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Since 2012, a deceased donor kidney transplant program exists for dialysis patients living in New-Caledonia in collaboration with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia. This program has reduced the time spent out-of-territory for a renal transplantation and has reduced the economic burden of end stage renal disease in New-Caledonia. We have realised a photography of kidney transplants evaluation for patients in peritoneal dialysis in New-Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. The first aim was to describe access to kidney transplants evaluation for dialysis patients. A second aim was to compare patients with a conformed kidney transplant evaluation and patients without transplant evaluation with no obvious reasons identified.All patients in peritoneal dialysis in New-Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna at the 2018, 31In total, 61 patients were included. The average age was 62 years old. The chronic kidney disease care average time was 6.7 years and the dialysis average time was 2.0 years. Among them, 11 (18 %) were registered on the waiting list, 26 (43 %) had at least one kidney transplant medical contraindication, 3 (5 %) had begun transplant exam since less than 6 months and 21 (34 %) had no transplant exam begun or transplant exam begun since more than 6 months without medical contraindication identified. Among those 21 patients, the three most common reasons were a faulty programming transplant exam (67 %; n = 14), a remote living place (48 %; n = 10) and an intercurrent health event (29 %; n = 6). Among patients living in Noumea and suburbs, 74 % had a conformed transplant evaluation against 44 % in patients living outside Noumea and suburbs (P = 0.058). Nearly one in two patients not on the waiting list had have no information about kidney graft or the information was not recorded in the medical record.This study showed two main factors of a non-conformed transplantation evaluation: living outside Noumea and suburbs and a non-efficient planning of pre-transplant assessment exams. There is also a lack of information to the patient. These risk factors for late registration and non-registration must be considered by the healthcare teams. This study will provide a point of reference to assess the impact of actions to improve access to renal transplantation deployed in New-Caledonia.

Introduction End-stage renal disease is a major public health concern in New Caledonia and in Wallis and Futuna (prevalence value: 2542 per million population in 2017). Spread over the territory, 594 dialysis patients are followed up by nephrologists and partially by telemedicine due to the distance. The aim of our this study was to evaluate the quality of care provided by telemedicine for chronic dialysis patients on Wallis Island, a dialysis unit remote from Noumea (2100 km). Methods We compared two populations of haemodialysis patients, one based in Poindimie in New Caledonia and followed by monthly physical consultation, the other based on Wallis Island and followed by monthly teleconsultation and quarterly on-site consultation. Results From January 2012–December 2017, dialysis adequacy and survival data were recorded for 84 patients: 44 in Poindimie, 40 on Wallis Island. Dialysis adequacy (i.e. clinical, biological parameters) as well as occurrence of vascular access complications were no different regardless of the means of follow-up. During the study, 23 deaths occurred (11 in Poindimie, 12 on Wallis Island; p = 0.464). We did not find any difference in survival at one and six years ( p = 0.46) between the two dialysis units. Evaluation for transplantation was lower for Wallisian patients ( p = 0.042), without impact on the number of patients being transplanted ( p = 0.678). Conclusion Telemedicine is a valuable opportunity for the follow-up of remote chronic haemodialysis patients, allowing them to be treated close to home while ensuring optimal quality of care

We undertook a genome-wide association study of susceptibility to invasive group A streptococcal (GAS) disease combining data from distinct clinical manifestations and ancestral populations. Amongst other signals, we identified a susceptibility locus located 18kb from PAX5, an essential B-cell gene, which conferred a nearly two-fold increased risk of disease (rs1176842, odds ratio 1.8, 95% confidence intervals 1.5-2.3, P=3.2×10−7). While further studies are needed, this locus could plausibly explain some inter-individual differences in antibody-mediated immunity to GAS, perhaps providing insight into the effects of intravenous immunoglobulin in streptococcal toxic shock.

