COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among persons living in homeless shelters in France.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is frequent and can constitute a barrier to the dissemination of vaccines once they are available. Unequal access to vaccines may also contribute to socioeconomic inequalities with regard to COVID-19. We studied vaccine hesitancy among persons living in homeless shelters in France between May and June 2020 (n = 235). Overall, 40.9% of study participants reported vaccine hesitancy, which is comparable to general population trends in France. In multivariate regression models, factors associated with vaccine hesitancy are: being a woman (OR = 2.55; 95% CI 1.40-4.74), living with a partner (OR = 2.48, 95% CI 1.17-5.41), no legal residence in France (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.27-0.92), and health literacy (OR = 0.38, 95% CI 0.21, 0.68). Our results suggest that trends in vaccine hesitancy and associated factors are similar among homeless persons as in the general population. Dissemination of information on vaccine risks and benefits needs to be adapted to persons who experience severe disadvantage.

The hypersensitivity to colonic distension of IBS patients can be transferred to rats through their fecal microbiota.

BACKGROUND: Alterations of intestinal microbiota and hypersensitivity to colonic distension are two features of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, the role of intestinal microbiota in visceral hypersensitivity of IBS patients is far to be established. The aim of our study was to determine whether the intestinal microbiota is involved in the visceral hypersensitivity in IBS. METHODS: The painful response to colorectal distension and colonic mucosal parameters were assessed in gnotobiotic rats. Germfree (GF) rats were inoculated with the fecal microbiota from IBS patients characterized by hypersensitivity to colorectal distension (IBS HMA rats) or from non-hypersensitive healthy volunteers (Healthy HMA rats). Conventional rats were studied as normosensitivity control. Fecal microbial analyses were carried out in human and HMA rats fecal samples using cultural and molecular approaches. KEY RESULTS: The microbial dysbiosis of the IBS gut microbiota (more sulfate-reducing bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae and less bifidobacteria) could be maintained in gnotobiotic rats. The number of abdominal contractions in response to colorectal distensions was significantly higher in IBS HMA rats than in healthy HMA rats. No difference was observed between healthy HMA and conventional rats. Colorectal compliance, epithelial paracellular permeability, and density of colonic mucosal mast cells were similar in the three groups of rats. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: We herein showed that sensitivity to colonic distension of IBS patients can be transferred to rats by the fecal microbiota. Mucosal alterations associated with microbiota transfer are not involved in this hypersensitivity. The altered IBS microbiota may have important role in the hypersensitivity characterizing IBS patients through specific bacterial metabolites.

Functional dysbiosis within the gut microbiota of patients with constipated-irritable bowel syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The role of the gut microbiota in patho-physiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is suggested by several studies. However, standard cultural and molecular methods used to date have not revealed specific and consistent IBS-related groups of microbes. AIM: To explore the constipated-IBS (C-IBS) gut microbiota using a function-based approach. METHODS: The faecal microbiota from 14 C-IBS women and 12 sex-match healthy subjects were examined through a combined strictly anaerobic cultural evaluation of functional groups of microbes and fluorescent in situ hybridisation (16S rDNA gene targeting probes) to quantify main groups of bacteria. Starch fermentation by C-IBS and healthy faecal samples was evaluated in vitro. RESULTS: In C-IBS, the numbers of lactate-producing and lactate-utilising bacteria and the number of H(2) -consuming populations, methanogens and reductive acetogens, were at least 10-fold lower (P < 0.05) compared with control subjects. Concomitantly, the number of lactate- and H(2) -utilising sulphate-reducing population was 10 to 100 fold increased in C-IBS compared with healthy subjects. The butyrate-producing Roseburia - E. rectale group was in lower number (0.01 < P < 0.05) in C-IBS than in control. C-IBS faecal microbiota produced more sulphides and H(2) and less butyrate from starch fermentation than healthy ones. CONCLUSIONS: A major functional dysbiosis was observed in constipated-irritable bowel syndrome gut microbiota, reflecting altered intestinal fermentation. Sulphate-reducing population increased in the gut of C-IBS and were accompanied by alterations in other microbial groups. This could be responsible for changes in the metabolic output and enhancement in toxic sulphide production which could in turn influence gut physiology and contribute to IBS pathogenesis.