86 results match your criteria: "Section of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"[Affiliation]"

Sore throat represents one of the main causes of antibiotic overprescription in children. Its management is still a matter of debate, with countries considering streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis a benign and self-limiting condition and others advocating for its antibiotic treatment to prevent suppurative complications and acute rheumatic fever. Italian paediatricians frequently prescribe antibiotics on a clinical basis regardless of microbiological results.

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Disparities in tuberculosis diagnostic delays between native and migrant populations in Italy: A multicenter study.

Int J Infect Dis

January 2025

Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Jonian Area (DiMePreJ), Clinic of Infectious Diseases, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, BA, Italy.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a Global Health challenge, with diagnostic delays contributing significantly to its spread. This study investigates the differences in diagnostic delays between native and migrant TB patients in Italy, examining patient-related diagnostic delay (PDD), health system-related diagnostic delay (HDD), and total diagnostic delay (TDD).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter, cross-sectional study of TB cases in 10 Italian hospitals from 2018 to 2023.

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  • * Recent efforts to stop smoking haven't been put into action yet, and it’s important to see what could happen if smoking rates stay the same or improve.
  • * Researchers used models to predict health outcomes by 2050 based on different scenarios of smoking rates, showing that cutting smoking could greatly improve health and life expectancy.
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  • Researchers studied strokes from 1990 to 2021 to understand how many people get them and how they are affected around the world.
  • In 2021, strokes caused about 7.3 million deaths and were a major cause of health problems, especially in specific regions like Southeast Asia and Oceania.
  • There are differences in stroke risks based on where people live and their age, and some areas actually saw more strokes happening since 2015.
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The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is approximately doubled in subjects with hypercholesterolemia compared to those with normal blood cholesterol levels. Monacolin K (MK), the main active substance in rice fermented by the , acts on cholesterol metabolism. Rice also contains other bioactive compounds such as γ-oryzanol (OZ) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

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A study on 81 individuals (18-75 years old) with mildly impaired fasting blood glucose (FBG) concentrations (98-125 mg/dL) was undertaken to investigate the tolerability of a food supplement (FS) based on and extracts, zinc, and chromium and its efficacy on glucose and lipid metabolism. The subjects were randomized into three groups (27 in each group) and supplemented with one or two tablet(s)/day of FS (groups 1 and 2, respectively), or two tablets/day of placebo (group 3). Blood sampling was carried out at baseline (t0) and after a 3-month treatment (t1), and biochemical parameters associated with glucose and lipid metabolism and kidney and liver toxicity were evaluated.

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Metal and metal oxide nanostructured materials have been chemically and physically characterized and tested concerning methylene blue (MB) photoremoval and UV antibacterial activity against and . In detail, silver nanoparticles and commercial BaTiO nanoparticles were modified to obtain nanocomposites through sonicated sol-gel TiO synthesis and the photodeposition of Ag nanoparticles, respectively. The characterization results of pristine nanomaterials and synthetized photocatalysts revealed significant differences in specific surface area (SSA), the presence of impurities in commercial Ag nanoparticles, an anatase phase with brookite traces for TiO-based nanomaterials, and a mixed cubic-tetragonal phase for BaTiO.

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  • The text discusses a case of an opportunistic yeast infection found in a lung cancer patient in Naples, highlighting the challenges for immunocompromised individuals in the Mediterranean region.
  • It details the identification of the yeast through various methods such as Gram staining and MALDI-TOF MS, which are important for accurate diagnosis.
  • The study emphasizes the significance of early microbiological diagnosis for effective treatment, revealing that 5-fluorocytosine is the most effective antifungal against the yeast, followed by other antifungals like itraconazole and voriconazole.
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Background: Despite the efforts of the World Health Organization, some childhood viral diseases, for which there is already an effective vaccine, have not yet been eradicated. Among these, we find varicella, mumps, measles, and rubella, which although in most cases have a benign course, can in some cases be responsible for infectious outbreaks, especially in nosocomial settings. The aim of this study was to verify the immunological situation of a cohort of trainee obstetricians in Campania regarding varicella, mumps, measles, and rubella to be used as an example for the evaluation of possible preventive strategies to avoid infectious outbreaks.

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Probiotic Properties of Strains Isolated from Natural Whey Starter Cultures.

Foods

March 2024

Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (DiSTABiF), Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy.

is a lactic acid bacterium (LAB), generally recognized as safe, and has been widely used in the food industry, especially in fermented dairy products. Numerous studies have evaluated the technological and probiotic properties of lactococci; however, few studies have reported the probiotic characteristics of strains isolated from dairy products. In this work, probiotic potential, including survival in simulated gastric juice, tolerance to bile salts, hydrophobicity, and auto- and co-aggregation, was evaluated in strains from natural whey starter cultures.

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Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the second most frequent type of infection observed in clinical practice. Gram-negative are common pathogens in UTIs. Excessive antibiotic use in humans and animals, poor infection control, and increased global travel have accelerated the spread of multidrug-resistant strains (MDR).

