Case Report: Intravenous Pentamidine Rescue Treatment for Active Chronic Visceral Leishmaniasis in an HIV-1 Infected Patient.

The management of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in HIV-infected patients is complex because of high mortality rates, toxic drug-related side effects, and a high risk of treatment failure and relapse. We report a case of active chronic VL in an HIV-1-infected woman presenting multiple secondary VL episodes over 7 years leading to massive splenomegaly and blood transfusion-dependent anemia despite several treatment courses and secondary prophylaxis. The patient was finally successfully treated with rescue treatment based on intravenous pentamidine.

Soccer in the time of COVID-19: 1 year report from an Italian top league club, March 2020-February 2021.

We report the events of an Italian top league soccer club that took place in 1 year (from March 2020 to February 2021) at the time of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In early March 2020, just before sport competitions were called off due to the national lockdown in Italy, the team, which included 27 players and 26 staff at the time, faced a COVID-19 outbreak, with 16 confirmed and seven probable cases, including three staff members who had to be hospitalised. In May 2020, at the resumption of the training sessions, a high prevalence of anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immunoglobulin G positivity (35/53, 66%) was detected among the members of the group.

High rate of sustained virological response with direct-acting antivirals in haemophiliacs with HCV infection: A multicenter study.

Background And Aims: Chronic hepatitis C is the main co-morbidity in adult patients with haemophilia (PwH). It causes progressive liver damage leading to end-stage liver disease and/or hepatocellular carcinoma. Eradication of HCV was possible with interferon (IFN)-based regimens in the past and direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) more recently.

Impact of the M184V Resistance Mutation on Virological Efficacy and Durability of Lamivudine-Based Dual Antiretroviral Regimens as Maintenance Therapy in Individuals With Suppressed HIV-1 RNA: A Cohort Study.

Background: Dual therapy (DT) with boosted protease inhibitors (bPIs) plus lamivudine has been shown to be superior to bPI monotherapy in virologically suppressed patients despite previous selection of the lamivudine resistance M184V mutation. We compared the virological efficacy of lamivudine-based DT in patients with and without a history of M184V detection.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with HIV-RNA ≤50 copies/mL switching to DT with at least 1 previous resistance genotype in the ARCA database.

Polyomavirus microRNA in saliva reveals persistent infectious status in the oral cavity.

Current evidence suggests that Polyomavirus (PyV) microRNAs (miRNAs) circulating in biological fluids may be relevant to understanding viral persistence. Here, the expression of polyomavirus BKPyV, JCPyV, MCPyV and SV40 miRNAs in saliva was investigated to evaluate PyV prevalence/persistence in the oral cavity. PyV-DNA status and PyV-miRNA expression was examined in paired saliva and plasma samples of 100 HIV-infected patients and of 50 healthy subjects using digital droplet PCR and PyV-miRNA-5p stem-loop RT-PCR.

PrEP in Italy: The time may be ripe but who's paying the bill? A nationwide survey on physicians' attitudes towards using antiretrovirals to prevent HIV infection.

Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir (with or without emtricitabine) on preventing HIV-negative partners of HIV infected patients to become infected through sexual contacts. PrEP is already available in the United States and now is approved by European Medicine Agency. In this setting we would like to gauge physicians' knowledge, acquaintance with and attitude to include PrEP in their clinical practice.

Chronic HBV infection in pregnant immigrants: a multicenter study of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases.

The aims of the study were to estimate the clinical impact of HBV infection in pregnant immigrants and their family members and to identify a useful approach to managing the healthcare of HBsAg-positive immigrants. Included in this study were 143 HBsAg-positive pregnant immigrants of the 1,970 from countries with intermediate/high HBV endemicity who delivered in 8 Italian hospitals in 2012-2013. In addition, 172 family members of 96 HBsAg-positive pregnant immigrants were tested for serum HBsAg.

The JCPYV DNA load inversely correlates with the viral microrna expression in blood and cerebrospinal fluid of patients at risk of PML.

Background: In light of their regulatory role, changes in the expression of Polyomavirus JC (JCPyV) microRNAs may be relevant for virus reactivation and the development of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

Objectives: To investigate the presence of JCPyV-DNA and JCPyV microRNA expression in clinical specimens of patients at risk for PML.

Study Design: The JCPyV-DNA and microRNA status was assessed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma from 100 HIV patients, in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 14 HIV PML patients and in PBMCs and plasma from 50 healthy controls using Multiplex real-time PCR and JCPyV miRNA-J1-3p and -5p stem-loop RT-PCR.

Zika virus infections imported to Italy: clinical, immunological and virological findings, and public health implications.

We report the first two cases of laboratory confirmed Zika virus (ZIKV) infections imported into Italy from French Polynesia. Both patients presented with low grade fever, malaise, conjunctivitis, myalgia, arthralgia, ankle oedema, and axillary and inguinal lymphadenopathy. One patient showed leukopenia with relative monocytosis and thrombocytopenia.

Darunavir-based dual therapy in HIV experienced patients.

Background: We assessed the virological response of DRV/r-based dual therapy in drug-experienced patients included in the Italian antiretroviral resistance database (ARCA).

Materials And Methods: Patients included in the study were treated with DRV/r in association with raltegravir (RAL), etravirine (ETV) or maraviroc (MAR) following treatment failure(s) and with a resistance test and at least one follow-up visit available. Observation was censored at last visit under dual therapy and survival analysis and proportional hazard models were used, taking virological failure (confirmed >50 c/mL HIV-RNA) as the end-point.

