Epidemiology and Microbiology of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: Preliminary Results of a National Registry.

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) represent a wide range of clinical conditions characterized by a considerable variety of clinical presentations and severity. Their aetiology can also vary, with numerous possible causative pathogens. While other authors previously published analyses on several types of SSTI and on restricted types of patients, we conducted a large nationwide surveillance programme on behalf of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases to assess the clinical and microbiological characteristics of the whole SSTI spectrum, from mild to severe life-threatening infections, in both inpatients and outpatients.

Epidemiology and clinical features of cystic hydatidosis in Western Sicily: a ten-year review.

Aim: To assess retrospectively the epidemiological and clinical aspects of cystic echinococcosis (CE) and to evaluate follow-up and response to treatment in patients affected by CE.

Methods: From January 2000 to December 2010, all patients affected by CE at the Infectious Diseases Units of the University of Catania and of Basilotta Hospital in Nicosia-Enna, were enrolled as participants in the study. Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data were collected for each patient.

Current practice of hepatitis C treatment in Southern Italy.

Background: Only a small proportion of subjects referring to hospitals for hepatitis C virus (HCV) positivity receives antiviral therapy.

Aim: To evaluate the rate of antiviral treatment and the causes for no treatment in HCV-RNA positive subjects seen in hospital settings.

Patients And Methods: A prospective study enrolling over a 6-month period (February-July 2009) all consecutive anti-HCV positive subjects initially referred (naïve patients) to 12 liver units in Southern Italy for HCV treatment.

[Pott's disease in a patient affected with epilepsy and behavioural abnormalities].

The authors report on a case of Pott's disease in a patient attending a long-term psychiatric hospital for about 34 years. Difficulties regarding case management concern either diagnosis, due to the numerous and misleading comorbidities, or pharmacological treatment, due to both the interference between neurotropic and antitubercular drugs and the capacity of some antimycobacterial drugs to reduce significantly the epileptogenic threshold, thus enhancing epileptic crises.

[The importance of monitoring legionellosis in hospital setting: the case of a Sicilian Hospital].

Hospital-acquired legionellosis is a major problem. In Italy this issue is still underestimated because the reported figures are lower than the actual cases. This is probably due to a lack of diagnosis and monitoring.