Background: The Child Opportunity Index (COI) is a new and innovative tool designed to assess the environment in which children grow up, offering a broad evaluation of the opportunities available to them in different neighborhoods. This initiative aims to ensure improvements in children's living conditions and future health outcomes.
Methods: The study was performed in the cities of Palermo and Rome.
Aim: We describe a one-year investigation of colonization by imipenemresistant, metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the University Hospital of Palermo, Italy.
Methods: A prospective epidemiological investigation was conducted in the period 2003 January to 2004 January. Rectal swabs were collected twice a week from all neonates throughout their NICU stay.