SUBSTANCES ANTIVIRALES ACTIVES CONTRE LES VIRUS DU GENRE ALPHAVIRUS (FAMILLE DES TOGAVIRIDAE) (SYNERGIE D'ACTION DE L'ASSOCIATION INTERFERON-RIBAVIRINE IN VITRO)

LYON1-BU Santé (693882101) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocPARIS-Bib. Serv.Santé Armées (751055204) / SudocSudocFranceF

Correcting the effect of sampling bias in species distribution modeling – A new method in the case of a low number of presence data

International audienceSpecies distribution models that only require presence data provide potentially inaccurate results due to sampling bias and presence data scarcity. Methods have been proposed in the literature to minimize the effects of sampling bias, but without explicitly considering the issue of sample size. A new method developed to better take into account environmental biases in a context of data scarcity is proposed here. It is compared to other sampling bias correction methods primarily used in the literature by analyzing their absolute and relative impacts on model performances. Results showed that the number of presence sites is critical for selecting the applicable method. The method proposed was regularly placed in the first or second rank and tends to be more proficient than other methods in the context of presence site scarcity (〈100). It tends to improve results regarding environment-based performance indexes. Eventually, its parametrization, requiring background knowledge on species bio-ecology, appears to be more robust and convenient to perform than those based on geographical criteria

The end of a dogma: the safety of doxycycline use in young children for malaria treatment

International audienceAnti-malarial drug resistance to chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine has spread from Southeast Asia to Africa. Furthermore, the recent emergence of resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in South-east Asia highlights the need to identify new anti-malarial drugs. Doxycycline is recommended for malaria chemoprophylaxis for travel in endemic areas, or in combination with the use of quinine for malaria treatment when ACT is unavailable or when the treatment of severe malaria with artesunate fails. However, doxycycline is not used in young children under 8 years of age due to its contraindication due to the risk of yellow tooth discolouration and dental enamel hypoplasia. Doxycycline was developed after tetracycline and was labelled with the same side-effects as the earlier tetracyclines. However, recent studies report little or no effects of doxycycline on tooth staining or dental enamel hypoplasia in children under 8 years of age. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended the use of doxycycline for the treatment of acute and chronic Q fever and tick-borne rickettsial diseases in young children. It is time to rehabilitate doxycycline and to recommend it for malaria treatment in children under 8 years of age

Duration of Zika Viremia in Serum

International audienc

Variability of Zika Virus Incubation Period in Humans

International audienceZika virus (ZIKV) has recently emerged in numerous tropical countries worldwide. In this study, we estimated ZIKV incubation period distribution using time-to-event models adapted to interval-censored data based on declared date of travels from 123 symptomatic travelers returning from areas with active ZIKV transmission. The median time and 95th percentile of ZIKV incubation period was estimated to 6.8 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.8-7.7 days) and 15.4 days (95% CI, 12.7-19.7 days), respectively. Determining the incubation period for ZIKV is beneficial to improve protection guidelines

Kinetics of Zika Viral Load in Semen

International audienceTo the edito

Infections à virus Zika

International audienceSince its discovery in 1947 in Uganda, the Zika virus (ZIKV) remained in the shadows emerging in 2007 in Micronesia, where hundreds of dengue-like syndromes were reported. Then, in 2013-2014, it was rife in French Polynesia, where the first neurological effects were observed. More recently, its arrival in Brazil was accompanied by an unusually high number of children with microcephaly born to mothers infected with ZIKV during the first trimester of pregnancy. In 2016, the World Health Organization declared ZIKV infection to be a public health emergency and now talks about a ZIKV pandemic. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge about ZIKV infection, successively addressing its transmission, epidemiology, clinical aspects, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention before discussing some perspectives.Depuis sa découverte en 1947, en Ouganda, le virus Zika (ZIKV) est resté tapis dans l’ombre pendant près de 60 ans. En 2007, il émerge en Micronésie, où plusieurs centaines de syndromes dengue like sont rapportés. Puis, en 2013-2014, il sévit en Polynésie française, où les premières atteintes neurologiques sont observées. Plus récemment, son introduction au Brésil s’accompagne d’un nombre anormalement élevé de microcéphalies chez des enfants nés de mères infectées par ZIKV au cours du premier trimestre de grossesse. En 2016, l’Organisation mondiale de la santé déclare l’infection à ZIKV comme étant une urgence de santé publique et parle de pandémie à ZIKV. Cette revue a pour objectif de faire une synthèse des connaissances actuelles sur l’infection par ZIKV en abordant successivement sa transmission, son épidémiologie, ses aspects cliniques, diagnostics, thérapeutiques et préventifs avant d’ouvrir sur quelques perspectives