The concept that a minority of group A streptococcus (GAS) emm types are more "rheumatogenic" than others has been widely disseminated. We aimed to provide a comprehensive list of acute rheumatic fever-associated GAS isolates and assess the presence of associated rheumatogenic motifs., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

International audience; BACKGROUND:In a context of increasing use of Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, diagnoses of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis infections among men increased in Europe and USA since 2007. We aimed to describe trends in the incidence of male urethritis in France between 2007 and 2017.METHODS:We analysed male urethritis clinical cases reported by the French GPs' Sentinelles network.RESULTS:GPs reported 1944 cases of male urethritis during the study period. The estimated annual incidence rates in men aged 15 years and older remained stable between 226 cases per 100,000 seen in 2007 and 196 in 2017 (P value = 0.9). A third-generation cephalosporin with macrolide or tetracycline was prescribed in 17.5% of cases in 2009 (27/154) and 32.4% in 2017 (47/145) (P value = 0.0327).CONCLUSIONS:The incidence rates for adult male urethritis diagnosed in primary care have remained stable since 2007 in France in contrast with the increasing trend of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis infections based on microbiological surveillance. Using stable clinical definition for male urethritis seems essential to follow correctly epidemiological dynamic.

International audience; We analysed 25 years of general practitioner (GP) visits for acute gastroenteritis (AG) surveillance in France, by the GP Sentinelles network. We searched for time trends of acute gastroenteritis incidence during winter periods. Data from emergency departments and drug reimbursement were additional data sources. A time-series analysis was performed using a generalised additive model for all data sources for the winter period. Virological data were incorporated and compared with the three data sources. The cumulative incidence of GP visits for winter AG exhibited an increasing trend from 1991 until 2008, when it reached 6,466 per 100,000 inhabitants. It decreased thereafter to 3,918 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015. This decreasing trend was observed for all age groups and confirmed by the generalised additive model. For emergency department visits a decreasing trend was observed from 2004. Drug reimbursement data analyses demonstrated a decreasing trend from when data began in 2009. The incidence reported by GPs and emergency departments was lower following the emergence of norovirus GII.4 2012 (p < 0.0001). Winter AG incidences seem to follow long-term rising and decreasing trends that are important to monitor through continuous surveillance to evaluate the impact of prevention strategies, such as future immunisation against acute viral gastroenteritis.

Aim Despite the well-documented burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in several Pacific countries, the disease is poorly understood in New Caledonia. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of RHD detected by echocardiographic screening in school children. Methods An annual RHD screening programme is conducted by the Health and Social Agency of New Caledonia for school-aged children in their fourth year of primary school. For the purpose of this study, we used data collected during this echocardiographic screening between 2008 and 2010. Results Of 12 728 children screened, 50.2% were male and the mean age was 9.6 ± 0.6 years. Between 2008 and 2010, 114 children had RHD, corresponding to a prevalence of 8.9 cases per 1000 (95% confidence interval (CI) (7.3–10.6)). Prevalence of RHD was higher on the main island outside Greater Noumea (13.7 per 1000; 95% CI (9.8–17.5)) and in the outlying island groups (14.6 per 1000; 95% CI (8.4–20.9)) than in Greater Noumea (5.8 per 1000; 95% CI (4.1–7.5)). RHD was more prevalent in Melanesian children (13.5 per 1000; 95% CI (10.9–16.1)) than in European (1.8 per 1000; 95% CI (0.4–3.1)). Conclusion This study documented a high prevalence of RHD in New Caledonia, particularly in districts located outside Noumea and in children of Melanesian heritage. These results uncover a hitherto unknown burden of disease in New Caledonia and underline the importance of delivering secondary prophylaxis to reduce the prevalence of RHD.

International audience; Abstract Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is transmitted to humans through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. During the 2005-2006 epidemic that occurred in the Indian Ocean Islands, a viral strain harboring a substitution of an alanine to valine at position 226 (E1-A226V) of the E1 glycoprotein enhanced the transmissibility of CHIKV by Aedes albopictus. In March 2011, autochthonous transmission of CHIKV was reported in New Caledonia (NC), an island located in the southwest Pacific Ocean. This was the first report of local chikungunya (CHIK) transmission in this region of the world. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete genome demonstrated that the CHIKV-NC strain isolated from the first autochthonous human case belongs to the Asian lineage. This is consistent with the Indonesian origin of CHIK cases previously imported and detected. Thus the CHIKV-NC does not present a valine substitution at position E1-226. In New Caledonia, the putative vector of CHIKV is Aedes aegypti, since no other potential vector has ever been described. For example, A. albopictus is not found in NC. Vector competence experiments showed that A. aegypti from New Caledonia was able to transmit, as early as 3 days post-infection, two CHIKV strains: CHIKV-NC belonging to the Asian lineage, and CHIKV-RE from Reunion Island harboring the E1-A226V mutation. Thus the extrinsic incubation period of both CHIKV strains in this vector species could be considered to be quite short. These results illustrate the threat of the spread of CHIKV in the South Pacific region. From February to June 2011 (the end of the alert), only 33 cases were detected. Implementation of drastic vector control measures and the occurrence of the cold season probably helped to limit the extent of the outbreak, but other factors may have also been involved and are discussed.

