The effects of primary care monitoring strategies on COVID-19 related hospitalisation and mortality: a retrospective electronic medical records review in a northern Italian province, the MAGMA study.

Background: Most symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections produce mild to moderate symptoms. Although most patients are managed in the outpatient setting, little is known about the effect of general practitioners' (GP) management strategies on the outcomes of COVID-19 outpatients in Italy.

Objectives: Describe the management of Italian GPs of SARS-CoV-2 infected adult patients and explore whether GP active care and monitoring are associated with reducing hospitalisation and death.

Analysis of genetic and viral determinants of HBsAg levels in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interleukin 28B (IL28B) gene can influence the course of treated and untreated HBV infection. However, the correlation between different IL28B-SNPs and HBVDNA and quantitative HBsAg (qHBsAg) in chronic HBV infection remains to be fully elucidated. Patients with chronic HBV infection were analysed for qHBsAg, HBVDNA, HBV genotype and six IL28B-SNPs (rs12980275, rs8105790, rs8099917, rs7248668, rs12979860, rs10853728).

Immunogenicity and Safety of the 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine versus the 23-Valent Polysaccharide Vaccine in Unvaccinated HIV-Infected Adults: A Pilot, Prospective Controlled Study.

Objectives: Definition of the optimal pneumococcal vaccine strategy in HIV-infected adults is still under evaluation. We aimed to compare immunogenicity and safety of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) versus the 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) in HIV-infected adults.

Methods: We performed a pilot, prospective controlled study enrolling HIV-infected pneumococcal vaccine-naïve outpatients, aged 18-65 years with CD4 counts ≥200 cells/μL.

Paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with tonsil colonisation by Streptococcus pyogenes.

The involvement of pathogenic bacteria in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) has yet to be elucidated. We investigated the possible role of group A streptococcus (GAS) in OSAS pathogenesis. In 40 tonsillectomized patients affected by OSAS and 80 healthy controls, significant (p < 0.

Diagnostic testing for Clostridium difficile in Italian microbiological laboratories.

A laboratory diagnosis survey of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) was performed in Italy in 2012-2013. Questionnaires from 278 healthcare settings from 15 regions of Italy were collected and analysed. Eighty seven percent of the laboratories declared to routinely perform CDI diagnosis, 99% of them only after the clinician's request.

Evaluation and Optimization of an ELISA Procedure to Quantify Antibodies Against Pneumococcal Polysaccharides Included in the 13-Valent Conjugate Vaccine.

The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) is recommended for HIV-infected people, although its effectiveness in this population remains under evaluation. In this study, we describe the development, optimization, and analytical validation of an ELISA procedure to measure specific antibodies for the pneumococcal polysaccharide serotypes included in PCV13 vaccine, testing sera obtained from HIV-infected outpatients (n = 30) who received the vaccine. The protocol followed the last version of WHO guidelines, based on the new standard 007sp, with the modification of employing Statens Serum Institut (SSI) antigens.

Evolution of macrolide resistance in Streptococcus pyogenes over 14 years in an area of central Italy.

We evaluated temporal fluctuations in macrolide resistance rates, analysing genetic determinants of resistance and clonal evolution in a population of 2744 S. pyogenes isolates collected in the period 2000-2013. The total resistance rate to erythromycin of the isolates was 17.

[Tuberculosis among children and young adults in Emilia-Romagna Region (Northern Italy): surveillance system and integration with socioeconomic data].

Objectives: to characterise the cases of tuberculosis (TB) aged 0-24 years reported in Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) Region between 2001 and 2010 through an ecological approach and from a sociodemographic perspective.

Design: observational study on notified TB cases, with data integration and subsequent location through geocoding and ecological deprivation index.

Setting And Participants: notification records of TB cases identified by the current surveillance system.

Monosodium Urate Crystals Promote Innate Anti-Mycobacterial Immunity and Improve BCG Efficacy as a Vaccine against Tuberculosis.

A safer and more effective anti-Tuberculosis vaccine is still an urgent need. We probed the effects of monosodium urate crystals (MSU) on innate immunity to improve the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. Results showed that in vitro MSU cause an enduring macrophage stimulation of the anti-mycobacterial response, measured as intracellular killing, ROS production and phagolysosome maturation.

Homologous prime boosting based on intranasal delivery of non-pathogenic invasive Escherichia coli expressing MPT64, decreases Mycobacterium tuberculosis dissemination.

Protein-subunit vaccines as boosting strategies against tuberculosis (TB) infection are currently in the pipeline of TB vaccine research. Their main limitation is represented by their poor immunogenicity, which makes it necessary to couple protein-subunits with adjuvant molecules. In this study, we employed replication-deficient invasive Escherichia coli strains to deliver Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins to the cytoplasm of non-phagocytic eukaryotic cells using various priming and prime-boosting vaccination protocols.

Immune response to influenza A(H1N1)v in HIV-infected patients.

Introduction: HIV infection is considered a risk factor for severe outcomes of influenza A(H1N1)v infection. However, data on immune response against influenza A(H1N1)v virus in HIV-infected patients are lacking.

Methodology: Data from seven HIV-positive and 14 HIV-negative patients infected with A(H1N1)v and from 23 HIV-positive and six HIV-negative asymptomatic controls were analyzed to evaluate the clinical picture, A(H1N1)v viral shedding, and the immune response against the virus.

Exploiting the mycobacterial cell wall to design improved vaccines against tuberculosis.

The only vaccine available against tuberculosis (TB), the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), does not provide effective protection against the most common forms of adult TB and in recent years efforts have been made to develop a new and improved vaccine.  Among the strategies implemented, the generation of a new live attenuated mycobacterial strain is seen as one of the most promising and feasible, for scientific, ethical and practical reasons.  The new understanding of the biology of the tubercle bacilli and of host-pathogen interaction processes, coupled with the possibility to engineer BCG or M.

Epidemiology of tuberculosis in a low-incidence Italian region with high immigration rates: differences between not Italy-born and Italy-born TB cases.

Background: Emilia Romagna, a northern Italian region, has a population of 4.27 million, of which 9.7% are immigrants.

Surface expression of MPT64 as a fusion with the PE domain of PE_PGRS33 enhances Mycobacterium bovis BCG protective activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mice.

To improve the current vaccine against tuberculosis, a recombinant strain of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (rBCG) expressing a Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine candidate antigen (MPT64) in strong association with the mycobacterial cell wall was developed. To deliver the candidate antigen on the surface, we fused the mpt64 gene to the sequence encoding the PE domain of the PE_PGRS33 protein of M. tuberculosis (to create strain (H)PE-ΔMPT64-BCG), which we have previously shown to transport proteins to the bacterial surface.

Laboratory procedures for the diagnosis of tuberculosis: a survey in ten Italian Regions.

The characteristics of laboratories performing tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic procedures were investigated in ten Italian Regions, through a mailed questionnaire. Three hundred and eighty laboratories answered (70.8 % response rate), 250 of which performed directly at least one TB diagnostic procedure.