A Customized Tool of Incident Reporting for the Detection of Nonconformances at a Single IVF Center: Development, Application, and Efficacy.

In IVF centers, risk assessment applies to complex processes potentially accounting for adverse events and reactions that undergo well-established legislative oversight, and nonconformances (NCs), that lack of established tracking systems. NCs account for an integral part of the quality management system, so that their documentation is important. The study evaluated the performance of a customized tool for incident reporting (IR) to track and characterize NCs in a public IVF center.

Association between Exposure to Influenza Vaccination and COVID-19 Diagnosis and Outcomes.

We explored whether influenza vaccination (IV) affects susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients in 17,608 residents of the Italian province of Reggio Emilia undergoing a SARS-CoV-2 test. Exposure to IV was ascertained and the strength of the association with SARS-CoV-2 positivity expressed with odds ratios (OR). Rates of hospitalisations and death in those found positive were assessed and hazard ratios (HR) were estimated.

Resistance and Raman spectroscopy analysis of Parageobacillus thermantarcticus spores after γ-ray exposure.

Spores of the genus Bacillus are able to resist ionizing radiations and therefore they are a suitable biological model for studies in Astrobiology, i.e. the multidisciplinary approach to the study of the origin and evolution of life on Earth and in the universe.

Burden of herpes zoster-associated chronic pain in Italian patients aged 50 years and over (2009-2010): a GP-based prospective cohort study.

Background: Post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most common complication in herpes zoster (HZ) patients.

Methods: We performed a longitudinal, prospective study in 108 general practices throughout Italy to assess how many immunocompetent patients aged ≥50 years with newly diagnosed HZ develop HZ-associated pain, its duration and management over 6-months. HZ-associated pain was assessed by a direct question to the patient and by self-assessment of the worst pain felt in the previous two weeks on a visual analogue scale (VAS), a score ≥3 was taken as pain.

An early (3-6 weeks) active surveillance study to assess the safety of pandemic influenza vaccine Focetria in a province of Emilia-Romagna region, Italy - part one.

Introduction: An observational, non-comparative, prospective, surveillance study of individuals vaccinated with the MF59-adjuvanted A/H1N1 influenza vaccine, Focetria, (Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics, Siena, Italy), was performed in Italy during the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Method: This study assessed the short-term (six-week) safety profile of the investigational vaccine in real time. After vaccination (N=7943), adverse events (AE) were assessed using both active (telephone) and passive (healthcare database) follow-up in enrolled vaccinated subjects, including infants (6-23 months), pregnant women, and the immunosuppressed.

Herpes zoster associated hospital admissions in Italy: review of the hospital discharge forms.

In Italy a specific surveillance system for zoster does not exist, and thus updated and complete epidemiological data are lacking. The objective of this study was to retrospectively review the national hospital discharge forms database for the period 1999-2005 using the code ICD9-CM053. In the period 1999-2005, 35,328 hospital admissions have been registered with annual means of 4,503 hospitalizations and 543 day-hospital admissions.

Acute hepatitis delta virus infection in Italy: incidence and risk factors after the introduction of the universal anti-hepatitis B vaccination campaign.

Background: Updates on the incidence of and risk factors for acute hepatitis delta virus infection in Italy, as well as in other countries, are lacking, and the impact of the mandatory anti-hepatitis B vaccination has not been evaluated.

Methods: We performed a case-control study within a population-based surveillance for acute viral hepatitis.

Results: During 1993-2004, 344 cases of acute hepatitis delta virus infection were reported.

Effects of stratospheric radiations on human glioblastoma cells.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of stratospheric radiations on neural tumour cells. ADF human glioblastoma cells were hosted on a stratospheric balloon within the 2002 biological experiment campaign of the Italian Space Agency. The flight at an average height of 37 km lasted about 24 hrs.

Rates of surgical-site infection: an international comparison.

Objectives: To quantify the occurrence of surgical-site infections (SSIs) in an Italian region and to estimate the proportion of potentially avoidable infections through benchmarking comparison.

Design: Prospective study during 1 month based on a convenience sample of surgical patients admitted to 31 public hospitals. All of the patients undergoing an intervention included among the 44 operative procedures of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) System were enrolled.

High-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study of truffles (Tuber aestivum vittadini).

A high-field NMR technique was used to analyze aqueous and organic extracts of truffles (Tuber aestivum vittadini) to characterize their chemical composition. Water-soluble metabolites belonging to different classes such as sugars, polyols, amino acids, and organic acids were almost completely assigned by means of one- and two-dimensional experiments (1H-1H COSY, TOCSY, 1H-13C HSQC, 1H-13C HMBC, and 1H-31P HMBC). The 1H spectral assignment of the cell membrane components such as lipids, sterols, and fatty acids extracted in organic solvents was also performed.

Role of beauty treatment in the spread of parenterally transmitted hepatitis viruses in Italy.

The aims of the study were to evaluate the role of beauty treatments in the spread of acute viral hepatitis B (HBV) and acute viral hepatitis C (HCV) in Italy. Data from the surveillance system for acute viral hepatitis (SEIEVA) during the period 1997-2002 were used. After exclusion of subjects <15 years or >55 years old and reporting intravenous drug use or blood transfusion, the association of acute HBV and HCV cases with beauty treatments (tattooing, piercing, manicure/chiropody, and barber shop shaving) was estimated comparing 2,964 hepatitis B and 598 hepatitis C cases with 7,221 hepatitis A cases, used as controls, by multiple logistic regression analysis.

Factors affecting the compliance of the antenatal hepatitis B screening programme in Italy.

The effectiveness in the prevention of perinatally transmitted HBV infection was assessed in 11858 pregnant women consecutively recruited in public and private hospitals in six Italian regions during a 2 months period in 2001. Of them 10881 (91.8%) attended HBsAg antenatal screening.