Case-time series study on the short-term impact of meteorological factors on West Nile Virus incidence in Italy at the local administrative unit level, 2012 to 2021.

Introduction: West Nile Virus (WNV) is a significant public health concern in southern Europe, with meteorological, climatic, and environmental factors playing a critical role in its transmission dynamics. This study aims to assess the short-term effects of meteorological variables on the incidence of WNV in five Italian regions in Northern Italy from 2012 to 2021.

Methods: Linking epidemiological data from the national surveillance system and local meteorological data, we conducted a Case-Time Series analysis to examine the association between WNV incident cases and temperature, humidity, and precipitation recorded up to ten weeks before case occurrence at the local administrative unit level.

Perspectives on AI use in medicine: views of the Italian Society of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

The first annual meeting of the Italian Society for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (Società Italiana Intelligenza Artificiale in Medicina, SIIAM) on December 7, 2023, marked a significant milestone in integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into Italy's healthcare framework. This paper reports on the collaborative workshop conducted during this event, highlighting the collective efforts of 51 professionals from diverse fields including medicine, engineering, data science, and law. The interdisciplinary background of the participants played a crucial role in generating ideas for innovative AI solutions tailored to healthcare challenges.

Investigating Physical, Social, Emotional, and Health Frailties of Cancer Survivors after Cancer Treatment: The Urgent Call for Tailored Multidisciplinary Survivorship Plans in Italy.

Background: Understanding the specific needs of cancer survivors is essential for healthcare policy. In Italy, dedicated studies are lacking, so we aimed to investigate the physical, mental, social, and health difficulties encountered by these patients.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on breast or colorectal cancer survivors (people 5+ years free from it and its treatments) using an ad hoc survey including validated questionnaires (Grauer-Palombi, SF-36, PREDIMED).

Risk of breakthrough infection and hospitalisation after COVID-19 primary vaccination by HIV status in four Italian regions during 2021.

Background: As of 2024, vaccination remains the main mitigation measure against COVID-19, but there are contradictory results on whether people living with HIV (PLWH) are less protected by vaccines than people living without HIV (PLWoH). In this study we compared the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 hospitalisation following full vaccination in PLWH and PLWoH.

Methods: We linked data from the vaccination registry, the COVID-19 surveillance system and from healthcare/pharmacological registries in four Italian regions.

The impact of COVID-19 vaccination campaign on pediatric vaccine uptake based on parents' attitudes towards mandatory and recommended vaccination in Southern Italy.

Introduction: This study investigates the association between parental attitudes towards mandatory and recommended vaccines in the National Immunization Plan (NIP) of Italy and their acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 5-11 years.

Methods: Using data from approximately 42,000 children in Southern Italy, parental attitudes towards previous vaccinations were examined. Mandatory and recommended vaccinations were considered for the analysis, with the first shot of each schedule being considered relevant, regardless of when it was administered or whether the recommended number of doses was administered.

RSV Disease Burden in Primary Care in Italy: A Multi-Region Pediatric Study, Winter Season 2022-2023.

Introduction: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most frequent causes of respiratory infections in children under 5 years of age, but its socioeconomic impact and burden in primary care settings is still little studied.

Methods: During the 2022/2023 winter season, 55 pediatricians from five Italian regions participated in our community-based study. They collected a nasal swab for RSV molecular test from 650 patients under the age of 5 with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and performed a baseline questionnaire.

Pre-COVID-19-pandemic RSV epidemiology and clinical burden in pediatric primary care in Italy: a comparative analysis across two regions for the 2019/2020 season.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in children under 5 years have a significant clinical burden, also in primary care settings. This study investigates the epidemiology and burden of RSV in Italian children during the 2019/20 pre-pandemic winter season.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in two Italian regions.

A decalogue for personalized travel health assistance with AI-driven chatbots.

This article delves into the innovative integration of AI-driven chatbots in travel medicine, proposing a decalogue for creating effective, personalized health assistance tools with a practical example (a custom GPT, with OpenAI GPT-4).

Vaccine hesitancy and knowledge regarding maternal immunization among reproductive age women in central Italy: a cross sectional study.

Background: Vaccination in pregnancy offers protection to the mother and the newborn. In Italy, influenza, pertussis, and COVID-19 vaccinations are recommended in pregnancy, but vaccination coverage is still far from the National Immunization Plan goals. We aimed to assess knowledge and attitude on maternal immunization in two groups of Italian women, in pregnancy and in reproductive age (non pregnant).

Investigating Resistance to Carbapenems in Enterobacterales: A Descriptive Epidemiological Study of 2021 Screening in an Italian Teaching Hospital.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) presents a growing threat to global healthcare. This descriptive epidemiological study investigates the prevalence and characteristics of Enterobacterales with AMR factors in a tertiary teaching hospital in Italy over the course of the year 2021. In 2021, the prevalence of colonisation by Enterobacterales with AMR factors in patients was 1.

Performance comparison between heterologous and homologous COVID19 vaccine schedules on Omicron variant incidence: A real-world retrospective cohort study in Southern Italy.

As the COVID19 pandemic progresses, there is an increasing need to evaluate the performance of vaccine strategies. This study investigated the vaccine schedule performance of heterologous vaccination compared to homologous vaccination in preventing Omicron SARS-CoV2 infection in the adult population. This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the Infections Regional Information System and the Apulia Regional Vaccine Registry to identify individuals who received a booster dose of one of 14 different COVID19 vaccination schedules between September 2021 and August 2022 in the province of Lecce, Southern Italy.

ChatGPT and the rise of large language models: the new AI-driven infodemic threat in public health.

Large Language Models (LLMs) have recently gathered attention with the release of ChatGPT, a user-centered chatbot released by OpenAI. In this perspective article, we retrace the evolution of LLMs to understand the revolution brought by ChatGPT in the artificial intelligence (AI) field. The opportunities offered by LLMs in supporting scientific research are multiple and various models have already been tested in Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks in this domain.

A novel, integrated approach for understanding and investigating Healthcare Associated Infections: A risk factors constellation analysis.

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are major public health threats in upper- and lower-middle-income countries. Electronic health records (EHRs) are an invaluable source of data for achieving different goals, including the early detection of HAIs and AMR clusters within healthcare settings; evaluation of attributable incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs); and implementation of governance policies. In Italy, the burden of HAIs is estimated to be 702.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Colorectal Cancer Screening Delay: Effect on Stage Shift and Increased Mortality.

Background & Aims: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had a sudden, dramatic impact on healthcare. In Italy, since the beginning of the pandemic, colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programs have been forcefully suspended. We aimed to evaluate whether screening procedure delays can affect the outcomes of CRC screening.

Reduced kidney function and outcome in acute ischaemic stroke: relationship to arterial hypertension and diabetes.

Background: Stroke is a dangerous long-term complication of kidney failure, yet its occurrence early in disease is poorly characterized. Our aim was to investigate the association of reduced kidney function, hypertension and diabetes with acute ischaemic stroke and the outcome thereof.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, the association of reduced kidney function, hypertension and diabetes with stroke and 2-year all-cause mortality was investigated.

Kidney function and mortality in different cardiovascular diseases: relationship with age, sex, diabetes and hypertension.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of reduced kidney function, diabetes and arterial hypertension with mortality in cardiovascular disease patients admitted to hospital.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. The setting was the reference hospital for the population area.

Estimated GFR reporting is not sufficient to allow detection of chronic kidney disease in an Italian regional hospital.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an emerging worldwide problem. The lack of attention paid to kidney disease is well known and has been described in previous publications. However, little is known about the magnitude of the problem in highly specialized hospitals where serum creatinine values are used to estimate GFR values.