Publications by authors named "Vairo F"

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency has represented a profound upheaval in the dynamics of infectious diseases transmission worldwide. This phenomenon has been at least in part driven by the introduction of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), implemented to counteract viral transmission. Our study aimed to assess the magnitude and the features of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of notifiable infectious diseases (NIDs) in the Lazio region, Italy.

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  • Dengue virus (DENV) is spreading to new temperate regions, including Europe, due to global trade and climate change, resulting in local outbreaks even among non-travelers.
  • A study in the Latium Region from August to November 2023 investigated local DENV infections caused by serotypes 1, 2, and 3, using advanced sequencing techniques for genetic analysis.
  • The findings revealed that the predominant DENV-1 strain, which originated from South America, had led to 42 local infections in Rome, indicating adaptation of the virus to human hosts and changes in how it interacts with antibodies and cell receptors.
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This is a retrospective observational study including all COVID-19 patients admitted at our Institute throughout three successive pandemic waves, from January 2021 to June 2023. The main in-hospital outcomes (clinical progression [CP], defined as admission to Intensive Care Unit [ICU]/death, and death within 28 days) were compared among participants unvaccinated (NV), fully vaccinated (FV), with one (FV&B1) and two (FV&B2) booster doses. Vaccinated participants were stratified into recently and waned FV/FV&B1/FV&B2, depending on the time elapsed from last dose (≤ and >120 days, respectively).

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  • From August to November 2023, Italy reported 82 local cases of Dengue virus (DENV), with 10 cases specifically studied in Rome, showcasing a shift toward local transmission of the disease.
  • The affected patients, mostly middle-aged and presenting classic dengue symptoms, were confirmed to have the virus through various laboratory tests including detection of DENV proteins and antibodies.
  • The study emphasizes the importance of developing better surveillance and diagnosis strategies for DENV infections in non-endemic regions, to manage and understand the clinical progression of the disease.
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  • Enteroviruses (EVs) are common worldwide pathogens, primarily impacting children and causing a range of illnesses, including aseptic meningitis, but their true prevalence and epidemiology remain poorly understood.
  • Research focused on the Lazio region over a decade revealed changes in EV infection trends, particularly influenced by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with a return to pre-pandemic circulation patterns by 2022 but with shifts in dominant strains identified.
  • Ongoing studies are essential to understand the pathogenic potential of prevalent strains and to identify any new recombinant variants.
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  • Massive sequencing technologies can help identify multiple genetic disorders in patients with complex clinical symptoms.
  • A patient, linked to a related couple, was assessed for issues like lens displacement and deafness, and initially diagnosed with Classic Homocystinuria.
  • Further genetic testing revealed additional rare disorders, leading to a better understanding of his conditions and potential treatment options.
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Most rare disease patients (75-50%) undergoing genomic sequencing remain unsolved, often due to lack of information about variants identified. Data review over time can leverage novel information regarding disease-causing variants and genes, increasing this diagnostic yield. However, time and resource constraints have limited reanalysis of genetic data in clinical laboratories setting.

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Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB (MPS IIIB) is caused by deficiency of alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase, leading to storage of heparan sulphate. The disease is characterized by intellectual disability and hyperactivity, among other neurological and somatic features. Here we studied retrospective data from a total of 19 MPS IIIB patients from Brazil, aiming to evaluate disease progression.

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Background: we aim to investigate attitudes toward vaccination by analyzing empirical factors associated with vaccine acceptance in the Lazio region mpox vaccination (MpoxVax) campaign in Italy.

Methods: all subjects who accessed MpoxVax and signed the informed consent were prospectively enrolled in the MPOX-VAC Study and were asked to fill out an anonymous survey. Two endpoints were selected: 'delayed acceptance' and 'early acceptance', defined as access for vaccination >60 and ≤30 days from the vaccination campaign starting (VCS), respectively.

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  • Gaucher disease (GD) is an inherited disorder caused by a deficiency in the enzyme glucocerebrosidase due to genetic mutations, and this study focuses on the genetic profiles of 72 Brazilian patients with the disease.
  • The research identified 31 pathogenic variants, with the N370S mutation being the most common, found in 41% of patients, and a significant genotype was N370S/RecI, present in 23.6% of the cases.
  • Two new variants were discovered, and while full exon sequencing is the best approach, the study suggests a targeted analysis of specific exons could be effective for Brazilian GD patients.
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  • The COVID-19 pandemic has led to rapid mutations of the virus SARS-CoV-2, resulting in the emergence of new variants that affect public health.
  • The Lazio region has established a genomic sequencing laboratory network (WGSnet-Lazio) to closely monitor these variants and work alongside an epidemiological surveillance center (SERESMI).
  • Data collected from February 2020 to October 2022 show that this sequencing effort is effective for understanding variant circulation and supporting public health efforts during the pandemic.
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Since August 2023, outbreaks of dengue virus (DENV) infection have occurred in Italy. We report 2 autochthonous case-patients and their extended follow-up. Despite persistent DENV detected in blood by PCR, results for antigenomic DENV RNA were negative after day 5, suggesting that a 5-day isolation period is adequate to avoid secondary cases.

