Prevention from Sharp Injuries in the Hospital Sector: An Italian National Observatory on the Implementation of the Council Directive 2010/32/EU before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Sharp injuries, determining the risk of bloodborne infections and psychological distress in healthcare workers, may be prevented by a set of strategies, legally enforced in Europe through the Directive 2010/32/EU. To assess its level of implementation in Italy, a national survey was conducted in 2017 and again in 2021, evaluating the progress and possible drawbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Altogether, 285 safety managers and 330 nurses from a representative sample of 97 and 117 public hospitals were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire.

Medium-term effect of sublingual l-glutathione supplementation on flow-mediated dilation in subjects with cardiovascular risk factors.

Objective: Supplementation of glutathione (GSH) may be a positive strategy to improve the endogenous antioxidant defense required to counteract many acute and chronic diseases. However, the efficacy of GSH treatment seems to be closely related to type of administration, degree of absorption, and increase of its concentrations. The aim of this study was to test a new sublingual formulation of L-GSH, which enters directly the systemic circulation, to assess its efficacy on circulating biochemical markers of hepatic metabolism, lipid profile, and oxidative stress and on peripheral vascular function compared with placebo in patients with cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF).

[Update on the subject of epidemiology of blood-transmitted occupational infections].

Healthcare workers (HCW) are exposed to many different pathogens, and cases of occupational infection have been reported involving the vast majority of known and emerging agents. The risk is present during all the phases of patient care and manipulation of biologic materials, and the implementation of Standard Precautions--and biosafety level 2 measures in the laboratory--and Transmission-Based Precautions in all health settings represents the necessary preventive intervention required by law. Percutaneous exposures represent an extremely frequent event in healthcare facilities; among the many pathogens acquired through this type of exposure, those of highest concern due to the frequency of exposure are HIV, HBV and HCV.