurice, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 1055 authors who have published 1547 publications receiving 56945 citations. The organization is also known as: INVS & InVS.

[The expansion of vector-borne diseases and the implications for blood transfusion safety: The case of West Nile Virus, dengue and chikungunya].

Abstract: Arbovirus infections are increasing in prevalence worldwide. This presents new risks for blood transfusion. This article describes the epidemiology and surveillance of West Nile Virus, dengue and chikungunya and their role in the risk management of transfusions. Arboviruses are RNA viruses and very adaptable by nature. The majority of arbovirus infections are zoonoses. The risk of transmission is multifactorial and concerns the virus, vectors, animal reservoirs, the environment and human behaviour. In recent years, West Nile Virus has become established and widespread in North America, the number of cases of dengue worldwide has increased dramatically, and major epidemics of chikungunya have occurred in the Indian Ocean and Asia. The transmission of dengue and chikungunya is demonstrated in temperate zones. All arboviruses are potentially transmissible by transfusion due to their capacity to induce an asymptomatic viremic phase. The risk of West Nile Virus transmission via transfusion is recognised and prevention measures are well established. The risk of transmission via transfusion of dengue and chikungunya is real but difficult to quantify and the optimum prevention strategy is currently the subject of research. Access to up-to-date epidemiological data is an essential aid to decision-making, especially for donors returning from endemic areas to Europe. The challenge is to define and implement appropriate measures in unpredictable situations.

Outbreak of measles in two private religious schools in Bourgogne and Nord-Pas-de-Calais regions of France, May-July 2008 (preliminary results).

Abstract: To date, 110 cases of measles have been identified by local health authorities in the Bourgogne and Nord-Pas-de-Calais regions of France, with onset of symptoms between 3 May and 19 July. The first three cases were reported on 25 June by a general practitioner to the French national institute of health (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS) regional office in Bourgogne, in the centre of France. The three unvaccinated cases were students at a private religious school for girls located in Bourgogne and had onset of rash between mid-May and 23 June. On the same day, another general practitioner in Nord-Pas-de-Calais reported a case of measles in an unvaccinated 14 year-old boy attending a private religious boarding school for boys. The boy had developed a rash on 19 June and happened to live in the same place in Bourgogne where the above-mentioned girls' school was located. The two schools have elementary to secondary students. Both are private religious boarding schools. Most of the students come from the surrounding areas, some resident pupils are from other French regions, and some from abroad. All students returned home on 26 June for summer holidays.

Factors associated with excessively lengthy treatment of tuberculosis in the eastern Paris region of France in 2004

Abstract: Background: Few data are available on prescriber adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment guidelines. In particular, excessively long treatment carries a risk of avoidable adverse effects and represents a waste of healthcare resources. We examined factors potentially associated with excessively long treatment. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients diagnosed with TB in 2004 in the eastern Paris region. Sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with excessively long treatment were identified by logistic regression analyses. Based on contemporary guidelines, excessively long treatment was defined as more than 6 months of a four-drug regimen for thoracic TB with full sensitive strains, and more than 12 months for patients with extrathoracic TB. Results: Analyses concerned 478 patients with a median age of 36.0 ± 13.5 years, of whom 48% were living in precarious conditions (i.e. poor living conditions and/or no health insurance), 80% were born abroad, and 17% were HIV-seropositive. TB was restricted to the chest in 279 patients (isolated pulmonary, pleuropulmonary, and isolated pleural TB in 245, 13, and 21 patients, respectively), exclusively extrathoracic in 115 patients, and mixed in the remaining 84 patients. Treatment was prescribed by a chest specialist in 211 cases (44.1%) and 295 patients (61.7%) were managed in a single institution. The treatment duration complied with contemporary guidelines in 316 cases (66.1%) and was excessively long in 162 cases (33.9%). The median duration of excessively long treatment was 313 days (IQR: 272-412). In multivariate analysis, isolated thoracic TB, previous TB, HIV infection, a prescriber other than a chest specialist, and management in more than one healthcare center during treatment were independently associated with excessively lengthy treatment. Conclusion: One-third of TB patients received excessively long treatment, reflecting inadequate awareness of management guidelines or unwillingness to implement them.

Against the Odds: Psychomotor Development of Children Under 2 years in a Sudanese Orphanage.

Abstract: Providing abandoned children the necessary medical and psychological care as possible after their institutionalization may minimize developmental delays. We describe psychomotor development in infants admitted to an orphanage in Khartoum, Sudan, assessed at admission and over an 18-month follow-up. Psychological state and psychomotor quotients were determined using a simplified Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale (NBAS), the Brunet-Lezine and Alarm distress baby (ADBB) scale. From May-September 2005, 151 children were evaluated 2, 4, 9, 12 and 18 months after inclusion. At admission, ~15% of children ≤1 month had a regulation impairment according to the NBAS, and 33.8% presented a distress state (ADBB score >5). More than 85% (129/151) recovered normal psychomotor development. The results of the program reinforce the importance of early detection of psychological disorders followed by rapid implementation of psychological case management to improve the development of young children in similar institutions and circumstances.

Retrospective Analysis of the Cholera Cases Imported to France From 1973 to 2005

Abstract: Background The manners of traveling and travelers’ vulnerability to infection are changing: increasing numbers of travelers, travels at the extreme ages of life, “backpacker” tourism in close contact with local populations. What is the epidemiologic situation and what are the trends of imported cholera to Metropolitan France? Method A descriptive retrospective study was undertaken on all the confirmed cases of cholera imported to France, and notified from January 1, 1973, to December 31, 2005, using compulsory notification data from local health departments and information from the National Reference Centre. Results A total of 129 imported cases of cholera were notified between 1973 and 2005 (3.9 cases/y on average). The geographical sources of infection have changed with time: in the 1980s, 94% of the patients were infected in Maghreb (Morocco and Algeria) but none were in 2000. On the other hand, Asia and West Africa progressively emerged and now predominate. In spite of certain poorly informed data and possible underdetection, the number of cases of importation appears to be low and falling. Conclusions The patient profile seems to have evolved and increasingly concerns people at the extreme ages of life, living elsewhere than the principal basins of immigration in France, and diagnosis is increasingly made in nonteaching hospitals. The lessons likely to help clinicians will be discussed.