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PubMed2001

[Features of larval development in Simulium buissoni Roubaud, 1906, and S. sechani Craig and Fossati, 1995 (Diptera: Simuliidae) in the Marquesas Archipelago (French Polynesia)].

Two anthropophilic species are known from the Marquesas archipelago (French Polynesia): Simulium buissoni Roubaud, 1906 and S. sechani Craig & Fossati, 1995. The need to control them requires good knowledge about their larval growth, larvae being the only stage actually susceptible to control. A biometric study based on cephalic measures of the two species, shows that they both have seven larval instars. Size variations following species and sampling sites are examined, as are variations of the sex of the two last larval instars. A recolonization experiment, after treatment of a part of a river, allows us to quantify larval growing length of S. buissoni, which is about 12 days. These data allow us to determine the optimal treatment frequency.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

[Our experience with bioprostheses in French Polynesia. A follow-up study from 1975 to 1988].

French Polynesia has unique social, cultural and geographic features. The prevalence of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) of 1.2 % population justified the health authorities' classification of this endemic as "major, severe, and prioritary" in 1984. Seventy per cent of patients with ARF develop cardiac sequellae which require surgery in 25 per cent of cases. Bioprostheses were considered from 1975 as the ideal valve replacement for these young, often undisciplined patients with no facilities for haemostatic control. Reoperation for valve degeneration has been increasingly frequent since 1982 and poses an acute problem leading to this statistic study and to a reflection as to the value of continuing to use this type of valve in this population. Analysis of 178 Polynesians with one or more cardiac bioprostheses in 1988, totalling 221 valves with a mean follow-up of 55 months, shows an actuarial survival rate excluding operative mortality of 86.7 +/- 3 % at 5 years (93.8 +/- 2.5 % in patients under 25 years of age, p = 0.001). Fifty-two patients (29 %) have been reoperated with a probability of being free of reoperation at 5 years of 70.1 +/- 4.2% (85.2 +/- 3.9 % in patients over 25 years of age and 43.8 +/- 7.8 % in patients under the age of 25, p = 0.002). The authors discuss the alternative of bioprostheses in this population : mechanical valves with anti-coagulant or anti-aggregant therapy, frozen aortic homografts, mitral valvuloplasty.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Filarian elephantiasis in French Polynesia (Wuchereria bancrofti var. pacifica). II. Biological aspects].

Realized in French Polynesia among 274 patients with elephantiasis, this survey studied the microfilaremia, the eosinophily, the immunoglobulin titers and the antifilarian antibodies (done by passive hemagglutination) for Wuchereria bancrofti var. pacifica. Patients with elephantiasis seldom have circulating microfilariae in their blood. Hypereosinophily is frequent but rarely high. It is similar to the one patients with microfilaremia. There is a trend towards neutropenia during lymphangitic crisis that occur on an elephantiasis limb. The IgE titer is clearly increased, the IgG one is lesser elevated. The mean values are identical to those encoutered among microfilariae asymptomatic cariers. On the other hand the serodiagnosis is more frequently positive among elephantiasic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Epidemiological transition and geographical discontinuities: the case of cardiovascular mortality in French Polynesia.

The need to maintain the unity of geography justifies the use of every possible approach to the study of spatial discontinuities. The geography of health can be enriched by studying and applying routine methods of regional geography. To achieve this aim, the use of epidemiological transition theory, involving its transposition from the domain of time to space, is proposed. This requires careful analysis of sources of data not commonly used in geography and emphasizes links between health, environment and development. French Polynesia constitutes a prime study area for such an approach, especially because of its multiple contrasts in geographic scale and levels of development between the different archipelagoes and even within individual islands. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, cardiovascular mortality is studied at different geographic scales. Results are displayed as health spatiograms which show the discontinuities of human geography in French Polynesia at different scales. The results appear to constitute synthetic indicators of socio-spatial disparities and permit the geography of health to contribute not only to the measurement of regional health conditions but also to the matters of global human geography.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of 25 years of antileprosy chemotherapy in French Polynesia. Influence of age on the onset of the disease].

In French Polynesia the cases of leprosy are individually severe, like in Asia, but the endemy always stood under a relatively low level. A strong campaign of chemiotherapy has been conducted for 25 years. Unfortunatly the actions of systematic detection of new cases are not sufficient and the sanitary education is almost non existent. The territory is actualy reached by deep demographic and social upsettings and chemiotherapy used alone is not enough efficient to obtain a definitive decrease of the endemy or even to avoid, for a long time, a new increase. However a significant decrease of the age of advent of the decrease must be credited to the action of chemiotherapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in French Polynesia].

HIV case finding tests are performed since three years in French Polynesia. Ratio of seropositivity is 2.4/10,000 inhabitants. The 45 seropositive patients found in three years belong to groups at risk (homosexual males; multi-transfusion recipients; addicts). As far as donors are concerned, no seropositivity was actually observed through the 16,881 tests carried out in 30 months. Outbreak of HIV seems to be recent in Tahiti.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1993

[Hemorrhagic dengue with shock in children in French Polynesia].

