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PurposeObjective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) evaluate clinical reasoning, communication skills, and interpersonal behavior during medical education. In France, clinical training has long relied on bedside clinical practice in academic hospitals. The need for a simulated teaching environment has recently emerged, due to the increasing number of students admitted to medical schools, and the necessity of objectively evaluating practical skills. This study aimed at investigating the relationships between OSCE grades and current evaluation modalities.MethodsThree-hundred seventy-nine 4th-year students of University-of-Paris Medical School participated to the first large-scale OSCE at this institution, consisting in three OSCE stations (OSCE#1-3). OSCE#1 and #2 focused on cardiovascular clinical skills and competence, whereas OSCE#3 focused on relational skills while providing explanations before planned cholecystectomy. We investigated correlations of OSCE grades with multiple choice (MCQ)-based written examinations and evaluations of clinical skills and behavior (during hospital traineeships); OSCE grade distribution; and the impact of integrating OSCE grades into the current evaluation in terms of student ranking.ResultsThe competence-oriented OSCE#1 and OSCE#2 grades correlated only with MCQ grades (r = 0.19, P0.75). Conversely, the behavior-oriented OSCE#3 grades correlated with traineeship skill and behavior grades (r = 0.19, PConclusionThis large-scale French experience showed that OSCE designed to assess a combination of clinical competence and behavioral skills, increases the discriminatory capacity of current evaluations modalities in French medical schools.

BackgroundIn 2009, pregnant women were specifically targeted by a national vaccination campaign against pandemic A/H1N1 influenza virus. The objectives of the COFLUPREG study, initially set up to assess the incidence of serious forms of A/H1N1 influenza, were to assess the consequences of maternal vaccination on pregnancy outcomes and maternal seroprotection at delivery.MethodsPregnant women, between 12 and 35 weeks of gestation, non vaccinated against A/H1N1 2009 influenza were randomly selected to be included in a prospective cohort study conducted in three maternity centers in Paris (France) during pandemic period. Blood samples were planned to assess hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody against A/H1N1 2009 influenza at inclusion and at delivery.ResultsAmong the 877 pregnant women included in the study, 678 (77.3%) had serum samples both at inclusion and delivery, and 320 (36.5%) received pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza vaccine with a median interval between vaccination and delivery of 92 days (95% CI 48-134). At delivery, the proportion of women with seroprotection (HI antibodies titers against A/H1N1 2009 influenza of 1∶40 or greater) was 69.9% in vaccinated women. Of the 422 non-vaccinated women with serological data, 11 (2.6%; 95%CI: 1.3-4.6) had laboratory documented A/H1N1 2009 influenza (1 with positive PCR and 10 with serological seroconversion). None of the 877 study's women was hospitalized for flu. No difference on pregnancy outcomes was evidenced between vaccinated women, non-vaccinated women without seroconversion and non-vaccinated women with flu.ConclusionDespite low vaccine coverage, incidence of pandemic flu was low in this cohort of pregnant women.No effect on pregnancy and delivery outcomes was evidenced after vaccination.

BackgroundIn October 2009, the French government organized a national-wide, free of charge vaccination campaign against pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, especially targeting pregnant women, a high risk group for severe illness. The study objective was to evaluate pandemic flu vaccine uptake and factors associated with non-vaccination in a population of pregnant women.Methodology/principal findingsIn a prospective cohort conducted in 3 maternity hospitals in Paris, 882 pregnant women were randomly included between October 12, 2009 and February 3, 2010, with the aim to study characteristics of pandemic influenza during pregnancy. At inclusion, socio-demographic, medical, obstetrical factors and those associated with a higher risk of flu exposition and disease-spreading were systematically collected. Pandemic flu vaccine uptake was checked until delivery. 555 (62.9%) women did not get vaccinated. Determinants associated with non-vaccination in a multivariate logistic regression were: geographic origin (Sub-Saharan African origin, adjusted Odd Ratio aOR = 5.4[2.3-12.7], North African origin, aOR = 2.5[1.3-4.7] and Asian origin, aOR = 2.1[1.7-2.6] compared to French and European origin) and socio-professional categories (farmers, craftsmen and tradesmen, aOR = 2.3[2.0-2.6], intermediate professionals, aOR = 1.3[1.0-1.6], employees and manual workers, aOR = 2.5[1.4-4.4] compared to managers and intellectual professionals). The probability of not receiving pandemic flu vaccine was lower among women vaccinated against seasonal flu in the previous 5 years (aOR = 0.6[0.4-0.8]) and among those who stopped smoking before or early during pregnancy (aOR = 0.6[0.4-0.8]). Number of children less than 18 years old living at home, work in contact with children or in healthcare area, or professional contact with the public, were not associated with a higher vaccine uptake.Conclusions/significanceIn this cohort of pregnant women, vaccine coverage against pandemic 2009 A/H1N1 flu was low, particularly in immigrant women and those having a low socio-economic status. To improve its effectiveness, future vaccination campaign for pregnant women should be more specifically tailored for these populations.

Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis has an overall global mortality rate of 20% in AIDS patients despite antifungals. There is a need for additional means of precise assessment of disease severity. We thus studied the radiological brain images available from 62 HIV-positive patients with cryptococcocal meningoencephalitis to analyse the brain lesions associated with cryptococcosis in relationship with disease severity, and the respective diagnostic contribution of magnetic resonance (MR) versus computed tomography (CT). In this retrospective multicenter analysis, two neuroradiologists blindly reviewed the brain imaging. Prospectively acquired clinical and mycological data were available at baseline and during follow-up. Baseline images were abnormal on 92% of the MR scans contrasting with 53% of the CT scans. MR/CT cryptococcosis-related lesions included mass(es) (21%/9%), dilated perivascular spaces (46%/5%) and pseudocysts (8%/4%). The presence compared to absence of cryptococcosis-related lesions was significantly associated with high serum (78% vs. 42%, p = 0.008) and CSF (81% vs. 50%, p = 0.024) antigen titers, independently of neurological abnormalities. MR detected significantly more cryptococcosis-related lesions than CT for 17 patients who had had both investigations (76% vs. 24%, p = 0.005). In conclusion, MR appears more effective than CT for the evaluation of AIDS-associated cerebral cryptococcosis. Furthermore, brain imaging is an effective tool to assess the initial disease severity in this setting. Given this, we suggest that investigation for cryptococcosis-related lesions is merited, even in the absence of neurological abnormality, if a high fungal burden is suspected on the basis of high serum and/or CSF antigen titers.