What is the problem? How to evacuate a victim contaminated by a chemical in an absolute emergency? This question can be asked either in a military context when a group of combatants is under fire from conventional weapons and chemical agents (chemical warfare agents or ICTs), or in a civilian context in the case…
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The lead of Notre-Dame The fire of Notre-Dame de Paris on April 15, 2019 not only almost destroyed forever one of the most beautiful jewels of medieval Gothic art, but its consequences raise an important environmental problem: lead poisoning. The spire inaugurated in 1859 by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was built of oak wood and contained 250…
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Recent discussions on social networks suggest that Lyme disease could be the result of a Pentagon experiment that turned out to be wrong! This is an opportunity for us to take an overview of this disease that still deeply divides the medical community. In a second step, we will try to show whether it can…
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At a time when we are rightly concerned about the evolution of bacteria towards greater resistance to antibiotics, we are seeing the reappearance of a method for fighting pathogenic bacteria, invented by Félix d’Hérelle. The first tested humans were in 1919: phagotherapy is 100 years old. Félix d’Hérelle A self-taught French-Canadian microbiologist born in…
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The French Society of Disaster Medicine has just organized a session “Children and Disasters” in order to better understand the problems raised by children who are victims of a disaster. This gave us the opportunity to review the literature on pediatric decontamination that we propose to you here. Special vulnerabilities of children Smaller in…
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Current images show that tear gases are massively used to maintain order during demonstrations. This leads us to ask ourselves some questions to better understand these products: what is their composition, how did they appear, what are their mode of action and toxicity, how can they be protected or even eliminated, what is the legislation…
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What is this about? Poisoning in children is usually characterized by delirium, convulsion or decreased consciousness. In children under 5 years of age, poison ingestion is unintentional, while in adolescence, self-harm or accidents due to alcohol or drug use appear. The diagnosis must be made quickly in order to treat effectively. We will therefore see…
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A very interesting review article has just been published in the journal “surgery”. It’s signed A. Calder and S. Bland and we can find him by following this link . Several major accidents involving a CBRN component have occurred over the past 25 years. These include the deliberate use of chemicals in Tokyo in 1995 (Sarin), Iraq…
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Even if the subject is not an easy one, it is good to remind that the corpses can represent a real danger on the infectious level but also they can be at the origin of chemical or radiological contaminations in the case of situations falling under the NRBCe. We will review the various dangers and…
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The recent newspapers warned us about an epidemic in India, and in particular in the Kerala region. The responsible is the Nipah virus and it caused the death of about ten people in a few weeks. We are told that “the Nipah virus is fatal in 70% of cases”. What is this virus? What should…
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