The dengue fever is an intertropical arbovirus, well known in French Polynesia where the first cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever appeared at the end of 1989. The authors report their experience in the paediatrics ward of the Centre Hospitalier Territorial (CHT) of Papeete, where, from 1990 to 1992, 310 cases of dengue fever have been registered with 79 cases of dengue shock syndrome (25.5%) and 12 deaths (4%). Then, following an epidemiologic summary and a description of how the clinical picture evolves in children, they insist on the fact that the pathophysiology of dengue fever is unknown, and there is no predictive factor; even if, in this study, the young age seems to be factor of severity. Therefore, an epidemiologic survey, and a very close monitoring of each case are necessary, in order to start an aggressive symptomatic treatment as soon as possible. The antivector's fight is still the only prevention against this arbovirosis.

Child↗
PubMed2006

Thaumatocotyle pseudodasybatis Hargis, 1955 (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from Aetobatus cf. narinari, with a comparison of specimens from Australia, French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

Thaumatocotyle pseudodasybatis Hargis, 1955, has previously been described from Aetobatus narinari in the Atlantic and subsequently recorded from the Pacific. Aetobatus cf. narinari is now considered a species complex; as monocotylids are often strictly species specific, we test the hypothesis that detailed examination of specimens of monocotylids from rays from various localities could reveal morphological differences and eventually help our understanding of the systematics of the host. T. pseudodasybatis, previously known from seven specimens only, is redescribed from an additional 26 specimens from the South Pacific (off New Caledonia, Australia and Ranguiroa, French Polynesia), all from Aetobatus cf. narinari. The female reproductive organs are described in detail. The distal extremity of the male sclerotised copulatory organ, described in detail for the first time, shows a characteristic pattern of longitudinal striations on its edge that might be useful for future distinction from other species. The development of the male and female organs in juveniles is described, showing that growth of the male sclerotised copulatory organ begins with its basal part and precedes development of the ejaculatory bulb. Specimens from New Caledonia, Australia and French Polynesia had similar measurements and morphology, especially in the shape of the distal end of the male sclerotised copulatory organ; they were also similar to the holotype from the Atlantic. This suggests that all specimens from the Pacific and Atlantic belong to a single species; T. pseudodasybatis thus cannot be used to differentiate populations of Aetobatus cf. narinari, perhaps because this monocotylid is not strictly species-specific.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Molecular epidemiology of dengue 3 viruses and genetic relatedness among dengue 3 strains isolated from patients with mild or severe form of dengue fever in French Polynesia.

The nucleotide sequences of a short fragment of the envelope protein gene encoding amino acids 25 to 89 of 27 dengue 3 viruses were determined by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified products, and the viruses were compared regarding their time of isolation and geographic distribution. Four distinct genotypic groups were discerned at 6% divergence between nucleotide sequences. The first group contained isolates from the South Pacific (1988 to 1992), Singapore (1973) and Indonesia (1973 to 1991). The second group comprised viruses from Asia (1956 to 1989) including the reference strain H-87. The third was composed of one isolate from Thailand (1971), and the fourth included the early strains from French Polynesia (1964 to 1969) and from Puerto Rico (1963). Furthermore, the difference between early and recent strains from the South Pacific was as high as 12.3%. This observation suggests that the recent epidemics in the South Pacific were probably the consequence of the spread of a new variant that emerged from New Caledonia. However, relatedness between nucleotide sequence and disease severity, or between strains from epidemics with mild disease (New Caledonia) and strains from epidemics with severe disease (French Polynesia) could not be demonstrated.

Aedes↗
PubMed1985

Field trials of preventive regimens in Thailand and French Polynesia.

Field demonstration trials of preventive agents or methods are needed so that the effectiveness and acceptability of such methods can be evaluated when used as part of the prevailing system and life style in a particular community. Agents so tested should have already been shown in a clinical trial to have a positive effect. Field demonstration trials differ from clinical trials in having no traditional control group; the study is not 'blind'; there is no special supervision and there is no special selection of participants. Results of two field demonstration trials, one in a population in Thailand with moderate but increasing caries severity and the other in French Polynesia, where caries severity is very high, are reported. The trials compared the effectiveness of various chewing gum formulations with the effectiveness of a fortnightly supervised sodium fluoride rinse. One gum formulation contained fluoride and was sweetened with sucrose or xylitol and sorbitol, the other was fluoride free and was sweetened with xylitol and sorbitol. The important information from these field trials is that a fluoride-containing chewing gum sweetened with xylitol/sorbitol appears to be effective in controlling caries experience even in communities apparently experiencing an increase of the disease; and that the apparent effectiveness was achieved in a field situation subject to all the problems of a programme not under a rigid clinical trial type of control. The fluoride-containing chewing gum-sucrose regime, in both the trials, and the non-fluoride chewing gum-xylitol/sorbitol regime in the French Polynesia trial failed to exhibit any notable preventive effect.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Incidence of haematological malignancies in French Polynesia between 1990 and 1995.

