A large chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreak emerged in 2005-2006 in the Indian Ocean islands, including Comoros, Mayotte, Mauritius, the Seychelles, and particularly in Reunion Island where 35% of 770,000 inhabitants were infected in 6 months. More recently, circulation of the virus has been documented in Madagascar and in India where CHIKV is spreading rapidly. CHIKV-infected visitors have returned home to nonendemic regions from these islands. We conducted a 14-month prospective observational study on the clinical aspects of CHIKV infection imported to Marseilles, France, in travelers returning from the Indian Ocean islands. A total of 47 patients have been diagnosed with imported CHIKV infection confirmed by serology, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and/or viral culture. At the early stage of the disease (within 10 days of the disease onset), fever was present in 45 of 47 patients. A rash was present in the first week in 25 cases. All patients suffered with arthritis. The most frequently affected joints were fingers, wrists, toes, and ankles. Eight patients were hospitalized during the acute stage, including 2 severe life-threatening cases. A total of 38 patients remained symptomatic after the tenth day with chronic peripheral rheumatism, characterized by severe joint pain and multiple tenosynovitis, with a dramatically limited ability to ambulate and carry out activities in daily life. Three patients were hospitalized at this stage for severe persistent handicap. Follow-up demonstrated slow improvement in joint pain and stiffness despite symptomatic treatment, mainly antiinflammatory and analgesic drugs. In the current series we describe 2 stages of the disease, an initial severe febrile and eruptive polyarthritis, followed by disabling peripheral rheumatism that can persist for months. We point out the possibility of transitory peripheral vascular disorders during the second stage and the occasional benefit of short-term corticosteroids. As CHIKV could spread throughout the world, all physicians should be prepared to encounter this arboviral infection.

ESBL-producing isolates were rather frequent in urines in French outpatients in 2013. Males and persons residing in nursing homes were at higher risk of ESBL-positive infection. Despite the increase in ESBL-positive isolates, the susceptibility to antibiotics used to treat cystitis remains high.

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the incidence of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity in two different populations of asymptomatic pregnant women from different geographic origins during two separate time periods. A retrospective study of consecutive sera obtained from 169 and 302 asymptomatic pregnant women in 1990 and 1999, respectively, was carried out. The global H. pylori seroprevalences for 1990 and 1999 were 21.3 and 21.5% (where P is nonsignificant), respectively. For both periods the H. pylori seroprevalences were significantly higher in non-French pregnant women (66.6 and 50.6%) than in French pregnant women (18.7 and 11.2%) (P ‫؍‬ 0.01 and 0.001, respectively). H. pylori seroprevalence in French pregnant women decreased significantly from the first period (18.7%) to the second one (11.2%) (P ‫؍‬ 0.03).Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common bacteria infecting humans in the world, and it infects children in the developing countries early in life.Several studies from different geographical regions (1-5, 7) have shown that the incidence of H. pylori seropositivity in pregnant women ranges from 10.6 to 88%. A recent Finnish study of 20-to 34-year-old randomly selected females during the period 1969 to 1973 (n ϭ 375) and of 15-to 45-year-old females in 1983 (n ϭ 882) and 1995 (n ϭ 842) (6) showed decreasing prevalences of H. pylori antibodies, which appear to correlate with the decreasing incidence of gastric cancer.The purpose of our study was to evaluate H. pylori seroprevalence in two different populations of asymptomatic pregnant women during two separate periods in order to assess its evolution over time and to compare differences in the populations with respect to the geographic origins of the women.A retrospective study was carried out during two separate periods, 1990 and 1999, in two Parisian maternity wards with asymptomatic pregnant women living in France. For both centers combined, 169 consecutive sera from asymptomatic pregnant women were collected during the first period and 302 were collected during the second one. Of these, 69 and 82 samples, respectively, were collected at the second center (see Table 1). All sera were originally collected for legal hepatitis B screening. Written consent for detection of serum H. pylori antibodies was obtained from all women at the beginning of the study. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting H. pylori immunoglobulin G antibodies (Enzygnost; Dade Behring, Paris, France) was used, with a positive cutoff value of Ͼ10 U/ml as recommended by the manufacturer. The place of birth and residency during the first 5 years of life determined the geographic origin of each studied woman.Calculation of the mean and standard deviation for all quantitative parameters was done by use of the StatView system. Differences between groups and seroprevalences according to geographic regions were assessed by the chi-square test of homogeneity for categorical variables. (The Yates formula was