[Training of operators in the care of immigrants: a public health tool for containing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in this population group].

The COVID-19 pandemic has modified the burden of disease in the population in various ways, depending on different social and economic conditions. Consequently, the pandemic has amplified health disparities, especially among the frail populations. During the pandemic, the incidence among immigrants showed a one- or two-week delay compared to natives, possibly due to delays in diagnosis and access to treatment.

Determinants of delayed healthcare access and stigma associated with pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infec-tion: findings from a pilot study in the immigrant population in Catania (Sicily Region, Southern Italy).

Background: the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have aggravated existing social and healthcare inequalities among particular population groups, such as ethnic minorities, who showed increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objectives: to characterize risk profiles or determinants of delayed healthcare access, as well as knowledge, risk perception, behaviour, and social stigma concerning SARS-CoV-2 infection in the immigrant population in the city of Catania (Sicily Region, Southern Italy).

Design: pilot, descriptive study.

[Reducing the impact of COVID-19 in immigrants: a systematic review of the efficacy of interventions].

Background: the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the population has amplified the effects of health inequalities, particularly in the most vulnerable groups such as immigrants and refugees. An assessment of the intervention to contain the COVID-19 in these population groups was essential to define new strategies for more equitable, inclusive, and effective health policies to on health.

Objectives: to provide a systematic synopsis of the impact of interventions to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in immigrants.

[The COVID-19 pandemic on immigrants: a national project for the impact assessment of the disease and effective interventions to reduce the spread and promote health].

Within the prevention programmes of the Italian Ministry of Health, a project aimed to containing the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the immigrant population in Italy has entrusted to the Regional Health Authority of Sicily Region (Southern Italy). New evidence has been promoted to disseminate and share public health intervention models. The project involved public health institutions across the national territory and was carried out during the COVID-19pandemic.

[Inequalities ed equity in health].

The relationship between inequalities and health has been widely studied. Several theories have been proposed to define the role of the factors that act on the health levels, their strength and the determination profile. This review recalls the main theories and interpretation proposed by different fields of knowledge and highlights that there is not a single way to generate inequalities in health.

[Temporal analysis of the prevalence of congenital hypospadias in the municipality of Gela].

Objectives: to evaluate the risk profile of hypospadias in Gela, an Italian National Priority Contaminated Site (NPCS) located in Sicily Region (Southern Italy), characterized by a significant excess of hypospadias in newborn residents compared to data from reference on regional, national, and international basis and, until 2014, by the presence of a petrochemical plant.

Design: geographical analyses were conducted by comparing the prevalence of the Gela municipality to prevalence found in Sicily, in a territorial area bordering Gela (ALG), and in the NPCSs of Milazzo and Priolo. The geographical comparisons were conducted for the period 2010-2020, the trend within the Gela NPCS was evaluated by comparing two subperiods (2010-2014 and 2015-2020).

Mortality in an Italian cohort of former asbestos cement workers.

Background: A pooled study on Italian asbestos cement plant cohorts observed mortality risk for asbestos-related diseases. This study analysed the mortality of workers cohort of an asbestos cement plant in Syracuse, Italy.

Methods: Workers' vital status and causes of death, during 1970-2018, were identified in regional health databases.

Corrigendum: Time-Trends in Air Pollution Impact on Health in Italy, 1990-2019: An Analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2023.

[BIGEPI project: environmental and health data].

Objectives: the BIGEPI project, co-funded by INAIL, has used big data to identify the health risks associated with short and long-term exposure to air pollution, extreme temperatures and occupational exposures.

Design: the project consists of 5 specific work packages (WP) aimed at assessing: 1. the acute effects of environmental exposures over the national territory; 2.

Cause specific mortality in an Italian pool of asbestos workers cohorts.

Background: Asbestos is a known human carcinogen and is causally associated with malignant mesothelioma, lung, larynx and ovarian cancers.

Methods: Cancer risk was studied among a pool of formerly asbestos-exposed workers in Italy. Fifty-two Italian asbestos cohorts (asbestos-cement, rolling-stock, shipbuilding, and other) were pooled and their mortality follow-up was updated to 2018.

Fluoro-edenite non-neoplastic diseases in Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy): pleural plaques and/or pneumoconiosis?

Background: A mesothelioma cluster in Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy), drew attention to fluoro-edenite, a fibre classified by International Agency for Research on Cancer as carcinogenic to humans. Significant excesses in mortality and morbidity were observed for respiratory diseases and a significant excess of pneumoconiosis hospitalizations was reported.

Objective: Aim of this study is to assess the characters of the lung damage in Biancavilla residents hospitalized with pneumoconiosis or asbestosis diagnoses.

Time-Trends in Air Pollution Impact on Health in Italy, 1990-2019: An Analysis From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

We explored temporal variations in disease burden of ambient particulate matter 2.5 μm or less in diameter (PM) and ozone in Italy using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. We compared temporal changes and percent variations (95% Uncertainty Intervals [95% UI]) in rates of disability adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost, years lived with disability and mortality from 1990 to 2019, and variations in pollutant-attributable burden with those in the overall burden of each PM- and ozone-related disease.

SARS-CoV-2 infection might be a predictor of mortality in intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection may be associated with uncommon complications such as intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), with a high mortality rate. We compared a series of hospitalized ICH cases infected with SARS-CoV-2 with a non-SARS-CoV-2 infected control group and evaluated if the SARS-CoV-2 infection is a predictor of mortality in ICH patients.

Methods: In a multinational retrospective study, 63 cases of ICH in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients admitted to 13 tertiary centers from the beginning of the pandemic were collected.