Impaired mental well-being and psychosocial risk: a cross-sectional study in female nursing home direct staff.

OBJECTIVES: The present study sought to quantify the impaired mental well-being and psychosocial stress experienced by nursing home staff and to determine the relationship between impaired mental well-being assessed on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and exposure to psychosocial stress assessed on Siegrist's effort/reward and overcommitment model. METHODS: A transverse study was conducted in France on 2471 female employees in 105 nursing homes for the elderly. Personal and occupational data were collected by questionnaire for 668 housekeepers, 1454 nursing assistants and 349 nurses. RESULTS: 36.8% of participants (n=896) showed impaired mental well-being, 42.7% (n=1039) overcommitment and 9% (n=224) effort/reward imbalance. Overcommitment (prevalence ratio (PR)=1.27; 95% CI (1.21 to 1.34)) and effort-reward imbalance (PR=1.19; 95% CI (1.12 to 1.27)) were significantly associated with presence of impaired mental well-being after adjustment for personal factors (age and private life events). Taking effort and reward levels into account, the frequency of impaired mental well-being was highest in case of exposure to great extrinsic effort and low rewards of any type: esteem, PR=3.53, 95% CI (3.06 to 4.08); earnings, PR=3.48, 95% CI (2.99 to 4.06); or job security, PR=3.30, 95% CI (2.88 to 3.78). Participants in situations of overcommitment and of effort/reward imbalance were at the highest risk of impaired mental well-being: PR=3.86, 95% CI (3.42 to 4.35). CONCLUSIONS: Several changes in nursing home organisation can be suggested to reduce staff exposure to factors of psychosocial stress. Qualitative studies of the relation between impaired mental well-being and psychosocial stress in nursing home staff could guide prevention of impaired mental well-being at work.

Etiologies of acute, persistent, and dysenteric diarrheas in adults in Bangui, Central African Republic, in relation to human immunodeficiency virus serostatus.

A study of the etiologies of diarrhea in adults in relation to their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) serostatus and number of CD4+ cells was carried out in the Central African Republic. In cases and controls, multi-parasitism was observed. Salmonella spp. were identified mainly during acute diarrhea, with 50% of the S. enteritidis isolated during the study being responsible for septicemia and/or urinary tract infection in immunodeficient patients. Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAggEC) were the most frequently identified agent in HIV+ patients with persistent diarrhea; 42.8% of the patients with EAggEC as sole pathogens had bloody diarrhea, and these strains were negative for the presence of a virulence plasmid. Coccidia were found in those with acute and persistent diarrhea. Blood was observed in 53.3% of infections involving coccidia as the sole pathogen. Microsporidium spp. and Blastocystis hominis were found only in HIV+ patients with persistent diarrhea. Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., and Entamoeba histolytica were found in HIV+ and HIV- dysenteric patients; bacteria resembling spirochetes that could not be cultivated were identified only in HIV+ cases with dysentery. Shiga-like toxin-producing E. coli O157:H- was isolated from two cases with hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Fungi were identified as the sole pathogen in 6.4% of the HIV+ patients with persistent diarrhea. Most of enteropathogenic bacteria identified were resistant to ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, remained susceptible to ampicillin plus clavulanic acid, and were susceptible to amikacin, gentamicin, and ciprofloxacin.

Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli in Central African Republic.

PIP: A dysentery outbreak in the Central African Republic village of Zemio was diagnosed as "Shigella flexneri" by the Pasteur Institute in Bangui (IPB) in February 1996; 2 months later there was an outbreak of hemorrhagic colitis. 108 patients presented with bloody diarrhea; cramping abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting were uncommon. The illness lasted between 5 days and 3 weeks (average, 8 days). Antibiotics were ineffective. Four patients died and several developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Stool cultures done at IPB tested negative. PCR was used to detect enterohemorrhagic Shiga-like toxin (SLT) 1 and 2, the invasivity gene ipaH, and the attaching and effacing gene eaeA. DNA fragments of 130 and 494 nucleotides corresponding to amplified SLT1 and eaeA were found in 80% of the specimens tested. No amplification was obtained for SLT2 or for ipaH in specimens collected during the second epidemic. These results suggest the presence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and the absence of Shigella. The number of reported cases of acute bloody diarrhea in infants and adults in Bangui has increased since 1996. E. coli O157:H7 was isolated from two fatal adult cases. Smoked zebu meat was suspected in several hospital cases (bloody diarrhea, hemolytic anemia, and renal insufficiency) in which non-fermenting sorbitol E. coli O157:H7 was not isolated. In two cases of acute diarrhea, other serotypes of E. coli were indicated by retrospective PCR on stools which were positive for SLT1 and for eaeA and negative for invasivity. A study was conducted in Bangui on 290 cases (33 with bloody diarrhea) and 140 controls. Patients were not paired because of civil unrest in the city. The questionnaire included demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, environmental factors, and habitual food consumption. The major contributing factor was consumption of locally made meat pies (kanda), which were made with smoked zebu meat. Kanda is stored at ambient temperature, often for days, before it is sold in markets or along roads. Before 1996, E. coli was not reported as a cause of bloody diarrhea in the Central African Republic.^ieng

Coxiella burnetii infection among subjects infected with HIV type 1 in the Central African Republic.

