HBV and HCV testing outcomes among marginalized communities in Italy, 2019-2024: a prospective study.

Background: The health of the marginalized populations is crucial for public health and inequalities. The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Hepatitis Report 2024 stated that over 304 million people were living with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)/Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection in 2022. We performed HBV/HCV screenings among marginalized communities to reveal hidden infections and link-to-care positive participants.

The Uprise of Human Leishmaniasis in Tuscany, Central Italy: Clinical and Epidemiological Data from a Multicenter Study.

Human leishmaniasis is facing important epidemiological changes in Southern Europe, driven by increased urbanization, climate changes, emerging of new animal reservoirs, shifts in human behavior and a growing population of immunocompromised and elderly individuals. In this evolving epidemiological landscape, we analyzed the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of human leishmaniasis in the Tuscany region of Central Italy. Through a multicentric retrospective analysis, we collected clinical and demographic data about all cases of leishmaniasis recorded between 2018 and 2023.

Case report: vertical transmission of Plesiomonas shigelloides. Is it time to strengthen information on safety concerns for raw seafood dietary exposure in pregnancy?

The consumption of raw seafood, generally considered to be a healthy food, has greatly increased worldwide. Pathogens of fish can cause foodborne illnesses in humans, especially following the consumption of raw seafood from contaminated water.Foodborne illness in pregnant women is seldom the cause of neonatal infection, but, as in the reported cases, it has been associated with a high degree of morbidity and mortality.

Safety and Efficacy of Outpatient Treatments for COVID-19: Real-Life Data from a Regionwide Cohort of High-Risk Patients in Tuscany, Italy (the FEDERATE Cohort).

Early COVID-19 treatments can prevent progression to severe disease. However, real-life data are still limited, and studies are warranted to monitor the efficacy and tolerability of these drugs. We retrospectively enrolled outpatients receiving early treatment for COVID-19 in 11 infectious diseases units in the Tuscany region of Italy between 1 January and 31 March 2022, when Omicron sublineages BA.

Predictors of poor outcome in tocilizumab treated patients with Sars-CoV-2 related severe respiratory failure: A multicentre real world study.

Introduction: Despite Tocilizumab is now recognized as a concrete therapeutic option in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 related respiratory failure, literature lacks about factors influencing the response to it in this context. Therefore, the aim of our study was to provide evidence about predictors of poor outcome in Tocilizumab treated patients in the real-world practice.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical, laboratory and chest computer tomography (CCT) data of patients firstly admitted in non Intensive Care Units (ICU) and suffering from severe respiratory failure, who were treated with the IL-6 antagonist Tocilizumab.

The incremental value of computed tomography of COVID-19 pneumonia in predicting ICU admission.

Triage is crucial for patient's management and estimation of the required intensive care unit (ICU) beds is fundamental for health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed whether chest computed tomography (CT) of COVID-19 pneumonia has an incremental role in predicting patient's admission to ICU. We performed volumetric and texture analysis of the areas of the affected lung in CT of 115 outpatients with COVID-19 infection presenting to the emergency room with dyspnea and unresponsive hypoxyemia.

Passive immunity in newborn from SARS-CoV-2-infected mother.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vertical transmission is an open issue. Recent reports call into question in utero or peripartum viral transmission to the offspring. Few data are available on immunoglobulin G (IgG) and/or IgM in newborns.

Beneficial impact of Baricitinib in COVID-19 moderate pneumonia; multicentre study.

• Baricitinib, an anti-JAK1/JAK2, reduces cytokine release and SARS-Co-V2 entry. • In a retrospective multicenter study baricitinib reduces COVID-19 mortality rate. • Baricitinib reduces intensive care unit admissions of COVID-19 pneumonia.

No Confirmed Cases of Taeniasis in a Group of Recently Arrived Sub-Saharan Migrants to Italy.

One-hundred and sixty-four migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa to Italy were screened with the specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay coproantigen (ELISA CoAg) and four (2.4%) were recorded as positive, but with optical density values near to the cut-off. No ELISA CoAg positive samples were confirmed by parasitological methods.

Epidemiological, demographic and clinical data on chronic viral hepatitis C in Tuscany.

Background: Recent introduction of direct antiviral agents (DAAs) has completely changed the scenario regarding hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment. Certain countries' economic health programs prioritize DAAs according to specific clinical features of HCV-infected patients. The aim of this study was to define epidemiological, demographic and clinical characteristics of HCV-infected patients in the Tuscany region of central Italy.

Clinical epidemiology of chronic viral hepatitis B: A Tuscany real-word large-scale cohort study.

