Highlights from the Midi-Pyrénées Regional Health Agency

Monitoring of Carbon Monoxide Poisonings (as of April 2, 2012)

According to information currently available at the national level, 992 cases of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning have been reported to the surveillance system since September 1, 2011, including 23 cases between March 19 and April 1, 2012. Since September 1, 2011, 3,228 people have been exposed to CO fumes, 541 of whom were hospitalized. The 2011–2012 heating season saw a 16% decrease in reports compared to the previous heating season. With the exception of the exceptional cold snap observed in early February, the mild temperatures for the season partly explain this trend.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Number of confirmed or probable deaths in France (as of March 30, 2012)

It is important to note that the data are highly dynamic due to the complexity of the subject and the network, as well as the time required to confirm cases. Only broad trends can be discussed. In France, 25 confirmed or probable cases of vCJD have been identified. These 25 cases of vCJD, meeting the definition of the variant form of CJD, have all died to date: 1 case in 1996, 1 in 2000, 1 in 2001, 3 in 2002, 2 in 2004, 6 in 2005, 6 in 2006, 3 in 2007, and 2 in 2009. These include 12 men and 13 women. The median age at death is 37 years (ranging from 19 to 58 years). Among them, 7 people resided in the Île-de-France region and 18 in other parts of the country. All cases identified to date were Met-Met homozygous for codon 129 of the prion protein gene (PRNP); they had no identified risk factors for other recognized forms of CJD. One case had visited the United Kingdom very regularly for about ten years starting in 1987.