To determine the incidence of haematological malignancies in French Polynesia from 1990 to 1995, we collected cases from the local cancer registry, sanitary evacuation files and all the histopathology and clinical biology laboratories. All leukaemias, non Hodgkin's lymphomas, and multiple myelomas incidence was slightly lower among French Polynesians than among Maoris from New-Zealand and Hawaiians of Hawaii. Standardised Incidence Ratio (SIR) for Hodgkin's disease among females was 0.08 when comparing to Hawaiians and 0.33 when comparing to Maoris. Other salient features were a high proportion of high grade and Burkitt's lymphoma, the absence of Hodgkin's disease after 40 years of age, a low incidence of chronic lymphoid leukaemia, and a high non lymphoblastic/lymphoblastic acute leukaemia ratio in childhood. This study stresses the peculiar incidence of some haematological malignancies in this south pacific area.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

[Aspects of the aggressivity cycle of Simulium buissoni Roubaud, 1906 (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Nuku-Hiva, Marquesas Archipelago (French Polynesia)].

High density of haematophagous blackflies on Nuku-Hiva Island (Marquesas archipelago, French Polynesia) is a handicap to its optimal development. The present study contains observations from many sampling sites to examine aggressive periods of Simulium buissoni Roubaud, 1906. Density of aggressive females is very high, principally in highly irrigated sites of the island. Biting rates show low variation between days, and a diurnal activity, with a poorly pronounced circum-meridian maximum. Parity rates show great variation between sampling stations, but are lowest during the day. A hypothesis of greater spatial dispersion of nulliparous females allows explanation of much of the observed variation. Sampling in and out of a house shows exophily of blackflies. Proportion of parous females is greater in the house. Data collected over a long period show that earlier densities were greater than recent ones. Perturbation of the environment is probably the basis of this decrease.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Reconstruction and resistance: cultural responses to living the health transition in French Polynesia.

This paper highlights Tahitian healing in response to rapid cultural change in French Polynesia. First, I examine the reconstruction and adaptation of Tahitian healing to cultural, economic, political, and health transitions in the past 40 years. Second, I address the issue of resistance by non-urban healers to the transformations of Tahitian healing in the urban context. Specifically, I argue that the reluctance of village healers to collaboration, association, and government legitimation (urban transitions) suggests that the status of Tahitian healing is a contested issue. The experiences of contemporary Tahitian healers challenge the unilinear health transition framework, which suggests that indigenous medicine will submit to globalization pressures and absorb a biomedical epistemology.

Culture↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Upper femoral epiphysiolysis in French Polynesia. Hip pain with serious consequences].

High femoral epiphysiolysis is a frequent disability in French Polynesia, occurring more in obese young people that being a morphotype quite frequent in this geographical area. It is often at the stage of acute epiphysiolysis or fixed coxa vara these patients are examined. At such stage, sequellae are major and evolving to precocious coxarthrosis. It is at a stage of progressive coxarthrosis at the beginning that treatment and recovery are possible without sequellae. Any practitioner has to think about it when confronted to any pain in a hip of teenager, so a surgical treatment, in good conditions could be performed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Parasites of coral reef fish recruits, Epinephelus merra (Serranidae), in French Polynesia.

Honeycomb grouper recruits Epinephelus merra (Serranidae) from 2 recruitment events on Moorea Island, French Polynesia, were examined for internal parasites. Trypanorhynch blastocysts (Eucestoda: Trypanorhyncha) and encysted phyllobothriid metacestodes (Eucestoda: Phyllobothriidae) were found in recruits from both events. Fish from the second event were examined later as juveniles and were found to harbor apparently melanized parasites. Neither parasite was found in adults. Evidence suggests these patterns are not due to differential mortality among recruits but to the elimination of parasites by host immune responses. The data also suggest that pelagic fish larvae may represent a dispersal mechanism for parasites if transfer occurs before the death of the parasite.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Variation in oral susceptibility to dengue type 2 virus of populations of Aedes aegypti from the islands of Tahiti and Moorea, French Polynesia.

Twenty three samples of Aedes aegypti populations from the islands of Tahiti and Moorea (French Polynesia) were tested for their oral susceptibility to dengue type 2 virus. The high infection rates obtained suggest that the artificial feeding protocol used was more efficient than those previously described. Statistical analysis of the results allowed us to define two distinct geographic areas on Tahiti with respect to the susceptibility of Ae. aegypti: the east coast, with homogeneous infection rates, and the west coast, with heterogeneous infection rates. No geographic differences could be demonstrated on Moorea. The possible mechanisms of this phenomenon are discussed in connection with recent findings on the variability of susceptibility of Ae. aegypti to insecticides.

Aedes↗
PubMed1990

[Epidemiology of primary liver cancer in French Polynesia].

Thirty-one cases of primary liver cancer recorded since 1980 to 1988 in French Polynesia are studied. Four risk factors are brought to the fore: male, more than 50 years old, birth in Austral archipelago and in this case AgHBs carriage. The relative risk for birth in Austral archipelago reach to 9.23. The relative risk for AgHBs carriers from this archipelago reach to 42.7. Costs of primary liver cancer and to immunization against hepatitis B virus are compared. Authors suggest to start an immunization program.

Adenoma, Bile Duct↗