Aim: To build a regional database of chronic patients to define the clinical epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients in the Tuscan public health care system.

Methods: This study used a cross-sectional cohort design. We evaluated chronic viral hepatitis patients with HBV referred to the outpatient services of 16 hospital units.

Pneumococcal serotype distribution in adults with invasive disease and in carrier children in Italy: Should we expect herd protection of adults through infants' vaccination?

The 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) produced a significant herd protection in unvaccinated adult population mostly because of pneumococcus carriage decrease in vaccinated children. It is not known if the 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine can give similar effect on adults. Aims of the work were to evaluate whether the 6 additional serotypes are present in nasopharynx of children and serotype distribution in invasive pneumococcal infections (IPD) in adults.

Imported dengue fever in Tuscany, Italy, in the period 2006 to 2012.

This report focuses on epidemiological and clinical features of dengue fever (DF) in Tuscany (Italy) between 2006 and 2012. Sixty-one DF cases were diagnosed, 32 of which were in the period of Aedes albopictus activity. Some clinical (arthralgia/myalgia, nausea/vomiting, and skin rash), laboratory (leukopenia and thrombocytopenia), and epidemiological characteristics (travel in a continent other than Africa) significantly distinguished DF cases from other febrile illnesses.

Cluster of cases of Salmonella enterica serotype Rissen infection in a general hospital, Italy, 2007.

In 2007, three strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Rissen (S. Rissen) were isolated in the laboratory of diagnostic microbiology of the General Hospital of Prato, Tuscany, Italy, over a 1 month and half interval of time. The first isolate was recovered on January 26 from an outpatient with enteritis.

[Bacterial meningitis in adults: a retrospective multicentric study in Tuscany (Italy)].

The Infectious Diseases Unit of Lucca Hospital conducted a multicentric retrospective study to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical features of adult patients affected by bacterial meningitis attending all the Infectious Diseases Units of Tuscany (Italy) from July 1999 to June 2004. A specific questionnaire was sent to all the units to collect information about each case of bacterial meningitis occurring in patients older than sixteen. Patients with meningitis by Mycobacterium tuberculosis were excluded from the analysis.

Malaria clusters among illegal Chinese immigrants to Europe through Africa.

Between November 2002 and March 2003, 17 cases of malaria (1 fatal) were observed in illegal Chinese immigrants who traveled to Italy through Africa. A further cluster of 12 was reported in August, 2002. Several immigrants traveled by air, making the risk of introducing sudden acute respiratory syndrome a possibility should such illegal immigrations continue.

Influence of teicoplanin on the chemiluminescence of phagocytosing human granulocytes.

Teicoplanin is a new glycopeptide antibiotic that is structurally related to vancomycin. It is especially active against virtually all gram positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant staphylococci. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of teicoplanin on the phagocytosis of human neutrophils, using the chemiluminescence reaction method.

Effect of enoxacin, norfloxacin and pefloxacin on polymorphonuclear leukocytes chemiluminescence.

We studied the interactions between the neutrophilic granulocytes and three quinolone antibiotics, enoxacin, norfloxacin and pefloxacin, using the luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence method to evaluate the respiratory burst of the cells. Neutrophils obtained from healthy human volunteers were exposed to different therapeutic concentrations of the drugs for one and three hours and then opzonized zymosan was added to stimulate chemiluminescence reaction. None of the three drugs tested exercised any influence on neutrophil function.

Antimicrobial agent susceptibility patterns of staphylococci isolated in urban and rural areas of Bolivia.

Staphylococcal strains obtained from cutaneous swabs of hospital staff and school students of Camiri and Boyuibe and healthy people living in Javillo, Bolivia, were tested for their in-vitro antimicrobial susceptibility. The highest percentages of resistance to the antibiotics tested were found in staphylococcal strains isolated from hospital personnel. All the S.

Serological survey of antibodies to cytomegalovirus in the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is known to be worldwide, and prevalent in developing countries (Krech & Tobin 1981). To our knowledge, no previous serologic studies of CMV infection have been reported from Bolivia. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of CMV infection in the Santa Cruz region, south-eastern Bolivia.

Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis A virus in the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia.

Several epidemiological studies have shown the worldwide distribution of hepatitis A with the highest prevalence of anti-HAV antibodies in developing countries (Papaevangelou 1984). There is no information about the epidemiology of hepatitis A in Bolivia. The goal of this study was to evaluate the anti-HAV antibody prevalence in the Santa Cruz region, southeastern Bolivia.