Why are people still dying of drug-susceptible TB in Paris in the 21st century?

BACKGROUND: Although the burden of TB is lower in France than in low-income countries, patients continue to die from TB in Paris. Our goal was to describe TB-related deaths and to identify associated risk factors.METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in two hospitals in Paris between 2013 and 2018. All patients with drug-susceptible TB were included and followed until end of treatment. The primary outcome was death. We performed univariate and multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazard model.RESULTS: Of the 523 patients included, 362 were men (median age 37 years), of whom 24 patients died (4.5%). The final survival model concluded that age (HR 1.1 for each additional year), not living in one´s own accommodation (HR 5.9), being born in France (HR 8.0), being alcoholic (HR 4.2), having a history of cancer (HR 7.1) or meningeal or miliary TB (HR 8.2) were associated with a higher risk of death.CONCLUSION: The rate of TB-associated death is unacceptably high for a curable disease. To note, patients born in France were much more at risk of death than immigrants. We believe raising awareness among healthcare professionals is a potentially easy and efficient lever for improving care.

Factors associated with tuberculosis-associated haemophagocytic syndrome: a multicentre case-control study.

SETTING: Tuberculosis (TB) is a potential trigger of haemophagocytic syndrome (HS) but little is known about the features of TB-associated HS.OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk factors associated with HS in patients with TB.DESIGN: We performed a multicentre case-control study assessing the medical records of adult patients diagnosed with proven TB with (TB/HS+) or without (TB/HS-) associated HS.RESULTS: Twenty-one patients with TB/HS+ (24% women, median age, 37 years [IQR 30-48]) were included in the study. Eleven patients (52%) were infected with human immunodeficiency virus and seven patients (33%) were immunocompromised due to other reasons. TB was disseminated in 17 patients (81%). Compared with 50 control TB patients (TB/HS-), patients with TB/HS+ were more likely to be immunocompromised (86% vs. 18%; P < 0.001) and to present with disseminated TB (80% vs. 12%; P < 0.001). The outcome was poorer in patients with TB/HS+, with a higher admission rate to intensive care (71% vs. 0%; P < 0.001) and a higher risk of death (38% vs. 7%; P = 0.005).CONCLUSION: TB/HS+ occurred more likely in immunocompromised patients and severely impaired the prognosis of TB. Further studies are needed to devise therapeutic strategies for patients with TB/HS+.

Toxigenic Clostridium difficile carriage in general practice: results of a laboratory-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Reported rates of community-acquired Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) have been increasing. However, the true burden of the disease in general practice is unknown in France. Our objective was to determine the incidence of toxigenic C. difficile carriage and the percentage of stool samples prescribed by general practitioners (GPs) which contained free C. difficile toxins. METHODS: During an 11-month period, all stool samples submitted for any enteric pathogen detection to 15 different private laboratories in Paris and the surrounding areas were tested for C. difficile, irrespective of the GPs' request. A clinical questionnaire was completed for each patient. Stool samples were screened using a rapid simultaneous glutamate dehydrogenase and toxins A/B detection test: any positive result (glutamate dehydrogenase or toxin) was further confirmed by the stool cytotoxicity assay (CTA) on MRC-5 cells and by toxigenic culture (TC) at a central laboratory. The C. difficile isolates were characterized by PCR ribotyping. RESULTS: A total of 2541 patients (1295 female, 1246 male) were included. The incidences of patients with a positive toxigenic culture and a positive CTA were 3.27% (95% CI 2.61%-4.03%) and 1.81% (95% CI 1.33%-2.41%), respectively. GPs requested C. difficile testing in only 12.93% of the stool samples, detecting 52.30% of all TC-positive patients. The 83 toxigenic C. difficile strains belonged to 36 different PCR ribotypes. CONCLUSIONS: Toxigenic C. difficile carriage is frequent in general practice but remains under-recognized. It may affect young patients without previous antimicrobial therapy or hospitalization.

Faecal lactoferrin and calprotectin in patients with Clostridium difficile infection: a case-control study.

