Factors associated with severity in invasive community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections in children: a prospective European multicentre study.

Staphylococcus aureus is the main pathogen responsible for bone and joint infections worldwide and is also capable of causing pneumonia and other invasive severe diseases. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) have been studied as factors related with severity in these infections.

Genomes analysis and bacteria identification: The use of overlapping genes as molecular markers.

The growing number of available microbial genomes offers the possibility to identify features that could be used for identification. In this work, the possibility to exploit overlapping genes to develop a simple PCR based method of identification, was explored. Using the Burkholderia cepacia complex as a model, genomic analyses were performed to check the phylogenetic distribution of an overlap between marC and hisH genes and then, a PCR specific for Burkholderia was designed, set up and tested on a panel of strains and on DNA extracted from the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients.

Serratia marcescens outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit: crucial role of implementing hand hygiene among external consultants.

Background: Serratia marcescens represents an important pathogen involved in hospital acquired infections. Outbreaks are frequently reported and are difficult to eradicate. The aim of this study is to describe an outbreak of Serratia marcescens occurred from May to November 2012 in a neonatal intensive care unit, to discuss the control measures adopted, addressing the role of molecular biology in routine investigations during the outbreak.

Severe infections caused by Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive Staphylococcus aureus in infants: report of three cases and review of literature.

Unlabelled: We report three cases of severe infections in infants caused by Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive Staphylococcus aureus and evolved with a positive outcome. The literature of Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive Staphylococcus aureus infections in infants is reviewed.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a prompt identification of Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive Staphylococcus aureus and an appropriate therapy can reduce mortality and long-term sequelae.

Evidence of transmission of a Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clone: a family affair.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) may represent a serious public health problem, owing to the spread of toxin-producing lineages. The presence of genes encoding for Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is an important virulence marker, as the clinical sequelae of PVL-positive infections are often described as more severe than those of PVL-negative S. aureus infections.

Molecular epidemiology of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Italian cystic fibrosis patients: a national overview.

Background: The genetic background, transmissibility and virulence of MRSA have been poorly investigated in the cystic fibrosis (CF) population. The aim of this multicentre study was to analyse MRSA strains isolated from CF patients attending nine Italian CF care centres during a two-year period (2004-2005). All CF patients infected by MRSA were included.

Nosocomial Rotavirus Gastroenteritis in pediatric patients: a multi-center prospective cohort study.

Background: Few data are available on the incidence of nosocomial Rotavirus infections (NRVI) in pediatric hospitals and on their economic impact. The goals of this study were: to evaluate the incidence of NRVI in various Italian pediatric wards during the course of two peak RV seasons; to investigate possible risk factors for NRVI; to estimate the costs caused by NRVI.

Methods: prospective cohort study.

Application of multiplex single nucleotide primer extension (mSNuPE) to the identification of bacteria: the Burkholderia cepacia complex case.

Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) is characterized by a complex taxonomy constituted by seventeen closely related species of both biotechnological and clinical importance. Several molecular methods have been developed to accurately identify BCC species but simpler and effective strategies for BCC classification are still needed. A single nucleotide primer extension (SNuPE) assay using gyrB as a target gene was developed to identify bacteria belonging to the B.

Use of the gyrB gene to discriminate among species of the Burkholderia cepacia complex.

Bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) are opportunistic pathogens that can cause serious infections in lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. The Bcc comprises at least nine species that have been discriminated by a polyphasic taxonomic approach. In this study, we focused on the gyrB gene, universally distributed among bacteria, as a new target gene to discriminate among the Bcc species.

Patient risk of contact with respiratory pathogens from inanimate surfaces in a cystic fibrosis outpatient clinic. A prospective study over a four-year period.

Acquisition of respiratory pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF). Research on the prevalence of these pathogens on environmental surfaces of a CF Center is scanty, and so far no study has determined what risk CF patients have of coming in contact with them during their visits to the CF Center. This study is aimed at assessing the prevalence of some respiratory pathogens in samples taken systematically during a 4-year period from inanimate surfaces and sinks in a CF Outpatient Clinic, and to estimate the risk that a non-PA colonized CF patient has of contact with PA when visiting the CF Center.

[Infantile acute hemorrhagic edema (IAHE). A report of a new clinical case].

The authors describe a new case of infantile acute haemorrhagic oedema in a six-month-old child. Even being a vasculitis the authors do not retain to assimilate it to the Schönlein-Henoch syndrome.

[The abuse of anabolic substances by an adolescent going in for sports].

The authors describe the case of an elder adolescent who showed an imposing symptomatology due to the abuse of anabolic drugs. They urge the pediatricians to warn their patients about the use of such drugs.

[Visceral leishmaniasis in children in the province of Florence].

Three cases of visceral leishmaniasis are presented: two children who got the disease in Florence and the imported case of a girl coming from Albania with her disease in act. The diagnosis was made showing Leishmania in bone marrow specimen. Therapy with melglumine antimonate was effective and well borne, leading the three children to a complete healing.

[Subdural effusion during bacterial meningitis].

Twelve children of age ranged from 4 to 34 months with Haemophilus influenzae type b meningitis treated at Meyer Hospital of Florence, were retrospectively reviewed. Eight patients had subdural effusion demonstrated with TC, RM and transfontanellar ultrasonography. All patients are cured without sequelae.

[The risk of infection after a tick bite in an endemic area. The experience of the use of an effective protocol on a cohort of Tuscan children].

The authors suggest an executive protocol for the infections due to the sting of a tick in a child. They report the experience they had observing 92 children in the period between spring and autumn in the year 1996.

[Evaluation of pediatric patients hospitalized for acute diarrhea from 1990 to 1996].

Infectious diarrhea is a common disorder in children in Italy, which may lead to hospitalization especially during infancy. In order to obtain data about epidemiology and clinic pictures of acute diarrhea, the carts of 1295 paediatric outpatients, hospitalized for this pathology in the time between 1990-1996 at the Children's Hospital "Meyer" of Florence, were analyzed. An offending organism could be isolate in 43.

[Nonconventional therapy in a case of systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis].

We report a systematic-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in an adolescent girl inadequately controlled by a prolonged course of conventional therapy. After ACTH in combination with elevated dosages of intravenous ascorbic acid therapy she rapidly improved, becoming afebrile. A complete clinical remission one month later was obtained, with no recurrences of the disease in five years followup.

[Adolescent sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases (STD). A preliminary study].

Great changes have occurred in the adolescent behaviour in the last twenty years; this has caused a great increase in the number of the transmitted by sexual intercourse diseases. These, along with the adolescent habits changing, have so widely spread among young people, that one third of the recorded case are actually referred to this group of age. So, a matter of great social interest, which would require a common effort by the adolescents' families, the teachers and by the adolescents themselves, to be faced in the most proper way, has arisen.

[Animal bites in children].

Our experiences at the "Centro di Profilassi Antirabbica" of the "Dipartimento di Pediatria" suggest to us some thoughts: though the seriousness of the lesions is important also for the patient's aestethics, mostly for girls, the physician must always take into consideration the infectious consequences of the bite itself. Among these bacterial infections mostly frequent enough are those overlapping the deepest wounds as the bites of cates are. Therefore adequate early preventive attendances (within the 24 hours) are necessary.