Congenital and proposal of a new classification for the likelihood of primary maternal infection: analysis of 375 cases in Southeast Italy.

The aim of this study was to propose a classification in order to stratify the probability of an acute Toxoplasma infection in pregnancy and to estimate the risk of vertical transmission. We evaluated the likelihood of a primary maternal infection according to the Lebech classification and to the modified-Lebech classification proposed for our group of 375 patients referred for a suspected primary maternal infection. Fetal diagnosis included the examination of amniotic fluid by PCR to detect Toxoplasma DNA as a confirmation test.

Detection of the emerging rotavirus G9 serotype at high frequency in Italy.

Group A human rotavirus strains belonging to the unusual serotype G9 were detected at high frequency in stool specimens from infected children with acute diarrhea in Bari, Italy, during a 15-month survey from March 2001 to June 2002. This may signify a local reemergence of the G9 rotaviruses detected in Italy in the early and mid-1990s or may be related to the global emergence of G9 rotaviruses in recent years.