Interferon lambda 3 rs12979860 polymorphism in patients with haemophilia and HCV infection: a predictor of spontaneous viral clearance and sustained virological response.

Chronic hepatitis C is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in adult haemophilic patients who received non-virally inactivated plasma-derived clotting factor concentrates. Overall, spontaneous viral clearance rate is 10-25% and the only approach that can halt disease progression is hepatitis C virus (HCV) eradication by means of antiviral therapy. In non-haemophilic patients a single nucleotide polymorphism located upstream the gene of interferon lambda 3 (IFNλ3) has been associated with both spontaneous viral clearance and sustained virological response after antiviral treatment.

The effect of leadership on hand hygiene: assessing hand hygiene adherence prior to patient contact in 2 infectious disease units in Tuscany.

We assessed hand hygiene adherence in 2 infectious disease units. In one unit, adherence declined slightly from year 1 (84.2%) to year 4 (71.

Investigation of an imported case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Florence, Italy, May to June 2013.

On 31 May 2013, the first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Italy was laboratory confirmed in a previously healthy adult man, who developed pneumonia with moderate respiratory distress after returning from a holiday in Jordan. Two secondary cases were identified through contact tracing, among family members and colleagues who had not previously travelled abroad. Both secondary cases developed mild illness.

Economic analysis of the first 20 years of universal hepatitis B vaccination program in Italy: an a posteriori evaluation and forecast of future benefits.

Italy was one of the first countries in the world to introduce a routine vaccination program against HBV for newborns and 12-y-old children. From a clinical point of view, such strategy was clearly successful. The objective of our study was to verify whether, at 20 y from its implementation, hepatitis B universal vaccination had positive effects also from an economic point of view.

Hypovitaminosis D and osteopenia/osteoporosis in a haemophilia population: a study in HCV/HIV or HCV infected patients.

Recent reports show a correlation between haemophilia and osteoporosis. HIV, HCV and their treatments are independently associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. Vitamin D plays a pivotal role in bone mineralization.

Self-reported adherence supports patient preference for the single tablet regimen (STR) in the current cART era.

Objective: To analyze self-reported adherence to antiretroviral regimens containing ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), raltegravir, and maraviroc.

Methods: Overall, 372 consecutive subjects attending a reference center for HIV treatment in Florence, Italy, were enrolled in the study, from December 2010 to January 2012 (mean age 48 years). A self-report questionnaire was filled in.

Renal complications in HIV disease: between present and future.

The recent introduction of new antiretroviral drugs, characterized by high efficiency and improved safety profiles, has not reduced the incidence of long-term adverse effects, in some cases manifested as selective organ damage. The presence of organ damage in patients receiving antiretroviral treatment is not only the expression of treatment toxicity, but also a complex interaction between individual risk factors, HIV-correlated effects, and antiretroviral drug toxicity. Kidney damage belongs to these adverse events.

Therapy expectations and physical comorbidity affect quality of life in chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Unlabelled: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with a significant reduction of health related quality of life (QOL), the causes and mechanisms of which are still unknown. To explore whether treatment history could affect QOL, we examined patients with detectable HCV viraemia who had a different therapeutic background. Two hundred sixty-four consecutive subjects with chronic HCV infection and detectable viraemia were enrolled.

Pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin in the retreatment of interferon-ribavirin nonresponder patients.

Background & Aims: Inadequate data are available about retreatment of nonresponders to interferon (IFN) and ribavirin. Thus, this study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of a 48-week therapy with pegylated IFN-alpha-2b plus high-dose ribavirin in patients who have failed to respond to the combination. Treatment up to 48 weeks also in patients who have failed to clear hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by week 24 was also evaluated.

Validity and reliability of the Italian version of the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ-I) for the assessment of health-related quality of life.

Background: The Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire is a specific health-related quality of life assessment designed for patients with liver diseases.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to report on the validity, reliability and sensitivity to change of the Italian version (Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire-I) in subjects with HCV infection.

Subjects: The Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire-I was administered to 350 subjects with HCV infection together with the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment, abbreviated version, a generic quality of life assessment.

Prolonged treatment interruption in chronic HIV infection: a new strategy?

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy in 1995 dramatically decreased AIDS-related events and deaths rates; however, the enthusiasm among the medical and social community was soon limited by the growing incidence of various side-effects that often greatly limited patients' quality of life. The second problem caused by such a complex treatment consisted of sub-optimal adherence, with a consequent higher risk of the development of drug resistance.

The Sesto Fiorentino study: point and one-year prevalences of psychiatric disorders in an Italian community sample using clinical interviewers.

Background: It has been argued that lay interviewers' use of fully-structured interviews could lead to a diagnostic pattern different to that by treating physicians. Clinical interviewers in community samples should probably identify cases that are closer to those seen in clinical settings. The greatest advantage of using clinical interviewers consists of the immediate assessment of a possible psychopathology, i.

The Sesto Fiorentino study: background, methods and preliminary results. Lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders in an Italian community sample using clinical interviewers.

Background: This paper presents lifetime prevalences and estimated risks of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders from a community survey conducted in Sesto Fiorentino, Italy, using psychiatric interviewers with clinical experience and clinical instruments.

Methods: Two thousand five hundred subjects aged 14 or more were randomly selected from the lists of 15 general practitioners (GPs) regardless of whether or not they had consulted the GP. A three-phase design was adopted, with the GPs using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) for the first stage.