Background. Group A Streptococcus (GAS)–related disease is responsible for high mortality and morbidity in the Pacific region. The high diversity of circulating strains in this region has hindered vaccine development due to apparently low vaccine coverage of type-specific vaccines. Method. Prospective passive surveillance of all GAS isolates in New Caledonia was undertaken in 2012 using emm typing and emm-cluster typing. Molecular data were compared with the results from a prior study undertaken in the same country and with data from 2 other Pacific countries, Fiji and Australia. Results. A high incidence of invasive infection was demonstrated at 43 cases per 100 000 inhabitants (95% confidence interval, 35–52 cases per 100 000 inhabitants). Three hundred eighteen GAS isolates belonging to 47 different emm types were collected. In Noumea, only 30% of the isolates recovered in 2012 belonged to an emm type that was present in the same city in 2006, whereas 69% of the isolates collected in 2012 belonged to an emm cluster present in 2006. When comparing New Caledonian, Australian, and Fijian data, very few common emm types were found, but 79%–86% of the isolates from each country belonged to an emm cluster present in all 3 countries. Avaccine that could protect against the 10 most frequent emm clusters in the Pacific region would potentially provide coverage ranging from 83% to 92%. Conclusions. This study confirms the high disease burden of GAS infection in New Caledonia and supports the added value of the emm-cluster typing system to analyze GAS epidemiology and to help inform global GAS vaccine formulation.

Leptospirosis is an important cause of seasonal outbreaks in New Caledonia and the tropics. Using time series derived from high-quality laboratory-based surveillance from 2000–2012, we evaluated whether climatic factors, including El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and meteorological conditions allow for the prediction of leptospirosis outbreaks in New Caledonia. We found that La Niña periods are associated with high rainfall, and both of these factors were in turn, temporally associated with outbreaks of leptospirosis. The sea surface temperature in El Niño Box 4 allowed forecasting of leptospirosis outbreaks four months into the future, a time lag allowing public health authorities to increase preparedness. To our knowledge, our observations in New Caledonia are the first demonstration that ENSO has a strong association with leptospirosis. This association should be tested in other regions in the South Pacific, Asia or Latin America where ENSO may drive climate variability and the risk for leptospirosis outbreaks., Author Summary The El Niño Southern Oscillation is a major ocean – atmosphere phenomenon that strongly contributes to the timing and intensity of rainfall in the tropical Pacific islands and beyond. As a consequence, it also has a major effect on the number of cases of leptospirosis. By incorporating oceanographic parameters in models, we have been able to predict leptospirosis outbreaks in New Caledonia 4 months in advance. We discuss that this forecasting delay might be used to implement timely interventions prior to the occurrence of outbreaks. Possible interventions include controlling rodent reservoir populations before population growth and maintaining sewage networks or river banks. The major impact of El Niño on the climate of Pacific Islands Countries and Territories suggests that other countries might be able to build similar predictive models.

BackgroundIncidence of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the Pacific region, including New Caledonia, are amongst the highest in the world. The main priority of long-term management of ARF or RHD is to ensure secondary prophylaxis is adhered to. The objectives of this study were to evaluate rates of adherence in people receiving antibiotic prophylaxis by intramuscular injections of penicillin in Lifou and to determine the factors associated with a poor adherence in this population.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study and we included 70 patients receiving injections of antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent ARF recurrence on the island of Lifou. Patients were classified as “good-adherent” when the rate of adherence was ≥80% of the expected injections and as “poor-adherent” when it was ResultsOur study showed that 46% of patients from Lifou receiving antibiotic prophylaxis for ARF or RHD had a rate of adherence ConclusionsTo improve adherence to secondary prophylaxis in Lifou, we therefore propose the following recommendations arising from the results of this study: i) identifying patients receiving antibiotic prophylaxis without medical history of ARF to strengthen their therapeutic education and ii) improving the medical coverage in patients with ARF or RHD. We also recommend that the nurse designated for the ARF prevention program in Lifou coordinate an active recall system based on an updated local register. But the key point to improve adherence among Melanesian patients is probably to give appropriate information regarding the disease and the treatment, taking into account the Melanesian perceptions of the disease.

