Incidence of hospital-acquired infections due to carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in critically ill patients in Italy: a multicentre prospective cohort study.

Background: Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria, including Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) and Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), are common causes of infections in intensive care units (ICUs) in Italy.

Objective: This prospective observational study evaluated the epidemiology, management, microbiological characterization, and outcomes of hospital-acquired CRE or CRPA infections treated in selected ICUs in Italy.

Methods: The study included patients with hospital-acquired infections due to CRE and CRPA treated in 20 ICUs from June 2021 to February 2023.

[The CCM Project "Phenotypic and molecular screening methodologies for the detection of coloniza-tions due to carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE)"].

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CREs) are globally considered to be a major threat to public health. National and international guidelines emphasize the importance of routine active surveillance policies to prevent their transmission. Consequently, screening for the evaluation of the status of colonization by CREs in hospitalized patients in Italy is considered essential to contain and control the spread of these microorganisms and their evolution towards infection.

[Sexually transmitted infections: a new hub&spoke model to control the increasing trend of STIs in Italy and prevent their spread].

The project "Experimentation of new integrated hospital-territory organizational models for the prevention and control of sexually transmitted infections: facilitated diagnostic-care pathways and offer of free targeted screening" was developed as part of the CCM 2019 programme, funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, being coordinated by the Italian National Health Institute (ISS), in collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome. Three clinical units located in Turin, Milan, and Cagliari, specialized in sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnosis and treatment, and three highly specialized microbiology laboratories located in Trieste, Florence, and Palermo were involved.The objectives were to develop an innovative network model for the treatment of STIs based on multidisciplinary centres with high quality of care for STIs (hub-IST) and territorial structures (spoke-IST), to plan and test integrated facilitated care pathways for STIs, to evaluate the priorities, feasibility, and sustainability of prevention interventions.

Antiviral Properties of Leaf Extracts against Respiratory Viruses.

() is a plant widely used for its beneficial properties both in medical and non-medical fields. Because they produce bioactive metabolites, plants are a major resource for drug discovery. In this study, two different cultivars of leaves of (Salento and Barletta) were obtained by maceration or microwave-assisted extraction (MAE).

Identifying risk factors for blood culture negative infective endocarditis: An international ID-IRI study.

Background: Blood culture-negative endocarditis (BCNE) is a diagnostic challenge, therefore our objective was to pinpoint high-risk cohorts for BCNE.

Methods: The study included adult patients with definite endocarditis. Data were collected via the Infectious Diseases International Research Initiative (ID-IRI).

The Impact of the Seasonal and Geographical Distribution of Tuberculosis in Sicily: A 6-Year Retrospective Study (2018-2023).

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major public health issue, with high mortality rates reported worldwide. It is worth noting that most of the hospitalizations for tuberculosis in the Sicilian region involve Italian-born individuals, underscoring the need to address this problem. Recent research on the geographic area and seasonality of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, may aid in developing effective preventive measures.

Complete Genome Sequence of a Strain Carrying Novel Variant , Cross-Resistant to Ceftazidime/Avibactam and Cefiderocol, but Susceptible to Carbapenems, Isolated in Italy, 2023.

Background: is a concerning pathogen, responsible for hospital-associated outbreaks. Multi drug resistant (MDR) strains are especially hard to treat. We conducted whole-genome sequencing on a MDR strain in order to identify genomic features potentially linked to its phenotype.

Validation of a Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification-Based Kit for the Detection of in Environmental Samples According to ISO/TS 12869:2012.

is a freshwater opportunistic pathogen and the leading cause of severe pneumonia known as Legionnaires' disease. It can be found in all water systems and survives in biofilms, free-living amoebae, and a wide variety of facilities, such as air conditioning and showers in hospitals, hotels and spas. The reference cultural method allows for the isolation and identification in many days, and in addition, it does not detect viable but rather non-culturable bacteria, increasing the risk of infection.

Microbial profile in bile from pancreatic and extra-pancreatic biliary tract cancer.

Background: Dysbiotic biliary bacterial profile is reported in cancer patients and is associated with survival and comorbidities, raising the question of its effect on the influence of anticancer drugs and, recently, the suggestion of perichemotherapy antibiotics in pancreatic cancer patients colonized by the Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Objective: In this study, we investigated the microbial communities that colonize tumours and which bacteria could aid in diagnosing pancreatic and biliary cancer and managing bile-colonized patients.

Methods: A retrospective study on positive bile cultures of 145 Italian patients who underwent cholangiopancreatography with PC and EPC cancer hospitalized from January 2006 to December 2020 in a QA-certified academic surgical unit were investigated for aerobic/facultative-anaerobic bacteria and fungal organisms.

Enterobacterales carrying chromosomal AmpC β-lactamases in Europe (EuESCPM): Epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance burden from a cohort of 27 hospitals, 2020-2022.

Introduction: The ESCPM group (Enterobacter species including Klebsiella aerogenes - formerly Enterobacter aerogenes, Serratia species, Citrobacter freundii complex, Providencia species and Morganella morganii) has not yet been incorporated into systematic surveillance programs.

Methods: We conducted a multicentre retrospective observational study analysing all ESCPM strains isolated from blood cultures in 27 European hospitals over a 3-year period (2020-2022). Diagnostic approach, epidemiology, and antimicrobial susceptibility were investigated.

