Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of the Italian population towards Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae and HPV diseases and vaccinations: A cross-sectional multicentre study.

Objectives: This study addressed knowledge of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis and human papillomavirus (HPV), and attitudes and behaviours towards vaccines against them.

Study Design: This is a cross-sectional, multicentre study.

Methods: Data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 530 adults who accessed four Departments of Prevention of the Italian National Health Service in 2013.

[Immunization campaign with 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in adults in Liguria Region, Italy: one year post-introduction preliminary results].

Objective: To assess the impact of the immunization program with 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13) in adults, from October 2013 in Liguria, Italy, both in terms of effectiveness, and tolerability and safety.

Methods: First study: descriptive epidemiology of the clinical burden of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and the role of risk factors or co-morbidity in adults >18 years of age. Second study: crossover evaluation of the effect of PCV13 introduction in adults aged ≥70 years, in terms of ED accesses for LRTI, obtained by a Syndrome Surveillance System (SSS) operating in Liguria from 2007.

Safety and tolerability of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the elderly.

Background: In September 2011 the European Medical Agency authorized the use of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in adults aged ≥50 years. The same occurred in the US in December 2011 when the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of PCV13 in the same target age-group with indication for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal diseases and community acquired pneumonia sustained by the serotypes contained in the vaccine. The Liguria Region, in Italy, implemented in 2013 an active and free of charge immunization strategy with PCV13 among adults affected by specific risk conditions and the elderly aged ≥70 years.

Potential effect of PCV13 introduction on Emergency Department accesses for lower respiratory tract infections in elderly and at risk adults.

Liguria, an administrative region in northern Italy characterized by a decade of high PCV coverage in paediatric age group, has issued new PCV13 recommendations for free active immunization in adults with risk factors and subjects aged ≥ 70 years old. Main aims of this study are: (1) a descriptive epidemiology of the clinical burden of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in adults ≥18 years of age; and (2) a crossover evaluation of the effect of introduction of PCV13 vaccination in adults aged ≥70 years old, in terms of ED accesses for LRTI, obtained by a Syndrome Surveillance System (SSS). The ED access, chief complaint based SSS will allow an active surveillance of a population cohort of >430 000 individuals resident in Genoa metropolitan area, aged ≥18 years old, for a period of 60 months.

Acceptance and safety of the intradermal influenza vaccine among the elderly in Italy: an on-field national study.

Introduction: An observational multicenter study was carried out in Italy, to evaluate the acceptability and safety of the new intradermal (ID) influenza vaccine (Intanza Sanofi Pasteur SA, Lyon, France) among subjects aged≥60 years, compared with that of other intramuscular (IM) influenza vaccines. Compliance with the use of the ID vaccine by healthcare professionals was also assessed.

Methods: A previously validated and self-administered questionnaire, Vaccinees' Perception of Injection (VAPI®), consisting of 21 questions, mainly focused on four dimensions (bother, arm movements, sleep, and acceptability), was administered to >1,600 individuals with spontaneous access to outpatient clinics, located in Northern, Central, and Southern Italy, to evaluate the acceptance of the vaccines.

Epidemiological and molecular approaches for management of a measles outbreak in Liguria, Italy.

Since March 2010 a measles outbreak has been occurred in Genoa, Liguria, an administrative Region in Northern Italy. Epidemiological and molecular data on the outbreak, obtained from the passive mandatory notification system, the laboratory surveillance and an innovative syndrome surveillance system, were investigated. Overall 39 cases were reported in the urban area.

Universal childhood immunisation against Streptococcus pneumoniae: the five-year experience of Liguria Region, Italy.

Liguria was the first Italian Administrative Region, since 2003, to actively recommend free-of-charge immunisation, of all infants, with heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV-7), within a research pilot-project. Vaccination coverage among infants rapidly increased from 42.8% in 2003 to 83.

Molecular epidemiology and case-control approaches for management of an outbreak of hepatitis A in Liguria, Italy.

Introduction And Methods: Hepatitis A remains an important public health problem in low endemicity areas, because of the social and economic high burden of cyclical outbreaks. In this study we described an outbreak of HAV infection occurred in the city of Genoa and in its proximity and the viral circulation in the post-epidemic period. In order to identify risk factors associated to the illness and to determine the source of infection and the dynamics of virus evolution, we conducted an epidemiological and molecular investigation by a case-control study and by sequence analysis of high variable regions of the genome.

Effectiveness of a 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine in preventing pneumonia and non-invasive pneumococcal infection in elderly people: a large-scale retrospective cohort study.

This retrospective cohort study evaluated the effectiveness of a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in reducing hospital admission for pneumonia, otitis media and exacerbation of asthma or other syndromes due to Streptococcus pneumoniae in 9170 high-risk individuals. Cohort members were followed from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2002. With regard to preventing hospitalization due to pneumonia, we observed a decrease in the incidence of 1/10000 person-months and a reduction in the relative risk of 38% in the vaccinated cohort compared with the non-vaccinated subjects.

[Hydrochloric acid, gastrin, parietal cell mass in active and quiescent phases of duodenal ulcers].

The A. studied the behaviour of gastric acid secretion, of gastrinemia and of the parietal cell mass in 14 patients with duodenal ulcer (in active state and then in quiescent state) and in 20 symptom free control subjects, in absence of circumscribed gastroduodenal lesions. The analysis of the results demonstrates the persistence in the quiescent state of the physiopathological behaviour found in the active duodenal ulcer.

Congestive and hemorrhagic lesions of duodenal mucosa. Critical evaluation.

In 34 patients congestive, hemorrhagic lesions were detected by endoscopy. It was considered that trauma was not responsible for these lesions. In all of the patients except four, histology showed no inflammatory reaction.