10 research outputs found
Aggiornamenti epidemiologici sull’echinococcosi animale in Italia
Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) is one of the
most widespread parasitoses in the Mediterranean Region (MR). This is due to various factors, the most important being the close association between man, sheep and dogs in areas where open farming is practised.
Although this disease has been known for several years and many studies have been carried out, nowadays in Italy there are no complete epidemiological data on its diffusion and distribution. The available data show that CE is mainly diffused in those districts where the sheep-dog cycle can be perpetuated, such
as central and southern Italy, and the islands. Furthermore, no data are available on biomolecular characterisation
of the strains of Echinococcus granulosus in Italy, apart form those in Sardinia, where the G1
(sheep-dog) and G7 (pig-dog) strains were recently isolated. One of the reasons why CE is a problem with
no easy solution is undoubtedly the difficulty of making a certain diagnosis in the dog, the principal definitive
host of E. granulosus
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Nutrition in preschool children and later risk of obesity: a systematic review and meta analysis
Objectives and study:
Nutrition in infants and preschool children has been suggested to influence the risk of later obesity. However, the evidence for this association is conflicting and few studies have investigated this prospectively or considered the role of energy and specific macronutrients. Here we report a systematic review and meta-analyis of studies that tested the hypothesis that nutrition in the preschool period, between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, is associated with later obesity risk.
Methods:
MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL databases were searched from January 1988 to June 2015 for studies reporting nutritional intake in infants and preschool children aged 6-36 months and later measures of obesity. Bibliographies of included studies were hand searched and authors and other experts consulted to identify omissions. We included all studies that investigated dietary energy and/or macronutrient intake during 6-36 months in relation to later measures of obesity. Methodological quality was assessed using the Downs and Black checklist designed specifically to appraise both randomised and non-randomised studies. The checklist was adapted to include aspects of particular relevance to studies investigating nutritional exposures. Two reviewers independently scored studies against the 28 item checklist which included questions on study reporting, external validity, internal validity (bias and confounding), and statistical power. A statistician independently scored questions relating to statistical methods and their decision was final. Data from studies amenable to meta-analysis were analysed using STATA (StataCrop 12, Texas). For continuous outcomes, results were expressed as standardised mean difference (SMD) between the high and low protein intake groups. For dichotomous outcomes, results for each study were expressed as relative risk (RR). Both dichotomous and continuous outcomes were presented with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Between-study heterogeneity was assessed by the Q and I2 statistics.
Results:
24 eligible articles (comprising 16 primary studies) were included in a narrative synthesis, and 13 studies in a random-effects meta-analysis. A higher protein intake was associated with later risk of obesity in 15 studies. In 13 studies included in the meta-analysis protein in the preschool period was associated with higher BMI z-score later in childhood (pooled effect size: 0.28 z-scores, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.35)(Figure 1). There was no significant hererogeneity between studies (I2 0.0%, p = 0.932). Associations of energy, fat and carbohydrate were inconclusive.
Conclusion:
Our findings suggest that nutrition and particularly high protein intake in infants and preschool children is important for risk of later obesity. Although further experimental data are required to establish causality, these findings suggest that optimising the protein intake of these children could be important for their long term health
Geo-referencing livestock farms as tool for studying cystic echinococcosis epidemiology in cattle and water buffaloes from southern Italy
Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by the larval stages of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, is known
to be one of the most important parasitic infection in livestock worldwide and one of the most widespread zoonoses
known. In the present study, we used a geographical information system (GIS) to study the spatial structure of livestock
(cattle, water buffaloes and sheep) populations to gain a better understanding of the role of sheep as reservoir for the
transmission of CE to cattle and water buffaloes. To this end, a survey on CE in cattle and water buffaloes from the
Campania region of southern Italy was conducted and the geo-referenced results linked to the regional farm geo-referenced
data within a GIS. The results showed a noteworthy prevalence of CE in cattle and water buffalo farms (overall
prevalence = 18.6%). The elaboration of the data with a GIS approach showed a close proximity of the bovine and/or
water buffalo CE positive farms with the ovine farms present in the study area, thus giving important information on
the significance of sheep and free-ranging canids in the transmission cycles of CE in relation to cattle and water buffaloes.
The significantly higher prevalence found in cattle as compared to water buffalo farms (20.0% versus 12.4%)
supports the key role of sheep in the CE transmission; indeed, within the 5 km radius buffer zones constructed around
the cattle farms positive for CE, a higher number of (potentially infected) sheep farms were found compared to those
found within the buffer zones around the water buffalo farms. Furthermore, the average distances between the sheep
and cattle farms falling in the same buffer zones were significantly lower than those between the sheep and water buffalo
farms. We emphasize that the use of GIS is a novel approach to further our understanding of the epidemiology and
control of CE and we encourage other groups to make use of i
Thinking to acute pancreatitis in children: Review of our experience
The paper discusses the clinical management of acute pancreatitis in children. A review of of the cases cared for in the University Pediatric Center of Foggia is presented
Spectrum of autoimmunity in celiac disease
The paper discusses the spectrum of autoimmunity in children with celiac diseas
Imerslund-GrÄsbeck syndrome and celiac disease: A strange but possible association
The paper describes the unusuala association of Imerslund-GrÄsbeck syndrome and celiac disease