A Review on Biological Effects of Ultrasounds: Key Messages for Clinicians.

Ultrasound (US) is acoustic energy that interacts with human tissues, thus, producing bioeffects that may be hazardous, especially in sensitive organs (i.e., brain, eye, heart, lung, and digestive tract) and embryos/fetuses.

In Vitro Antiviral Activity of New Oxazoline Derivatives as Potent Poliovirus Inhibitors.

The final stages of polio eradication are proving more difficult than the early phases, and the development of effective drugs and treatments is considered a priority; thus, the research is ongoing. A screening of our in-house chemical library against poliovirus Sabin strains led to the identification of compounds 5 and 6 as hits active at submicromolar concentrations. Derivatives of these compounds were synthesized as a preliminary structure-activity-relationship study.

Poliovirus and Other Enteroviruses from Environmental Surveillance in Italy, 2009-2015.

Within the initiatives for poliomyelitis eradication by WHO, Italy activated an environmental surveillance (ES) in 2005. ES complements clinical Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance for possible polio cases, detects poliovirus circulation in environmental sewage, and is used to monitor transmission in communities. In addition to polioviruses, the analyses comprised: (i) the monitoring of the presence of non-polio enteroviruses in sewage samples and (ii) the temporal and geographical distribution of the detected viruses.

Nucleotide variation in Sabin type 3 poliovirus from an Albanian infant with agammaglobulinemia and vaccine associated poliomyelitis.

Background: Vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) and immunodeficient long-term polio excretors constitute a significant public health burden and are a major concern for the WHO global polio eradication endgame.

Case Presentation: Poliovirus type 3 characterized as Sabin-like was isolated from a 5-month-old Albanian child with X-linked agammaglobulinemia and VAPP after oral polio vaccine administration. Diagnostic workup and treatment were performed in Italy.

Genetic variability of VP7, VP4, VP6 and NSP4 genes of common human G1P[8] rotavirus strains circulating in Italy between 2010 and 2014.

Group A rotaviruses (RVA) are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in young children worldwide. The RVA outer capsid layer is composed of the VP7 and VP4 proteins. The VP7 (G-type) and VP4 (P-type) genotypes are the basis for the binary RVA nomenclature.

Burden of pediatrics hospitalizations associated with Rotavirus gastroenteritis in Lombardy (Northern Italy) before immunization program.

Aim: Rotavirus is recognized as the main cause of acute gastroenteritis in children under 5 years old, representing a considerable public health problem with a great impact on social and public health costs in developed countries. This study aims to assess the frequency and the epidemiological aspect of the hospitalization associated with Rotavirus-gastroenteritis in Lombardy, Northern Italy, from 2005 to 2011.

Methods: The Lombardy Hospital Discharge Database was inquired from the official data of the Italian Ministry of Health and investigated for acute gastroenteritis (ICD9-CM code for bacteria, parasitic, viral and undetermined etiologic diarrhea) in primary and secondary diagnosis in children ≤ 5 years, between 2005 and 2011.

Evolution of human G4P[8] group A rotavirus strains circulating in Italy in 2013.

Group A rotaviruses (RVA) are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in young (<5 years of age) children, causing up to 450.000 deaths worldwide, mostly in developing countries. VP7 (G-type) and VP4 (P-type) genotypes are the basis for the binary RVA classification.

Molecular characterization of group A rotavirus strains detected in children with diarrhea admitted to Nigerian hospitals in 2013.

Group A rotaviruses (RVA) are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children worldwide and cause up to 455,000 deaths annually, mostly in developing countries. During 2013, 66 RVAs from children with AGE admitted to four Nigerian hospitals were investigated. The G3P[6], G1P[8] and G2P[4] genotypes predominated.

Surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in Lombardy, Northern Italy, from 1997 to 2011 in the context of the national AFP surveillance system.

An Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance system was set up in Lombardy (Northern Italy) in 1997 in the framework of the national AFP surveillance system, as part of the polio eradication initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO). This surveillance system can now be used to detect Poliovirus (PV) reintroductions from endemic countries. This study aimed at describing the results of the AFP surveillance in Lombardy, from 1997 to 2011.

Molecular analysis of group A rotaviruses detected in adults and adolescents with severe acute gastroenteritis in Italy in 2012.

Hospital-based surveillance of acute gastroenteritis caused by rotavirus has produced ample knowledge on the infection in children, whereas little is known on rotavirus infection among adults. The Italian surveillance program RotaNet-Italia collected 1,595 samples from patients admitted to hospital with gastroenteritis in 2012. All patients presented with vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and/or abdominal pain.