Objectives: To investigate whether progression-free survival (PFS) can be considered a surrogate endpoint for overall survival (OS) in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Design: Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomised trials. Setting: Five randomised controlled trials comparing docetaxel-based chemotherapy with vinorelbine-based chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of NSCLC. Participants: 2331 patients with advanced NSCLC. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Surrogacy of PFS for OS was assessed through the association between these endpoints and between the treatment effects on these endpoints. The surrogate threshold effect was the minimum treatment effect on PFS required to predict a non-zero treatment effect on OS. Results: The median follow-up of patients still alive was 23.4 months. Median OS was 10 months and median PFS was 5.5 months. The treatment effects on PFS and OS were correlated, whether using centres (R²=0.62, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.72) or prognostic strata (R²=0.72, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.84) as units of analysis. The surrogate threshold effect was a PFS hazard ratio (HR) of 0.49 using centres or 0.53 using prognostic strata. Conclusions: These analyses provide only modest support for considering PFS as an acceptable surrogate for OS in patients with advanced NSCLC. Only treatments that have a major impact on PFS (risk reduction of at least 50%) would be expected to also have a significant effect on OS. Whether these results also apply to targeted therapies is an open question that requires independent evaluation. sanofi-aventis, Paris, France; Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, France

Despite the well-documented burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in several Pacific countries, the disease is poorly understood in New Caledonia. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of RHD detected by echocardiographic screening in school children.An annual RHD screening programme is conducted by the Health and Social Agency of New Caledonia for school-aged children in their fourth year of primary school. For the purpose of this study, we used data collected during this echocardiographic screening between 2008 and 2010.Of 12,728 children screened, 50.2% were male and the mean age was 9.6 ± 0.6 years. Between 2008 and 2010, 114 children had RHD, corresponding to a prevalence of 8.9 cases per 1000 (95% confidence interval (CI) (7.3-10.6)). Prevalence of RHD was higher on the main island outside Greater Noumea (13.7 per 1000; 95% CI (9.8-17.5)) and in the outlying island groups (14.6 per 1000; 95% CI (8.4-20.9)) than in Greater Noumea (5.8 per 1000; 95% CI (4.1-7.5)). RHD was more prevalent in Melanesian children (13.5 per 1000; 95% CI (10.9-16.1)) than in European (1.8 per 1000; 95% CI (0.4-3.1)).This study documented a high prevalence of RHD in New Caledonia, particularly in districts located outside Noumea and in children of Melanesian heritage. These results uncover a hitherto unknown burden of disease in New Caledonia and underline the importance of delivering secondary prophylaxis to reduce the prevalence of RHD.

International audience; Background: Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic Leptospira, is a zoonosis of global distribution. This infectious disease is mainly transmitted by indirect exposure to urine of asymptomatic animals via the environment. As human cases generally occur after heavy rain, an emerging hypothesis suggests that rainfall re-suspend leptospires together with soil particles. Bacteria are then carried to surface water, where humans get exposed. It is currently assumed that pathogenic leptospires can survive in the environment but do not multiply. However, little is known on their capacity to survive in a soil and freshwater environment.Methods: We conducted a systematic review on Leptospira and leptospirosis in the environment in order to collect current knowledge on the lifestyle of Leptospira in soil and water. In total, 86 scientific articles retrieved from online databases or institutional libraries were included in this study. Principals findings/significance: This work identified evidence of survival of Leptospira in the environment but major gaps remain about the survival of virulent species associated with human and animal diseases. Studies providing quantitative data on Leptospira in soil and water are a very recent trend, but must be interpreted with caution because of the uncertainty in the species identification. Several studies mentioned the presence of Leptospira in soils more frequently than in waters, supporting the hypothesis of the soil habitat and dispersion of Leptospira with re-suspended soil particles during heavy rain. In a near future, the growing use of high throughput sequencing will offer new opportunities to improve our understanding of the habitat of Leptospira in the environment. This better insight into the risk of leptospirosis will allow implementing efficient control measures and prevention for the human and animal populations exposed.