Editorial: Special Issue: ": A Microorganism with a Thousand Faces".

is a microorganism that is able to contaminate the freshwater environment and, consequently, human-made water systems [...

Analysis of Bacterial Stent Colonization: The Role of Urine and Device Microbiological Cultures.

In this study, we explored the incidence of double J (JJ) contamination of patients who underwent an endourological procedure for urinary stones and ureteral stenosis. We developed a prospective study between January 2019 and December 2021. Ninety-seven patients, 54 male and 43 female, were enrolled.

Orogenital Human Papillomavirus Infection and Vaccines: A Survey of High- and Low-Risk Genotypes Not Included in Vaccines.

Knowledge of human papillomavirus transmission from the genital tract to the oral mucosa remains unsatisfactory, with poor and often inconsistent literature results. The increase in HPV-associated oral malignancies prompts further analysis of the simultaneous detection of the virus in the two anatomical areas and on the identification of genotypes to be included in future vaccines. Therefore, in this retrospective study, we evaluated orogenital HPV concurrence, hrHPV, lrHPV and type-concordance in 337 samples, as well as the prevalence of the most common genotypes not included in HPV vaccines.

Intestinal Lesions Due to Rhodococcus equi in a Patient With Advanced Retroviral Disease and Pulmonary Infection: A Case of Colonic Malakoplakia.

In humans, () is a zoonotic infection usually involving immunocompromised subjects, only rarely affecting immunocompetent subjects. Herein, we describe an infection in a 50-year-old Russian man with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) who presented with pulmonary cavitary lesions and clinical manifestation of colonic malakoplakia. A colonoscopy examination showed ulceration and mucosal erosion, and the histological findings confirmed the colonic malakoplakia.

A Serological Analysis of the Humoral Immune Responses of Anti-RBD IgG, Anti-S1 IgG, and Anti-S2 IgG Levels Correlated to Anti-N IgG Positivity and Negativity in Sicilian Healthcare Workers (HCWs) with Third Doses of the mRNA-Based SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: With SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests on the market, healthcare providers must be confident that they can use the results to provide actionable information to understand the characteristics and dynamics of the humoral response and antibodies (abs) in SARS-CoV-2-vaccinated patients. In this way, the study of the antibody responses of healthcare workers (HCWs), a population that is immunocompetent, adherent to vaccination, and continuously exposed to different virus variants, can help us understand immune protection and determine vaccine design goals.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated antibody responses via multiplex assays in a sample of 538 asymptomatic HCWs with a documented complete vaccination cycle of 3 doses of mRNA vaccination and no previous history of infection.

and Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci from Bloodstream Infections: Frequency of Occurrence and Antimicrobial Resistance, 2018-2021.

Background: The abuse of antibiotics during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic might have disrupted efforts to curb the further development and spread of the antimicrobial resistance of infection and spp. coagulase-negative (CoNS) agents of nosocomial bloodstream infections (NBSIs). The purpose of our work was to study the resistance patterns of and CoNS through the analysis of blood cultures in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2-positive and SARS-CoV-2-negative patients (pts.

Aggregatibacter aphrophilus and Eikenella corrodens: a case of brain abscess.

We report a case of a 26-year-old female who developed a brain abscess that was strongly suspected to be caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis, A. aphrophilus, and E. corrodens species.

and Epstein-Barr Virus Co-Infection in Gastric Disease: What Is the Correlation with , Genes Methylation and Microsatellite Instability in a Cohort of Sicilian Population?

Genetic predisposition, environmental factors, and infectious agents interact in the development of gastric diseases. (Hp) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has recently been shown to be correlated with these diseases. A cross-sectional study was performed on 100 hospitalized Italian patients with and without gastric diseases.

Multicentre Surveillance of Species from Blood Cultures during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Southern Europe (CANCoVEU Project).

: Surveillance of species isolates from blood cultures (BCs) in Europe is considered fragmented, unable to allow the definition of targets of antifungal stewardship recommendations especially during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. : We performed a multicentric retrospective study including all consecutive BC isolates from six Southern European tertiary hospitals (1st January 2020 to 31st December 2021). Etiology, antifungal susceptibility patterns, and clinical setting were analyzed and compared.

Factors leading to dissemination of cutaneous anthrax: an international ID-IRI study.

Background: Although anthrax is a rare zoonotic infection, it still causes significant mortality and morbidity. In this multicenter study, which is the largest anthrax case series ever reported, we aimed to describe the factors leading to dissemination of cutaneous anthrax.

Methods: Adult patients with cutaneous anthrax from 16 referral centers were pooled.

Impact of Infection on Human B Cell Compartment and Antibody Responses.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most important health challenges worldwide. Control of the TB epidemic has not yet been achieved because of the lack of an effective vaccine and rapid and sensitive diagnostic approaches, as well as the emergence of drug-resistant forms of . Cellular immunity has a pivotal role against infection, but the role of humoral immunity is still controversial.

A systematic review on omics data (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics) in the role of microbiome in gallbladder disease.

Microbiotas are the range of microorganisms (mainly bacteria and fungi) colonizing multicellular, macroscopic organisms. They are crucial for several metabolic functions affecting the health of the host. However, difficulties hamper the investigation of microbiota composition in cultivating microorganisms in standard growth media.