Calprotectin and lactoferrin are released by the gastrointestinal tract in response to infection and mucosal inflammation. Our objective was to assess the usefulness of quantifying faecal lactoferrin and calprotectin concentrations in Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) patients with or without free toxins in the stools. We conducted a single-centre 22-month case-control study. Patients with a positive CDI diagnosis were compared to two control groups: group 1 = diarrhoeic patients negative for C. difficile and matched (1:1) to CDI cases on the ward location and age, and group 2 = diarrhoeic patients colonised with a non-toxigenic strain of C. difficile. Faecal lactoferrin and calprotectin concentrations in faeces were determined for patients with CDI and controls. Of 135 patients with CDI, 87 (64.4%) had a positive stool cytotoxicity assay (free toxin) and 48 (35.6%) had a positive toxigenic culture without detectable toxins in the stools. The median lactoferrin values were 26.8 µg/g, 8.0 µg/g and 15.8 µg/g in CDI patients and groups 1 and 2, respectively. The median calprotectin values were 218.0 µg/g, 111.5 µg/g and 111.3 µg/g, respectively. Among patients with CDI, faecal lactoferrin and calprotectin levels were higher in those with free toxins in their stools (39.2 vs. 10.2 µg/g, p = 0.003 and 274.0 vs. 166.0 µg/g, p = 0.051, respectively). Both faecal calprotectin and lactoferrin were higher in patients with CDI, especially in those with detectable toxin in faeces, suggesting a correlation between intestinal inflammation and toxins in stools.

Clinical and microbiological determinants of severe and fatal outcomes in patients infected with Enterobacteriaceae producing extended-spectrum ß-lactamase.

Although extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae have become a worldwide public health concern, little is known regarding the clinical course of colonized or infected individuals. Our objective was to characterize the determinants of fatal outcomes related to ESBL-producing microorganisms at a large hospital in Paris, France. In 2012-2013, all consecutive patients with clinical samples testing positive for ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae at Saint-Antoine Hospital were identified. Patient clinical data were obtained at hospital entry, while information on intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and death were prospectively collected. Risk-factors for fatal 1-year outcomes were assessed using logistic regression. In total, 643/4684 (13%) ESBL-positive samples were observed, corresponding to 516 episodes (n = 206, 40% treated) among 330 patients. Most episodes were nosocomial-related (n = 347/516, 67%) involving Escherichia coli (n = 232/516, 45%) or Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 164/516, 32%). Empirical antibiotic therapy was adequate in 89/206 (43%) infections, while the median length of hospital stay was 30 days [interquartile range (IQR) = 11-55] and 39/201 (19%) were admitted to the ICU. Overall, 104/241 patients (43%) with available data died within 1 year. In the multivariable analysis, 1-year death was associated with age >80 years (p = 0.01), concomitant comorbidity (p = 0.001), nosocomial-acquired infection (p = 0.002), and being infected rather than colonized (p < 0.001). In this series of patients with identified samples of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, hospital burden was large and 1-year mortality rates high. Understanding which patients in this setting would benefit from broad-spectrum empirical antibiotic therapy should be further examined.

Hospital cost of Clostridium difficile infection including the contribution of recurrences in French acute-care hospitals.

BACKGROUND: The impact of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) on healthcare costs is significant due to the extra costs of associated inpatient care. However, the specific contribution of recurrences has rarely been studied. AIM: The aim of this study was to estimate the hospital costs of CDI and the fraction attributable to recurrences in French acute-care hospitals. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed for 2011 on a sample of 12 large acute-care hospitals. CDI costs were estimated from both hospital and public insurance perspectives. For each stay, CDI additional costs were estimated by comparison to controls without CDI extracted from the national DRG (diagnosis-related group) database and matched on DRG, age and sex. When CDI was the primary diagnosis, the full cost of stay was used. FINDINGS: A total of 1067 bacteriological cases of CDI were identified corresponding to 979 stays involving 906 different patients. Recurrence(s) were identified in 118 (12%) of these stays with 51.7% of them having occurred within the same stay as the index episode. Their mean length of stay was 63.8 days compared to 25.1 days for stays with an index case only. The mean extra cost per stay with CDI was estimated at €9,575 (median: €7,514). The extra cost of CDI in public acute-care hospitals was extrapolated to €163.1 million at the national level, of which 12.5% was attributable to recurrences. CONCLUSION: The economic burden of CDI is substantial and directly impacts healthcare systems in France.

Prevalence and pathogenicity of binary toxin-positive Clostridium difficile strains that do not produce toxins A and B.