Sixty-six sera from HIV-1-seropositive adult African subjects and 49 sera from HIV-seronegative age and sex matched healthy African controls living in Bangui, Central African Republic, were screened for Coxiella burnetii antibody by an indirect immunofluorescent antibody test. 16.7% of HIV-infected patients and 16.3% of the HIV-negative controls had positive IgG titres, with no significant difference between the two groups. Two of the seven HIV-infected patients seropositive for Coxiella burnetii for whom clinical data was available had a medical history compatible with symptomatic Q fever. These findings indicate that there is a high degree of exposure to Coxiella burnetii infection in Bangui. In individuals co-infected with HIV and Coxiella burnetii, cellular immunosuppression could favour symptomatic Q fever. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of symptomatic Coxiella burnetii infection among HIV-infected people, particularly in endemic regions for both infections such as in sub-saharan Africa.

[Ophthalmologic manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in central Africa]. / Manifestations ophtalmologiques du syndrome d'immunodépression acquise (SIDA) en Afrique centrale.

In central Africa, the authors have performed an ophthalmological examination of 77 adult patients (18-55 years) with AIDS: 33.7% had ocular abnormalities. Frequent manifestations included cotton-wool patches and retinal hemorrhages, while lacrymal hyposecretion, palpebral and conjunctival kaposi sarcoma, ocular palsy, ptosis, herpes zoster, papillar oedema, cytomegalovirus retinitis and periphlebitis were less frequent. The authors underline the necessity to perform an ocular examination for each patient with AIDS.

Low prevalence of neuro-psychiatric clinical manifestations in central African patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

In order to evaluate the frequency of neurological and psychiatric disorders in central African patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 93 inpatients at the National Hospital Centre of Bangui were selected according to the World Health Organization (Bangui) clinical definition of AIDS and were confirmed to be serologically positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1 (92/93) or HIV 2 (1/93) by Western blot. Neurological (11/15) and psychiatric (4/15) abnormalities were clinically detected in 16% (15/93) of African patients with AIDS. In this series, the prevalence of neuro-psychiatric disorders appeared to be lower than in Europe and North America.

[Neurologic and psychiatric manifestations of AIDS in Central African Republic]. / Manifestations neurologiques et psychiatriques du SIDA en République centrafricaine.

To describe and evaluate the frequency of neurological and psychiatric manifestations in African patients with AIDS, 93 in patients at the National Hospital Center, Bangui, were chosen according to the WHO clinical definition of AIDS and were confirmed to be HIV-1 positive (92/93) or HIV-2 positive (1/93) by Western blot. Patients were given both neurologic and psychiatric examinations. Cortico-spinal fluid (CSF) analysis was performed in case of neuro-psychiatric signs. 11 patients presented neurologic symptoms: 5 had focal processes associated in 2 cases with deep coma, 4 had cryptococcal meningitidis, 1 demonstrated peripheral facial paralysis, and there was one case of abnormal movement, choréo-athétotic type. 4 patients presented frank psychiatric symptoms (3 dementia syndromes, one of whom was HIV-2 positive, and 1 case of hallucinatory psychosis). CSF analysis was only helpful in the etiologic diagnosis of cryptococcal infection. The mortality rate in these 15 patients was 60% during the 2-month study. In this series, neurologic and/or psychiatric symptoms were detected in 16 (15/93)% of African patients with AIDS.

[Tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus infection in the Central African Republic]. / Tuberculose et infection par le virus de l'immunodéficience humaine en République Centrafricaine.

In order to determine the proportion of tuberculosis (TB) patients in Bangui (Central African Republic) infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), we collected prospectively serum samples from all new TB patients seen at the University Hospital in Bangui during a three-month period (nov. 87-Jan. 88). 220 serum samples were tested for antibodies to HIV, by an Elisa assay and confirmed by Western-Blot. The general HIV seropositivity rate among TB patients was 27.7% (31.2% in adults (N = 183), and 10.8% in children (N = 37)). Within the adult population, there was non association between HIV infection and sex or previous history of TB. Seropositivity was more common in patients with extrapulmonary TB, especially lymphadenitis, and in patients with mediastinal adenopathy, or extensive pulmonary involvement without cavitation. Seropositivity was also strongly associated with negative tuberculin skin tests, chronic diarrhoea, generalized lymphadenopathy, and thrush. It is concluded that HIV infection is responsible for the increasing incidence of tuberculosis in Central African Republic, and that investigations for TB should be carried out in every symptomatic African patient infected with HIV.

[Prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen and determination of its subtypes in the Central African Republic]. / Fréquence de l'antigène HBs et détermination de ses sous-types en République centrafricaine.

To contribute to the epidemiology of hepatitis B, the authors report the results of a survey made in Bangui. This survey was performed on patients hospitalized in the department of medicine of the University Hospital. Some of the patients had a clinically typical hepatitis. HBsAg prevalence was 15.4%. The subtypes detected were: ay (8%), ayw2 (4%), ayw4 (88%). Those data are compared with other data obtained through medical publications in Central Africa.