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Between August and September 2023, three distinct autochthonous dengue virus transmission events occurred in Lazio, Italy, with the main event in Rome. The events involved three different dengue serotypes. No link with previous imported cases was identified.

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Background: Emerging arboviral diseases in Europe pose a challenge due to difficulties in detecting and diagnosing cases during the initial circulation of the pathogen. Early outbreak detection enables public health authorities to take effective actions to reduce disease transmission. Quantification of the reporting delays of cases is vital to plan and assess surveillance and control strategies.

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Background: Outbreaks of Aedes-borne diseases in temperate areas are not frequent, and limited in number of cases. We investigate the associations between habitat factors and temperature on individuals' risk of chikungunya (CHIKV) in a non-endemic area by spatially analyzing the data from the 2017 Italian outbreak.

Methodology/principal Findings: We adopted a case-control study design to analyze the association between land-cover variables, temperature, and human population density with CHIKV cases.

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  • Lysosomal diseases are serious health conditions that babies can have even if they show no symptoms at birth, and early detection can help improve their health.!
  • Researchers in Brazil tested 20,066 newborns to find these diseases using special blood tests and found some with potential issues related to Fabry disease.!
  • The study shows that testing blood samples is an effective way to spot these diseases early, making it easier to help a lot of babies at once.!
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Despite the number of cholera outbreaks reported worldwide, only a few cases are recorded among returning European travellers. We describe the case of a 41-year-old male, returning to Italy after a stay in Bangladesh, his origin country, who presented with watery diarrhoea. and norovirus were detected in the patient's stools via multiplex PCR methods.

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Objectives: A pre-exposure vaccination campaign to prevent the spread of the mpox virus was initiated in Italy in August 2022. We explore the possible factors affecting the trend of mpox cases in an Italian region (Lazio) with a rapid roll-out of the vaccination campaign.

Methods: We estimated the impact of the communication and vaccination campaign by fitting a Poisson segmented regression model.

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We report two cases of SARS-CoV-2 recombinant variant XE detected in nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) of hospitalized patients with no evident epidemiological link in Lazio, Central Italy. Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) performed on an Ion Torrent GSS5 platform according to Italian flash surveys showed genomes corresponding to the PANGOLIN unclassified lineage and the Nextclade XE clade. Further analyses were then carried out to investigate more deeply the genetic characteristics of these XE-like sequences.

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We analyzed the first 255 PCR-confirmed cases of monkeypox in Italy in 2022. Preliminary estimates indicate mean incubation period of 9.1 (95% CI 6.

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Objectives: to quantify the variability of COVID-19 mortality from the beginning of the pandemic to mid-July 2021, in relation to the immigrant status and by Region and period.

Design: observational incidence study.

Setting And Participants: the study population consists of the residents at the beginning of 2020 in seven Regions (Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Sicily) aged <=74 years.

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Objectives: Data on Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) prevalence in urban settings and pastoral areas of Tanzania are scarce. We performed a cross-sectional study of RVFV seroprevalence and determinants in humans and animals from Ilala, Rufiji, and Sengerema districts of Tanzania.

Methods: Blood samples from the study participants were tested for anti-RVFV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

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Listeriosis is currently the fifth most common foodborne disease in Europe. Most cases are sporadic; however, outbreaks have also been reported. Compared to other foodborne infections, listeriosis has a modest incidence but can cause life-threatening complications, especially in elderly or immunocompromised people and pregnant women.

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  • The study identifies 15 new genetic alterations linked to KCNK9 imprinting syndrome (KIS) by analyzing 47 affected individuals, revealing a diverse genetic and phenotypic spectrum.
  • It highlights common symptoms of KIS, such as motor and speech delays, intellectual disabilities, and behavioral issues, while also discovering an additional mutational hotspot in the gene involved.
  • The research emphasizes that KIS is characterized by complex channel function alterations, which can aid in molecular diagnosis since clinical features alone are insufficient for identification.
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