Faire valoir ses droits à l'Aide Complémentaire Santé: Les résultats d'une expérimentation sociale

L'Aide complémentaire santé (ACS) ou « chèque santé » a été mise en place en 2005 pour inciter les ménages dont le niveau de vie se situe juste au-dessus du plafond CMU-C à acquérir une couverture complémentaire santé grâce à une subvention. Même si le nombre de bénéficiaires a lentement progressé depuis son introduction, le recours à l'ACS reste faible. Deux hypothèses peuvent expliquer cet état de fait : (1) le défaut d'information sur l'existence du dispositif, son fonctionnement et sur les démarches à entreprendre pour en bénéficier ; (2) un montant d'aide insuffisant, la complémentaire resterait trop chère même après déduction de l'aide. Afin de tester la validité de ces deux hypothèses, une expérimentation sociale contrôlée a été mise en place par l'université Paris-Dauphine à Lille auprès d'un échantillon de 4 209 assurés sociaux potentiellement éligibles à l'ACS. Un montant majoré d'aide ainsi qu'un accès différencié à l'information sur le dispositif ont été proposés de manière aléatoire à certains assurés. Les résultats montrent de manière robuste que la majoration du montant du « chèque santé » améliore légèrement le taux de recours à l'ACS et permet de mieux cibler les personnes effectivement éligibles. Toutefois, l'ACS reste un dispositif compliqué qui touche difficilement sa cible : au total, seuls 17 % des assurés ont fait une demande d'ACS. Seuls 9 % des assurés invités à participer à une réunion d'information y ont effectivement assisté, et l'invitation à cette réunion a largement découragé les autres assurés, annulant ainsi l'effet de la majoration du chèque. Enfin, seuls 55 % des assurés ayant déposé une demande ont reçu l'aide, les autres s'étant vu refuser l'aide en raison, le plus souvent, de ressources trop élevées. La difficulté à cibler la population éligible et l'incertitude importante sur l'éligibilité qui en résulte sont certainement des freins s'ajoutant à la complexité des démarches

Molecular diagnostic and genetic characterization of highly pathogenic viruses: application during Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever virus outbreaks in Eastern Europe and the Middle East

AbstractSeveral haemorrhagic fevers are caused by highly pathogenic viruses that must be handled in Biosafety level 4 (BSL–4) containment. These zoonotic infections have an important impact on public health and the development of a rapid and differential diagnosis in case of outbreak in risk areas represents a critical priority. We have demonstrated the potential of a DNA resequencing microarray (PathogenID v2.0) for this purpose. The microarray was first validated in vitro using supernatants of cells infected with prototype strains from five different families of BSL-4 viruses (e.g. families Arenaviridae, Bunyaviridae, Filoviridae, Flaviviridae and Paramyxoviridae). RNA was amplified based on isothermal amplification by Phi29 polymerase before hybridization. We were able to detect and characterize Nipah virus and Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in the brains of experimentally infected animals. CCHFV was finally used as a paradigm for epidemics because of recent outbreaks in Turkey, Kosovo and Iran. Viral variants present in human sera were characterized by BLASTN analysis. Sensitivity was estimated to be 105–106 PFU/mL of hybridized cDNA. Detection specificity was limited to viral sequences having ˜13–14% of global divergence with the tiled sequence, or stretches of ˜20 identical nucleotides. These results highlight the benefits of using the PathogenID v2.0 resequencing microarray to characterize geographical variants in the follow-up of haemorrhagic fever epidemics; to manage patients and protect communities; and in cases of bioterrorism

Pediatric Measles Vaccine Expressing a Dengue Antigen Induces Durable Serotype-specific Neutralizing Antibodies to Dengue Virus

Dengue disease is an increasing global health problem that threatens one-third of the world's population. Despite decades of efforts, no licensed vaccine against dengue is available. With the aim to develop an affordable vaccine that could be used in young populations living in tropical areas, we evaluated a new strategy based on the expression of a minimal dengue antigen by a vector derived from pediatric live-attenuated Schwarz measles vaccine (MV). As a proof-of-concept, we inserted into the MV vector a sequence encoding a minimal combined dengue antigen composed of the envelope domain III (EDIII) fused to the ectodomain of the membrane protein (ectoM) from DV serotype-1. Immunization of mice susceptible to MV resulted in a long-term production of DV1 serotype-specific neutralizing antibodies. The presence of ectoM was critical to the immunogenicity of inserted EDIII. The adjuvant capacity of ectoM correlated with its ability to promote the maturation of dendritic cells and the secretion of proinflammatory and antiviral cytokines and chemokines involved in adaptive immunity. The protective efficacy of this vaccine should be studied in non-human primates. A combined measles–dengue vaccine might provide a one-shot approach to immunize children against both diseases where they co-exist

Human Muscle Satellite Cells as Targets of Chikungunya Virus Infection

BACKGROUND: Chikungunya (CHIK) virus is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that causes in humans an acute infection characterised by fever, polyarthralgia, head-ache, and myalgia. Since 2005, the emergence of CHIK virus was associated with an unprecedented magnitude outbreak of CHIK disease in the Indian Ocean. Clinically, this outbreak was characterized by invalidating poly-arthralgia, with myalgia being reported in 97.7% of cases. Since the cellular targets of CHIK virus in humans are unknown, we studied the pathogenic events and targets of CHIK infection in skeletal muscle. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Immunohistology on muscle biopsies from two CHIK virus-infected patients with myositic syndrome showed that viral antigens were found exclusively inside skeletal muscle progenitor cells (designed as satelllite cells), and not in muscle fibers. To evaluate the ability of CHIK virus to replicate in human satellite cells, we assessed virus infection on primary human muscle cells; viral growth was observed in CHIK virus-infected satellite cells with a cytopathic effect, whereas myotubes were essentially refractory to infection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This report provides new insights into CHIK virus pathogenesis, since it is the first to identify a cellular target of CHIK virus in humans and to report a selective infection of muscle satellite cells by a viral agent in humans

How does stereotype threat undermine performance ?

Symposium on « Understanding how stereotype threat impairs academic achievement : A second generation of research », J. C. Croizet & S. Spencer, Chair

Relation entre la précocité de l'établissement de la spermatogénèse et de la stéroidogénèse et la production de spermatozoides chez les porcs Large White ou Meishan

National audienc

Sécrétion d'oestrogènes par l'embryon porcin avant implantation

National audienc