Pandemic Influenza Due to pH1N1/2009 Virus: Estimation of Infection Burden in Reunion Island through a Prospective Serosurvey, Austral Winter 2009

International audienceBACKGROUND: To date, there is little information that reflects the true extent of spread of the pH1N1/2009v influenza pandemic at the community level as infection often results in mild or no clinical symptoms. This study aimed at assessing through a prospective study, the attack rate of pH1N1/2009 virus in Reunion Island and risk factors of infection, during the 2009 season.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A serosurvey was conducted during the 2009 austral winter, in the frame of a prospective population study. Pairs of sera were collected from 1687 individuals belonging to 772 households, during and after passage of the pandemic wave. Antibodies to pH1N1/2009v were titered using the hemagglutination inhibition assay (HIA) with titers ≥ 1/40 being considered positive. Seroprevalence during the first two weeks of detection of pH1N1/2009v in Reunion Island was 29.8% in people under 20 years of age, 35.6% in adults (20-59 years) and 73.3% in the elderly (≥ 60 years) (P<0.0001). Baseline corrected cumulative incidence rates, were 42.9%, 13.9% and 0% in these age groups respectively (P<0.0001). A significant decline in antibody titers occurred soon after the passage of the epidemic wave. Seroconversion rates to pH1N1/2009 correlated negatively with age: 63.2%, 39.4% and 16.7%, in each age group respectively (P<0.0001). Seroconversion occurred in 65.2% of individuals who were seronegative at inclusion compared to 6.8% in those who were initially seropositive.CONCLUSIONS: Seroincidence of pH1N1/2009v infection was three times that estimated from clinical surveillance, indicating that almost two thirds of infections occurring at the community level have escaped medical detection. People under 20 years of age were the most affected group. Pre-epidemic titers ≥ 1/40 prevented seroconversion and are likely protective against infection. A concern was raised about the long term stability of the antibody responses

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Black-White Differences in the Association between Maternal Early Life Adversity and Child Asthma Outcomes from the Add Health Study

Background: Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with greater risk of poor health in children of exposed mothers. Structural inequalities such as race and socioeconomic status (SES) confer differential exposure to ACEs; effects in the association with child asthma are underexplored. This study tests the hypothesis that the association between maternal ACEs and child asthma is stronger in Black compared to White mothers. Methods: This study examined 2,557 mother-child dyads from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Using log-binomial regression stratified by maternal race and child sex, asthma diagnosis in a firstborn child was modeled as a function of high maternal ACEs (binary variable using cutpoint of 3 ACEs). Analyses including interaction with child sex and maternal race were adjusted for mothers’ childhood income, education, and smoking, and accounted for complex survey design. Results: The association between maternal ACEs and child asthma was strongest for Black mothers of female children (3-way interaction between ACEs, child sex, and race: p = 0.018); mothers in this category with high ACEs were 5.3 times as likely to report an asthma diagnosis in their children relative to similar mothers with low ACEs (95% CI: 2.22-12.69). Associations for male children born to Black mothers, and children of White mothers, were weak or absent. Conclusions: Study findings suggest that maternal ACEs exposure elevates the risk of asthma in female children of Black mothers. Greater understanding of structural, environmental and psychosocial contributions to these differences is needed to mitigate intergenerational propagation of inequities

Signal Detection on a Patient Cohort: A Disproportionality Analysis of the ANRS CO22 HEPATHER Cohort to Identify Associations between Direct Acting Antivirals and Adverse Events in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Chronic Infection

International audienc

Signal Detection on a Patient Cohort: A Disproportionality Analysis of the ANRS CO22 HEPATHER Cohort to Identify Associations between Direct Acting Antivirals and Adverse Events in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Chronic Infection

International audienc

Comparing Inpatient Satisfaction Collected via a Web-Based Questionnaire Self-Completion and Through a Telephone Interview: An Ancillary Study of the SENTIPAT Randomized Controlled Trial

International audienceBackground: Assessing the satisfaction of patients about the health care they have received is relatively common nowadays. In France, the satisfaction questionnaire, I-Satis, is deployed in each institution admitting inpatients. Internet self-completion and telephone interview are the two modes of administration for collecting inpatient satisfaction that have never been compared in a multicenter randomized experiment involving a substantial number of patients.Objective: The objective of this study was to compare two modes of survey administration for collecting inpatient satisfaction: Internet self-completion and telephone interview.Methods: In the multicenter SENTIPAT (acronym for the concept of sentinel patients, ie, patients who would voluntarily report their health evolution on a dedicated website) randomized controlled trial, patients who were discharged from the hospital to home and had an Internet connection at home were enrolled between February 2013 and September 2014. They were randomized to either self-complete a set of questionnaires using a dedicated website or to provide answers to the same questionnaires administered during a telephone interview. As recommended by French authorities, the analysis of I-Satis satisfaction questionnaire involved all inpatients with a length of stay (LOS), including at least two nights. Participation rates, questionnaire consistency (measured using Cronbach alpha coefficient), and satisfaction scores were compared in the two groups.Results: A total of 1680 eligible patients were randomized to the Internet group (n=840) or the telephone group (n=840). The analysis of I-Satis concerned 392 and 389 patients fulfilling the minimum LOS required in the Internet and telephone group, respectively. There were 39.3% (154/392) and 88.4% (344/389) responders in the Internet and telephone group, respectively (P<.001), with similar baseline variables. Internal consistency of the global satisfaction score was higher (P=.03) in the Internet group (Cronbach alpha estimate=.89; 95% CI 0.86-0.91) than in the telephone group (Cronbach alpha estimate=.84; 95% CI 0.79-0.87). The mean global satisfaction score was lower (P=.03) in the Internet group (68.9; 95% CI 66.4-71.4) than in the telephone group (72.1; 95% CI 70.4-74.6), with a corresponding effect size of the difference at −0.253.Conclusions: The lower response rate issued from Internet administration should be balanced with a likely improved quality in satisfaction estimates, when compared with telephone administration, for which an interviewer effect cannot be excluded

Mean and median weight, height or length, age and WH indices upon admission for all children (n = 68,001).

*<p>data missing for 730 children (including presence of edema for 394 children).</p>**<p>data missing for 674 children.</p