Investigation of a possible malaria epidemic in an illegal gold mine in French Guiana: an original approach in the remote Amazonian forest

International audienceBACKGROUND:In April 2017, Suriname's Ministry of Health alerted French Guiana's Regional Health Agency (RHA) about an increase of imported malaria cases among people coming from an illegal gold mining site called Sophie, in French Guiana, a French overseas territory located in the Amazonian forest.METHODS:Due to safety issues and the remoteness of Sophie, the RHA requested the collaboration of the French Armed Forces for the epidemiological investigation. A medical unit, and six soldiers to ensure the security of the mission, were transported by helicopter.RESULTS:During the investigation, two malaria episodes were diagnosed among 46 persons. Twenty-six of them were from Sophie, where PCR-Plasmodium prevalence was estimated at 60% (15/26). This result was concordant with previous studies revealing high malaria endemicity in the gold miner population. The increase of imported cases in Suriname may have resulted from decreased access to under-the-counter anti-malarials and increased migration of gold miners to Suriname following a decline of the profitability of gold mining in a context of increased repression against illegal mining by the French army.CONCLUSION:This investigation of a suspicious malaria epidemic confirms the importance of malaria among illegal gold miners. Their mobility along the Guiana Shield and their health-seeking behaviour are likely to spread malaria in populations for which significant efforts are undertaken to fight against this disease. Fighting malaria in this population remains more relevant than ever. A pilot study (Malakit project) is currently in progress to evaluate the efficacy of kits for self-diagnosis and self-treatment

Evolution of the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among the French armed forces in French Guiana

International audienceTwo cross-sectional studies were performed 2 years apart in French military personnel deployed from France to French Guiana. In 2011, military medical centres in French Guiana reported 40 cases of intestinal parasitism in service members returning from illegal gold mining sites in the rainforest. In 2013, 48 out of 132 service members returning from French Guiana after a 4-month mission had eosinophilia and seven were infected with hookworm. A presumptive first-line treatment with albendazole could be the most pragmatic strategy

Leishmaniavirus genetic diversity is not related to leishmaniasis treatment failure

International audienceOBJECTIVES:The outcome of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) may depend on the presence of the Leishmania RNA virus (LRV). This virus may be involved in treatment failure. We aimed to determine whether genetic clusters of LRV1 are involved in this therapeutic outcome.METHODS:The presence of LRV1 was assessed in 129 L. guyanensis isolates from patients treated with pentamidine in French Guiana. Among the 115 (89%) isolates found to carry LRV1, 96 were successfully genotyped. Patient clinical data were linked to the LRV data.RESULTS:The rate of treatment failure for LRV1-positive isolates was 37% (15/41) versus 40% (2/5) among LRV1-negative isolates (p = 0.88). Concerning LRV1 genotypes, two predominant LRV1 groups emerged, groups A (23% (22/96)) and B (70% (67/96)). The treatment failure rate was 37% (3/8) for group A and 45% (9/20) for group B (p = 0.31).CONCLUSION:Neither the presence or genotype of LRV1 in patients with L. guyanensis seemed to correlate with pentamidine treatment failure