Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Baratin.
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An epidemiological survey was carried out which included a dual epidemic of septicaemia and pseudo-bacteremia caused by Serratia marcescens. The survey enabled 15 septicaemias and 43 pseudobacteremias to be detected in a regional hospital between March and August, 1983. Two mishandlings were at the origin of the outbreak: citrated tube normally reserved for coagulation tests were severely contaminated by Serratia marcescens, and inaccurate samplings had been made. Once the mechanisms of contamination were found, specific preventive measures put an end to the epidemic. The authors insist on the need for uncontaminated tubes and citrate solutions and for the development of precise sampling methods which are essential to avoid the occurrence of pseudo-bacteremia or septicaemia. It is important to detect such epidemics at an early stage by an efficient control of nosocomial infections, thus avoiding their extension.
Urinary arginine-vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT) excretion were measured by radioimmunoassay and studied in 3 normally cycling women. No difference for AVP and OT excretion was found between the different phases of the menstrual cycle. But in one subject with a typical pre-menstrual syndrom (weight gain of 1.5 kg), a significant statistical difference was found in AVP excretion (p less than 0.05) between the pre-ovulatory (25.3 +/- 3.08 ng/24 h) and the post-ovulatory (39.45 +/- 5.59 ng/24 h) phase. The well known stimulatory effect of estrogen as judged from plasma studies on neurohypophyseal hormones was thus difficult to demonstrate in urine. These results could be explained by the fact that the kidney destroys both AVP and OT, but OT at a higher rate than AVP.