Stability of airborne microbes in the Louvre Museum over time.

The microbial content of air has as yet been little described, despite its public health implications, and there remains a lack of environmental microbial data on airborne microflora in enclosed spaces. In this context, the aim of this study was to characterize the diversity and dynamics of airborne microorganisms in the Louvre Museum using high-throughput molecular tools and to underline the microbial signature of indoor air in this human-occupied environment. This microbial community was monitored for 6 month during occupied time. The quantitative results revealed variations in the concentrations of less than one logarithm, with average values of 10(3) and 10(4) Escherichia coli/Aspergillus fumigatus genome equivalent per m(3) for bacteria and fungi, respectively. Our observations highlight the stability of the indoor airborne bacterial diversity over time, while the corresponding eukaryote community was less stable. Bacterial diversity characterized by pyrosequencing 454 showed high diversity dominated by the Proteobacteria which represented 51.1%, 46.9%, and 38.4% of sequences, for each of the three air samples sequenced. A common bacterial diversity was underlined, corresponding to 58.4% of the sequences. The core species were belonging mostly to the Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, and to the genus Paracoccus spp., Acinetobacter sp., Pseudomonas sp., Enhydrobacter sp., Sphingomonas sp., Staphylococcus sp., and Streptococcus sp.

Development of a pilot-scale 1 for Legionella elimination in biofilm in hot water network: heat shock treatment evaluation.

AIMS: (i) To develop an analytical tool in order to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-Legionella treatment in biofilm and (ii) study the fate of Legionella populations in water and biofilm after applying a heat shock treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: A pilot-scale unit simulating a hot water system was built and designed by the Scientific and Technical Building Centre (CSTB, France). At the end of the contamination period, a stable cultivable Legionella spp. concentration of 5x10(5) CFU l(-1) was obtained. Two heat shock treatments (70 degrees C for 30 min) were applied. The results showed that the first treatment had a transitional effect on the abatement of Legionella concentrations, while the second treatment had no detectable effect on Legionella populations in water and biofilm. The DAPI (4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole), Legionella PCR and GVPC (glycocolle vancomycin pyrophosphate cycloheximide) counts measured in the dead leg water of the Test Loop were 1, 2 and 2 log units higher than results found in the Test Loop water. Moreover, Legionella spp. count in tap water was about 10(4) GU l(-1). These analyses revealed that they are responsible for the rapid recolonization as well as the uncomplete destroyed biofilm. In addition, a resistance test was conducted and showed that Legionella in the second heat shock treatment was not thermo-resistant but thermo-acclimated. CONCLUSION: Thermal disinfection does not seem to be efficient enough to eliminate Legionella when it is used as a curative treatment. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This work could help water managers for a better management of water network and for a better control of Legionella.

[A one-year prospective and intensive pharmacovigilance of antilipemic drugs in an hospital consultation for prevention of risk factors]. / Un an de pharmacovigilance prospective et intensive des médicaments hypolipidémiants dans une consultation hospitalière de prévention des facteurs de risque.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs include three major pharmacological classes: a) fibrates, b) statines, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors and c) cholestyramine. The late eighties were characterized by the introduction of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors in therapeutics. For 12 months (1st January-31 December 1991), a prospective intensive program of pharmacovigilance investigated the occurrence of side effects among the three pharmacological classes of cholesterol-lowering drugs in a specialized unit for prevention of atherosclerosis and dyslipidemia. Among 3,506 out patients who received cholesterol-lowering drugs, 36 side effects were reported (i.e. 1 side effect for 98 out-patients). Most of the side effects were observed with statines (61%). The most frequently observed side effects were gastralgia (19.5%) observed with the three classes of drugs and hepatitis with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (8.5%) or fibrates (3%) whereas myopathy (12%) only occurred with statines. The other side effects were cutaneous (14%: eczema, skin rashes) or neuropsychiatric (11%: insomnia...) ones. This study emphasizes the low frequency of severe side effects (myopathy: 1 per 1,000 prescriptions, hepatitis: 1 per 1,000 prescriptions) with cholesterol-lowering drugs in current practice.

[Systematic cardiovascular evaluation and hypercholesterolemia. Results in 200 asymptomatic patients]. / Bilan cardiovasculaire systématique et hypercholestérolémie. Résultats chez 200 patients asymptomatiques.

This study reports the results of routine evaluation to detect coronary and carotid atherosclerosis in 200 asymptomatic and hypercholesterolemic patients (48 +/- 10 years: 72.5% men). All patients underwent physical examination, blood lipid profile, an exercise test and cervical echo-doppler. If the exercise electrocardiogram was abnormal, a thallium isotope scan and/or coronary arteriography were performed. Hypercholesterolemia was severe (3.03 +/- 0.52 g/l). 77.5% of patients had pure hypercholesterolemia. Carotid atherosclerosis in the form of plaque (27.5%) or stenosis (3.5%) was found in 31% of patients. This carotid atheroma was commoner in older patients (51.9 +/- 9 years as against 47 +/- 10 years, p < 0.01). Twenty patients (10%) had electrical signs of ischemia provoked by exercise. Six of them had a normal thallium isotope scan and did not undergo coronary arteriography. Coronary arteriography was abnormal in 10 patients (5%): 7 had stenotic lesions and 3 showed evidence of spasm during the methylergometrine test. In total, the hypercholesterolemic patients investigated here were characterised by subclinical atherosclerosis which was frequent but certainly underestimated by non-invasive studies. The existence of an atherosclerotic lesion is an additional argument in favour of starting cholesterol-lowering treatment.

[Pelvic lipomatosis: value of x-ray computed tomography. Apropos of a case]. / Lipomatose pelvienne: intérêt de la tomodensitométrie. A propos d'un cas.

Pelvic lipomatosis is characterised by an excessive amount of adipose tissue in the pelvis. Although there are usually few clinical symptoms, the radiological changes are characteristic: pear-shaped bladder, straightened and displaced rectosigmoid junction. However, these changes are not specific and some workers advise histological confirmation with or without surgical exploration. The authors describe a case illustrating the diagnostic value of computerised axial tomography, as has previously been reported. This investigation seems to give reliable results in the diagnosis of pelvic tumours, especially those of adipose tissue.