Detection of Enteroviruses in Influent and Effluent Flow Samples from Wastewater Treatment Plants in Italy.

This study evaluated the presence and seasonal distribution of polio and other enteroviruses in four wastewater treatment plants in three cities in Italy, using different treatment systems. Detection of enteroviruses was carried out by virus isolation in cell cultures after concentration of water samples collected at both inlet and outlet of the treatment plants, following the methods described in the WHO guidelines. Viral serotypes isolated before and after water treatment were compared.

Identification and Genotyping of Human Sapoviruses Collected from Sewage Water in Naples and Palermo, Italy, in 2011.

Human sapoviruses were identified in 15 (12.4 %) of 121 inlet sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants in Naples and Palermo, Italy, in 2011. All strains, except one GI.

Detection of unusual G6 rotavirus strains in Italian children with diarrhoea during the 2011 surveillance season.

Two rare G6 rotavirus A (RVA) strains, designated as RVA/human-wt/ITA/CEC06/2011/G6P[6] and RVA/human-wt/ITA/PG05/2011/G6P[9], were identified in stool specimens from children hospitalized in Central Italy. After PCR genotyping, the samples CEC06 and PG05 gave G-UD-P[6] and G-UD-P[9] genotypes, respectively. To determine the G-type and to characterize further the two strains, sequencing of 8 of the 11 genomic segments was performed.

Full-genome characterization of a G8P[8] rotavirus that emerged among children with diarrhea in Croatia in 2006.

The whole genome of a G8P[8] rotavirus from the 2006 epidemic in Croatia was sequenced and showed a Wa-like genotype constellation. Its VP7 gene clustered with DS-1-like G8 African rotaviruses and a G8P[4] German strain. Remaining genes clustered with contemporary Belgian G1P[8] rotaviruses, suggesting reassortment between human G8 and G1P[8] rotaviruses in Croatia or other European countries.

Vaccine preventable viral diseases and risks associated with waterborne transmission.

Rotavirus and poliovirus are paradigmatic viruses for causing major diseases affecting the human population. The impact of poliovirus is remarkably diminished because of vaccination during the last half century. Poliomyelitis due to wild polio currently affects a limited number of countries, and since 2000 sporadic outbreaks have been associated to neurovirulent vaccine-derived polioviruses.

Antiviral activity of 3(2H)- and 6-chloro-3(2H)-isoflavenes against highly diverged, neurovirulent vaccine-derived, type2 poliovirus sewage isolates.

Background: Substituted flavanoids interfere with uncoating of Enteroviruses including Sabin-2 polio vaccine strains. However flavanoid resistant and dependent, type-2 polio vaccine strains (minimally-diverged), emerged during in vitro infections. Between 1998-2009, highly-diverged (8 to >15%) type-2, aVDPV(2)s, from two unrelated persistent infections were periodically isolated from Israeli sewage.

Molecular characterization of rotavirus strains from children with diarrhea in Italy, 2007-2009.

The surveillance network RotaNet-Italia was established in 2007 in order to investigate the diversity of co-circulating rotavirus strains in Italy, and to provide a baseline for future assessment of possible effects of vaccine implementation in selecting novel versus common rotavirus strains. A total of 2,645 rotavirus strains from pediatric patients with acute diarrhea were collected over three consecutive seasons from September 2006 through August 2009, and partially characterized by standardized multiplex RT-PCR. Most of strains (89.

Three cases of paralytic poliomyelitis associated with type 3 vaccine poliovirus strains in Bulgaria.

Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) can cause, in extremely rare cases vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis in recipients, or contacts of vaccinees. Three cases of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (two contacts and one recipient) occurred in the Bourgas region of Bulgaria in the spring of 2006. The first two cases, notified as acute flaccid paralysis, were 55 days old unvaccinated twin brothers, having been in contact with vaccinees.

Ala67Thr mutation in the poliovirus receptor CD155 is a potential risk factor for vaccine and wild-type paralytic poliomyelitis.

Poliovirus infections can be asymptomatic or cause severe paralysis. Why some individuals develop paralytic poliomyelitis is unknown, but a role for host genetic factors has been suggested. To investigate if a polymorphism, Ala67Thr, in the poliovirus receptor, which has been found to facilitate increased resistance against poliovirus-induced cell lysis and apoptosis, is associated with increased risk of paralytic poliomyelitis, poliovirus receptor genotyping was undertaken among Italian subjects with vaccine-associated (n = 9), or with wild-type paralytic poliomyelitis (n = 6), and control subjects (n = 71), using RFLP-PCR and pyrosequencing.