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Background: Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are generally free-living organism, widely distributed in the environment, with sporadic potential to infect. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the global incidence of NTM-related disease, spanning across all continents and an increased mortality after the diagnosis has been reported. The decisions on whether to treat or not and which drugs to use are complex and require a multidisciplinary approach as well as patients' involvement in the decision process.

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The skin serves as the first barrier against pathogen attacks, thanks to its multifunctional microbial community. is a commensal organism of normal cutaneous microflora but is also a cause of skin diseases. It acts on different cell pattern recognition receptors (TLRs, AhR, NLRP3 inflammasome) leading to cellular damage, barrier impairment, and inflammatory cytokines production.

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The emergence of multidrug-resistant strains requires the urgent discovery of new antibacterial drugs. In this context, an antibacterial screening of a subset of anthelmintic avermectins against gram-positive and gram-negative strains was performed. Selamectin completely inhibited bacterial growth at 6.

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SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is the standard of care for the prevention of COVID-19 disease. Although vaccination triggers both humoral and cellular immune response, COVID-19 vaccination efficacy is currently evaluated by measuring antibodies only, whereas adaptative cellular immunity is unexplored. Our aim is to test humoral and cell-mediated response after three doses of BNT162b vaccine in two cohorts of fragile patients: Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) patients and Kidney Transplant Recipients (KTR) patients compared to healthy donors.

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Microbiota revolution: How gut microbes regulate our lives.

World J Gastroenterol

July 2023

Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Section of Microbiology and Virology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari 70124, Italy.

Article Synopsis
  • The human intestine is home to a diverse community of microorganisms, known as microbiota, that compete and interact with the body to maintain health and homeostasis.
  • These microorganisms play essential roles in various bodily functions, including metabolism and immune response, providing benefits to the host while also relying on it for nutrients.
  • An imbalance or dysbiosis in these microbial communities can lead to various health issues, including autoimmune diseases, obesity, and even neurological disorders.
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Lithium is regarded as the first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), a severe and disabling mental health disorder that affects about 1% of the population worldwide. Nevertheless, lithium is not consistently effective, with only 30% of patients showing a favorable response to treatment. To provide personalized treatment options for bipolar patients, it is essential to identify prediction biomarkers such as polygenic scores.

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  • The Sydney system was developed to improve standardization and reproducibility in lymph node cytopathology, with previous studies focusing on its risk of malignancy but not on how consistently different pathologists can interpret it.
  • A study involving 15 cytopathologists from 12 institutions globally evaluated 85 cases using digital whole-slide images, resulting in over 1200 diagnoses.
  • The findings indicated nearly perfect agreement with a ground truth for most diagnoses, but varying levels of concordance across categories, with the inadequate and malignant categories showing the most agreement, while suspicious and atypical categories had very slight agreement.
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Periodontal diseases are oral inflammatory diseases ranging from gingivitis to chronic periodontitis. is one of the major pathogens responsible for severe and chronic periodontitis. Plant extracts with antimicrobial activity could be considered possible alternatives to chlorhexidine, an antiseptic substance used in oral hygiene thatcan cause bacteria resistance.

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  • The study investigates global practices for managing sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) in infertile men, highlighting its impact on fertility and assisted reproductive technology (ART).
  • A survey collecting data from 436 reproductive experts across 55 countries revealed a common recommendation for lifestyle changes and antioxidants, with varying durations for treatment and differing management approaches for specific infertility cases.
  • The findings indicate a lack of uniformity in practices, emphasizing the need for standardized guidelines and expert consensus for treating men with elevated SDF.
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Fever represents an elevation of body temperature, that exerts a protective effect against pathogens. Innate immune cells and neurons are implicated in the regulation of body temperature. Pathogen-associated molecular patterns, i.

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West Nile Virus diffusion in temperate regions and climate change. A systematic review.

Infez Med

March 2023

Unit of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, "Scuola Medica Salernitana", University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a member of the Japanese encephalitis serocomplex, which was first described in 1937 as neurotropic virus in Uganda in 1937. Subsequently, WNV was identified in the rest of the old-world and from 1999 in North America. Birds are the primary hosts, and WNV is maintained in a bird-mosquito-bird cycle, with pigs as amplifying hosts and humans and horses as incidental hosts.

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Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) can infect both male and female genitals, skin, and mucous membranes, causing benign or malignant lesions. HPV is a common sexually transmitted infection and it is the main cause of cervical cancer. The present retrospective study updated the previously published data on HPV genotypes distribution among women living in Naples.

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Background: Our aim was to analyze mortality attributable to carbapenem-resistant (CR) gram-negative bacilli (GNB) in patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs).

Methods: Prospective multicentric study including patients with GNB-BSI from 19 Italian hospitals (June 2018-January 2020). Patients were followed-up to 30 days.

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