Evaluation of the Anti-Spike (RDB) IgG Titer among Workers Employed at the University of Pisa Vaccinated with Different Types of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines.

With the development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, many authors started evaluating the immunization efficacy of the available vaccines mainly through sero-positivity tests or by a quantitative assessment of the IgG against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus in vaccinated subjects. In this work, we compared the titers resulting from vaccination and tried to understand the potential factors affecting the immune response to the available SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. This study was conducted on 670 volunteers employed at the University of Pisa and undergoing a health surveillance program at the University Hospital of Pisa.

Phenotyping Occupational Asthma Caused by Acrylates in a Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: While acrylates are well-known skin sensitizers, they are not classified as respiratory sensitizers although several cases of acrylate-induced occupational asthma (OA) have been reported.

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of acrylate-induced OA in a large series of cases and compare those with OA induced by other low-molecular-weight (LMW) agents.

Methods: Jobs and exposures, clinical and functional characteristics, and markers of airway inflammation were analyzed in an international, multicenter, retrospective cohort of subjects with OA ascertained by a positive inhalation challenge to acrylates (n = 55) or other LMW agents (n = 418) including isocyanates (n = 125).

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Severe Occupational Asthma: Insights From a Multicenter European Cohort.

Background: Although sensitizer-induced occupational asthma (OA) accounts for an appreciable fraction of adult asthma, the severity of OA has received little attention.

Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize the burden and determinants of severe OA in a large multicenter cohort of subjects with OA.

Methods: This retrospective study included 997 subjects with OA ascertained by a positive specific inhalation challenge completed in 20 tertiary centers in 11 European countries during the period 2006 to 2015.

Are high- and low-molecular-weight sensitizing agents associated with different clinical phenotypes of occupational asthma?

Background: High-molecular-weight (HMW) proteins and low-molecular-weight (LMW) chemicals can cause occupational asthma (OA) although few studies have thoroughly compared the clinical, physiological, and inflammatory patterns associated with these different types of agents. The aim of this study was to determine whether OA induced by HMW and LMW agents shows distinct phenotypic profiles.

Methods: Clinical and functional characteristics, and markers of airway inflammation were analyzed in an international, multicenter, retrospective cohort of subjects with OA ascertained by a positive inhalation challenge response to HMW (n = 544) and LMW (n = 635) agents.

[Effects of the work limitations on the career path of a cohort of health workers].

Background: The median age of the workforce, and of healthcare workers in particular, is increasing, resulting in a reduced work capacity. This may prompt the occupational physician to issue fitness for work limitations.

Objectives: To examine the health surveillance data collected over 20 years on the employees of a large healthcare institution to identify the effects of the limitations imposed on their career paths.

Work-related asthma in a sample of subjects with established asthma.

Objective: To assess the impact of occupational exposure to irritants or sensitizers on the occurrence, recrudescence and worsening of asthma and to identify unrecognized cases of work related asthma (WRA) including Work-Exacerbated Asthma (WEA) and Occupational Asthma (OA), in a general asthma clinic population sample.

Setting, Design And Participants: The study was a population-based cross sectional survey. 1289 asthmatic subjects (from 15 to 46 yrs old) living in a vast district of Tuscany (Italy) were identified from the Medical Reimbursement Register of the National Health System.

[The post-mortem external examination in Italy: critical issues and perspectives].

The purpose of the postmortem external examination is to ascertain death and authorize burial. Requirements regarding external postmortem examinations and the tasks of physicians having this specific duty, vary in different regions of Italy. In this study, we analyzed the rationale and role of physicians performing post mortem external examinations.

Sputum eosinophilia is a determinant of FEV1 decline in occupational asthma: results of an observational study.

Objective: To evaluate the potential determinants of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) decline in workers with occupational asthma (OA) still exposed to the causative agent. We hypothesised that sputum eosinophilia might be a predictor of poor asthma outcome after diagnosis.

Setting, Design And Participants: In a specialistic clinical centre of the University Hospital of Pisa, we studied 39 participants (28 M, 11 F) diagnosed as having OA, routinely followed up between 1990 and 2009.

[The Health Surveillance database of a large hospital enterprise: a 20-year analysis].

To evaluate the aging of the working population and its effects, a 20 years observational study was conducted on health surveillance data of a large healthcare company. The data showed a gradual increase in the mean age of workers, especially among subjects with restrictions/requirements regarding their job title. If no preventive/corrective measures are taken, the socio-economnic situation will get worse with economic and social damages.

Sequential sensitization to different occupational compounds in a young woman.

Background: Very few authors have reported sensitization to two or more different occupational sensitizers in a single patient.

Objective: To describe a subject with occupational asthma caused by sensitization to two different agents, exposure to which occurred in dierent time periods.

Methods: We studied a young woman with asthma-like symptoms predominantly in relationship to a sequential occupational exposure, first to methylene diisocyanate (MDI) and later to flour dust.

One-year longitudinal study of young apprentices exposed to airway occupational sensitizers.

Background: The prevalence of diagnosed asthma and wheezing in young subjects is increasing; among environmental risk factors, occupational exposure can play a relevant role.

Study Objectives: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of occupational exposure to a large variety of irritants and/or sensitizers on the incidence of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function impairment in a group of young apprentices during the first year of work exposure, and to determine the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms and the role of different risk factors (gender, smoking habit, atopy and occupational exposure) in this young population.

Design And Methods: We studied 448 young apprentices at the first pre-employment evaluation with a standardized questionnaire, spirometry and skin prick tests; in 244 of them clinical and functional evaluation was repeated after 1 year exposure to respiratory irritants or sensitizers.