Clostridium difficile causes antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis. The main virulence factors of C. difficile are the toxins A (TcdA) and B (TcdB). A third toxin, called binary toxin (CDT), can be detected in 17% to 23% of strains, but its role in human disease has not been clearly defined. We report six independent cases of patients with diarrhoea suspected of having C. difficile infection due to strains from toxinotype XI/PCR ribotype 033 or 033-like, an unusual toxinotype/PCR ribotype positive for CDT but negative for TcdA and TcdB. Four patients were considered truly infected by clinicians and were specifically treated with oral metronidazole. One of the cases was identified during a prevalence study of A(-)B(-)CDT(+) strains. In this study, we screened a French collection of 220 nontoxigenic strains and found only one (0.5%) toxinotype XI/PCR ribotype 033 or 033-like strain. The description of such strains raises the question of the role of binary toxin as a virulence factor and could have implications for laboratory diagnostics that currently rarely include testing for binary toxin.

Does a rapid diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection impact on quality of patient management?

A rapid and accurate diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is essential for patient management and implementation of infection control measures. During a prospective time-series study, we compared the impact of three different diagnostic strategies on patient care. Each strategy was tested during a 3-month period: P1 (diagnosis based on the stool cytotoxicity assay and the toxigenic culture), P2 (diagnosis based on PCR) and P3 (two-step algorithm based on glutamate dehydrogenase detection followed by nucleic acid amplification test). The following criteria were used to assess the quality of patient management: (i) time for result reporting, (ii) frequency of repeat testing within 7 days, (iii) time elapsed between stool collection and beginning of treatment for patients with CDI, and (iv) frequency of empirical treatment for patients without CDI. Of 1122 stool samples (P1 n = 359, P2 n = 374, P3 n = 389), 36 (10.0%), 47 (12.3%) and 48 (12.3%) were positive for C. difficile during P1, P2 and P3, respectively. The time for reporting of a positive or a negative result was significantly shorter and the frequency of redundant stool samples within 7 days was lower during P2 and P3 than during P1. Patients with CDI were specifically treated with vancomycin or metronidazole earlier during P2 and P3 than patients from P1 (0.5 ± 0.5 days and 1.0 ± 1.8 days vs. 2.0 ± 1.7 days). The empirical therapy among patients without CDI decreased from 13.6% during P1 to 6.4% during P2 and 5.6% during P3. A rapid CDI diagnosis impacts positively on patient care.

Evolving microbiological epidemiology and high fetal mortality in 135 cases of bacteremia during pregnancy and postpartum.

The outcome of bacterial bloodstream infections during pregnancy has greatly improved over the last few decades. However, there are no recent data on the characteristics of bacteremia in pregnant women. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and microbiological features of bacteremia and to assess maternal and fetal outcome. This retrospective study was conducted in the obstetrics departments of five teaching hospitals in Paris, France, from 2005 to 2009. The incidence of bacteremia was 0.3%. The most common sources of bacteremia were chorioamnionitis (47%) and the most common pathogen isolated was Escherichia coli. Empirical antimicrobial therapy was inappropriate in 29% of bacteremia cases, mostly (65%) when secondary to infection with an aminopenicillin-resistant microorganism. Bacteremia during pregnancy was associated with a 10% fetal mortality. Bacteremia during pregnancy is a rare occurrence, but it is associated with an unexpectedly poor fetal outcome and a high mortality rate.

New molecular methods for the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infections.

Clostridium difficile is recognized as the major agent responsible for nosocomial diarrhea in hospitalized patients. Accurate diagnosis of C. difficile infection (CDI) is essential for optimal treatment and prevention but continues to be challenging. There are currently two reference assays for the diagnosis of CDI with different targets: the cytotoxicity assay that detects free toxins and the toxigenic culture which detects the organism with the potential to produce toxin. In 2009, nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) based on the detection of toxin genes became commercially available for the diagnosis of CDI. These methods have been compared to toxigenic culture (equivalent endpoint) and showed a good correlation. Results can be provided to clinicians within the same day as the stool sample. According to the different assays, the tests are amenable to both batch and on-demand testing. The cost of these assays is still prohibitive for many laboratories and their place among the different diagnostic options remains to be clarified. In particular, these tests again raise the crucial question of the clinical significance of the presence of a toxigenic strain without any free toxin in stools.

