Cocirculation of Hajj and non-Hajj strains among serogroup W meningococci in Italy, 2000 to 2016.

In Italy, B and C are the predominant serogroups among meningococci causing invasive diseases. Nevertheless, in the period from 2013 to 2016, an increase in serogroup W (MenW) was observed. This study intends to define the main characteristics of 63 MenW isolates responsible of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in Italy from 2000 to 2016.

Nocardia and Lungs in COPD: Beyond Immuno-deficiencies.

Nocardia is an opportunistic pathogen and Pulmonary Nocardiosis (PN) occurred in more than half of the cases in subjects with immuno-suppressed status. COPD is one of the most common comorbidity observed in immuno-competent patients with PN. In this perspective study, we report the clinical patterns, the outcomes and the comorbidities of all cases of PN admitted in our Unit in the years 1999-2012.

Pulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium arosiense, an easily misidentified pathogenic novel mycobacterium.

Mycobacterium arosiense is a newly described species. After noticing it was misidentified as Mycobacterium intracellulare by the commercial identification system GenoType CM (Hein, Nehren, Germany), we detected 4 such strains among 33 that were previously misidentified as M. intracellulare.

The effect of meningococcal group A and C polysaccharide vaccine on nasopharyngeal carrier state.

The effect of Neisseria meningitidis group A and C polysaccharide vaccine on nasopharyngeal carriage was studied in Italian army recruits. Throat swabs were cultured for N. meningitidis at the time of vaccination (one week after entry to service) and again three weeks later in a follow-up cohort of 98 men.