Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Vaccine in a Big Italian COVID-19 Hospital: An 18-Month Follow-Up.

Objectives: This is a longitudinal prospective study which was designed to assess the trend of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies targeting the Spike (anti-S) and Nucleocapside protein (anti-N) viral antigens over a 9-month period after the administration of an anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in a big COVID-19 hospital located in Northern Italy.

Participants: 7411 vaccinated workers were included in a linear mixed-effect model analysis performed to model the anti-S decay over the 9 months following the vaccination, during serological screening performed approximately 2, 4, and 9 months following the first jab administration. Serological tests performed in the 9 months preceding vaccine administration were retrospectively analysed to identify the burden of infections occurring before vaccination.

Neurologic and cognitive sequelae after SARS-CoV2 infection: Different impairment for ICU patients.

The exact incidence of neurological and cognitive sequelae of COVID-19 in the long term is yet unknown. The aim of this research is to investigate the type of neurological and cognitive impairment in COVID-19 cases of different severity. Two hundred fifteen patients, who had developed COVID-19, were examined 4 months after the diagnosis by means of neurological exam and extensive cognitive evaluation, investigating general cognition, memory, verbal fluency, visuospatial abilities and executive functions.

QuantiFERON-TB Gold test in the identification of latent tuberculosis infection in immigrants.

Background: The identification and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among immigrants are an effective strategy for TB control in developed countries. A new test for LTBI identification that uses more specific antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is now commercially available under the brand name of QuantiFERON-TB Gold test.

Objective: To compare QuantiFERON-TB Gold test to tuberculin skin testing (TST) for the detection of LTBI among immigrants from high endemic TB areas.

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls in residents near a chemical factory in Italy: the food chain as main source of contamination.

High levels of PCBs were recently found in soil, food and some farmers living close to a chemical factory which until the 1980s had produced polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Brescia, North Italy. We performed a survey on a random sample of subjects aged 20-79 years living in various areas of the town with different levels of soil pollution to investigate factors associated with increased levels of PCB in serum (24 congeners were tested). Total PCB values were closely related to age (Spearman r=0.

Assessment of reference values for polychlorinated biphenyl concentration in human blood.

A chemical factory which produced polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) operated in Brescia, North Italy, (about 200000 inhabitants) from the 1930s to the 1980s. High levels of PCBs were recently found in soil, food and people living in an area close to the factory. We performed a survey among the general population living in non-polluted areas of the town in order to define the reference values (RVs) of the non-exposed population.

Epidemiological, clinical and histopathologic characteristics of celiac disease: results of a case-finding population-based program in an Italian community.

Objective: Celiac disease (CD) is underdiagnosed mainly because of lack of awareness of its heterogeneous clinical presentation. The Center for Surveillance and Control of Celiac Disease (CCD) was set up in June 2000 in the province of Brescia, Northern Italy (1,016,426) inhabitants to enhance case-finding, to standardize diagnostic criteria and to collect epidemiological data.

Material And Methods: The CCD has prompted an educational "celiac awareness program" in the primary-care setting focusing on selective serological screening of high-risk groups, and has reviewed by standardized criteria all diagnoses made in the province since 1984.