[Diagnosis of tuberculous uveitis: clinical application of an interferon-gamma release assay]. / Diagnostic des uvéites tuberculeuses: intérêt des tests interférons gamma.

M. tuberculosis is a possible cause of uveitis; the diagnosis is often difficult. The aim of this study is to evaluate, in this context, the application of an interferon gamma assay, the SpotTB™. The prospective study, in patients presenting with uveitis without obvious cause and not resolving with local treatment, compared the therapeutic approach (giving antituberculous treatment or not) with and without the result of the SpotTB™. The analyses included 23 patients: 78% had received BCG; 78% had isolated ocular involvement; 22% had associated mediastinal lymphadenopathy. The results of the IDR and the SpotTB™ were concordant in 61%, discordant in 22% and non-evaluable in 17% of cases. In the patients with isolated ocular involvement the SpotTB™ avoided treatment in five and reinforced the decision not to treat in 13 others. In the patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy, the SpotTB™ reinforced the diagnosis of sarcoidosis in four cases (one lost from view). In conclusion, when infection with M. tuberculosis is considered in the aetiology of uveitis the SpotTB™ allows, in a significant number of cases, the avoidance of antituberculous treatment.

Rapid diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection by multiplex real-time PCR.

The gold standards for the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) are the cytotoxicity assay and the toxigenic culture. However, both methods are time-consuming and the results are not available before 24-48 h. We developed and evaluated a multiplex in-house real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the simultaneous detection of toxigenic strains of C. difficile and the presumptive identification of the epidemic NAP1/027/BI strain from stools. Amplifications were performed using specific primers for tcdB and tcdC on an ABI Prism 7300 (Applied Biosystems). The detection of amplicons was done using TaqMan probes. The analytical sensitivity of the multiplex real-time PCR for detecting tcdB was estimated to 10 CFU/g of stools. This assay was assessed from 881 consecutive unformed stools from patients suspected of having CDI. The gold standard was the toxigenic culture for the diagnosis of CDI and PCR ribotyping for the identification of the NAP1/027/BI strain. The prevalence of positive toxigenic culture was 9.31%. Compared to the toxigenic culture, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 86.59%, 97.43%, 78.02%, and 98.57%, respectively, for the real-time PCR and 70.73%, 100%, 100%, and 97.08%, respectively, for the cytotoxicity assay.

Safety evaluation of magnetic catheter steering with upgraded magnetic resonance imaging system.

Catheter navigation and placement through the arterial network is a major limitation for clinical procedure. In this article, a specific catheter tip and a modified clinical MRI scanner with an upgraded gradient system are used to steer a catheter through a single Y-shaped bifurcation. Safety aspects are analyzed to avoid the peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) according to an empirical law of magnetostimulation and the magnetic field of upgraded 3D gradient coils. For a rabbit-sized device, the rising time of gradients system have to be limited to 1.7ms at 400mT.m(-1) to avoid PNS. These rise time values allow the use of this system for catheter steering and other more demanding applications.

[Recurrent fever and skin eruption revealing chronic meningococcemia]. / Fièvre prolongée associée à une éruption cutanée diffuse révélant une méningococcémie chronique.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic meningococcemia is an unusual clinical presentation within the spectrum of infections due to Neisseria meningitidis. CASE REPORT: We report a 32-year-old man who presented with a 15-day history of fever and maculopapular skin rash, in the absence of meningeal irritation or severe sepsis manifestation. Blood culture identified N. meningitidis. Clinical course was uneventful after antibiotic treatment was initiated. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis of chronic meningococcemia is crucial for optimal management of the patient and his/her contacts. Such a diagnosis should be suspected in the presence of the characteristic clinical triad (recurrent fever, skin rash and arthralgia), and this clinical presentation should be distinguished from systemic vasculitis as inadequate prescription of corticosteroids may be deleterious.

Effect of antibiotic therapy on human fecal microbiota and the relation to the development of Clostridium difficile.

