Health, education, and social care provision after diagnosis of childhood visual disability

Aim: To investigate the health, education, and social care provision for children newly diagnosed with visual disability.Method: This was a national prospective study, the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 (BCVIS2), ascertaining new diagnoses of visual impairment or severe visual impairment and blindness (SVIBL), or equivalent vi-sion. Data collection was performed by managing clinicians up to 1-year follow-up, and included health and developmental needs, and health, education, and social care provision.Results: BCVIS2 identified 784 children newly diagnosed with visual impairment/SVIBL (313 with visual impairment, 471 with SVIBL). Most children had associated systemic disorders (559 [71%], 167 [54%] with visual impairment, and 392 [84%] with SVIBL). Care from multidisciplinary teams was provided for 549 children (70%). Two-thirds (515) had not received an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). Fewer children with visual impairment had seen a specialist teacher (SVIBL 35%, visual impairment 28%, χ2p < 0.001), or had an EHCP (11% vs 7%, χ2p < 0 . 01).Interpretation: Families need additional support from managing clinicians to access recommended complex interventions such as the use of multidisciplinary teams and educational support. This need is pressing, as the population of children with visual impairment/SVIBL is expected to grow in size and complexity.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Some undesirable traps which can mislead the pathologist

International audienceIn clinical laboratories, the diagnosis of parasite diseases can sometimes be challenging for non-expert microbiologists. Indeed, in spite of the advent of the molecular biology, macroscopic and microscopic examinations still remain essential. Nonetheless, it is usually not automated and requires great skills to complete the correct diagnosis. It is not infrequent that inert elements mislead to erroneous diagnoses. Through three different concrete examples, this article aims at underscoring the actual risk of parasite misidentification and at highlighting the systematic approach to be conducted in order to enable reliable diagnosis

Iron Metabolism Disturbance in a French Cohort of ALS Patients

Objective. The aim of this study was to assess iron status in a cohort of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients compared to controls in order to evaluate these parameters as a risk factor or a modifying factor of ALS. Methods. We collected serum iron, ferritin, transferrin, total iron-binding capacity, and transferrin saturation coefficient (TSC) from 104 ALS patients at the time of diagnosis and from 145 controls. We reported phenotypic characteristics and evolution parameters such as ALSFRS-R and forced vital capacity at diagnosis and after one year of follow-up. In a first step we compared iron status between ALS patients and controls, and then we evaluated the relation between iron status and disease evolution of ALS patients using univariate and multivariate analysis. Results. We observed increased concentrations of serum iron (P=0.002) and ferritin (P<0.0001) and increased TSC (P=0.017) in ALS patients. We also showed an association between markers of iron status and high body weight loss in ALS patients. The multivariate analysis of survival highlighted a significant relation between ferritin level and disease duration (P=0.038). Conclusion. This is the first study showing a higher concentration of serum iron in ALS patients, strengthening the involvement of a deregulation of iron metabolism in ALS

Assessment of Factors Associated With Community-Acquired Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase–Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> Urinary Tract Infections in France

International audienceIMPORTANCE Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli is considered a leading pathogen contributing to the global burden of antimicrobial resistance. OBJECTIVE To better understand factors associated with the heterogeneity of community-acquired ESBL-producing E coli urinary tract infections (UTIs) in France. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study performed from January 1 to December 31, 2021, was based on data collected via PRIMO (Surveillance and Prevention of Antimicrobial Resistance in Primary Care and Nursing Homes), a nationwide clinical laboratory surveillance system in France. Strains of E coli isolated from community urine samples from January 1 to December 31, 2019, from 59 administrative departments of metropolitan France were included. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Quasi-Poisson regression models were used to assess the associations between several ecological factors available on government and administration websites between 2010 and 2020 (demographic population structure, living conditions, baseline health care services, antibiotic consumptions, economic indicators, animal farming density, and environmental characteristics) and the number of ESBL-producing E coli strains isolated from urine samples of individuals with community-acquired UTI in 2019