The gastrointestinal tract is a complex ecosystem. Recent studies have shown that the human fecal microbiota is composed of a consortium of microorganism. It is known that antibiotic treatment alters the microbiota, facilitating the proliferation of opportunists that may occupy ecological niches previously unavailable to them. It is therefore important to characterize resident microbiota to evaluate its latent ability to permit the development of pathogens such as Clostridium difficile. Using samples from 260 subjects enrolled in a previously published clinical study on antibiotic-associated diarrhea, we investigated the possible relationship between the fecal dominant resident microbiota and the subsequent development of C. difficile. We used molecular profiling of bacterial 16S rDNA coupled with partial least square (PLS) regression analysis. Fecal samples were collected on day 0 (D0) before antibiotic treatment and on day 14 (D14) after the beginning of the treatment. Fecal DNA was isolated, and V6-to-V8 regions of the 16S rDNA were amplified by polymerase chain reaction with general primers and analyzed by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE). Main bacteria profiles were compared on the basis of similarity (Pearson correlation coefficient). The characteristics of the microbiota were determined using PLS discriminant analysis model. Eighty-seven TTGE profiles on D0 have been analyzed. The banding pattern was complex in all cases. The subsequent onset of C. difficile was not revealed by any clustering of TTGE profiles, but was explained up to 46% by the corresponding PLS model. Furthermore, 6 zones out of the 438 dispatched from the TTGE profiles by the software happened to be specific for the group of patients who acquired C. difficile. The first approach in the molecular phylogenetic analysis showed related sequences to uncultured clones. As for the 87 TTGE profiles on D14, no clustering could be found either, but the subsequent onset of C. difficile was explained up to 74.5% by the corresponding PLS model, thus corroborating the results found on D0. The non exhaustive data of the microbiota we found should be taken as the first step to assess the hypothesis of permissive microbiota. The PLS model was used successfully to predict C. difficile development. We found that important criteria in terms of main bacteria could be markedly considered as predisposing factors for C. difficile development. Yet, the resident microbiota in case of antibiotic-associated diarrhea has still to be analyzed. Furthermore, these findings suggest that strategies reinforcing the ability of the fecal microbiota to resist to modifications would be of clinical relevance.

[Pulmonary infections with Mycobacterium xenopi in patients without HIV infection]. / Les infections pulmonaires à Mycobacterium xenopi en dehors du VIH/SIDA: étude rétrospective sur dix cas.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, microbiological features and outcome of Mycobacterium xenopi infections in patients attending a university hospital. METHODS: We reviewed the files of HIV-seronegative patients meeting ATS criteria for M. xenopi pulmonary infection between 1993 and 2004. RESULTS: Ten patients were studied (7 men, 60+/-27 years). All but one had underlying chronic health disorders (chronic lung disease, cancer, alcoholism, systemic steroid therapy). The clinical and radiological findings were those associated with tuberculosis. Acid-fast bacilli were detected by direct examination in 9 cases, and antituberculous treatment prescribed in 8 patients. Specific treatment was started an average of 60+/-25 days after sampling, and generally combined a fluoroquinolone, clarithromycin and rifampicin, with or without ethambutol, for a mean of 11.4 months (1-37 months). Five patients had surgical excision (diagnostic in 1 case). Four patients died of their underlying disease. Two patients recovered with antibiotics alone and three with antibiotics and surgery. One patient was lost to follow-up after five months. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary infection by M. xenopi is rare in HIV-seronegative patients. The prognosis depends mainly on the patient's underlying health status. Surgery is an important component of treatment.

Outbreak of tuberculosis in a migrants' shelter, Paris, France, 2002.

SETTING: An overcrowded 362-bed migrants' shelter in Paris, France. OBJECTIVES: To investigate an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB), to identify a common source of contamination and to prevent further transmission. METHODS: The outbreak was identified by radiographic screening and an active search for undeclared hospital treated cases, completed by strain phenotyping and a search for contact cases. RESULTS: Between October 2001 and October 2002, 56 cases of active TB were identified, 30 by radiological screening and 20 by contacting neighbouring hospitals. All cases involved men, with a median age of 30 years. Pulmonary involvement was present in 54% of cases, and nine patients were sputum smear-positive. Thirty-four of the 37 phenotyped strains clustered together. CONCLUSION: The grouping of the cases in time and place, the large number of cases with early-stage disease and the identical RFLP banding patterns of most of the isolates indicate that this outbreak results from transmission that occurred in France. This report underlines the need for public health departments in industrialised countries to maintain effective anti-tuberculosis control programmes.