Disentangling the Hypothesis of Host Dysosmia and SARS-CoV-2 : The Bait Symptom That Hides Neglected Neurophysiological Routes

The respiratory condition COVID-19 arises in a human host upon the infection with SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus that was first acknowledged in Wuhan, China, at the end of December 2019 after its outbreak of viral pneumonia. The full-blown COVID-19 can lead, in susceptible individuals, to premature death because of the massive viral proliferation, hypoxia, misdirected host immunoresponse, microthrombosis, and drug toxicities. Alike other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 has a neuroinvasive potential, which may be associated with early neurological symptoms. In the past, the nervous tissue of patients infected with other coronaviruses was shown to be heavily infiltrated. Patients with SARS-CoV-2 commonly report dysosmia, which has been related to the viral access in the olfactory bulb. However, this early symptom may reflect the nasal proliferation that should not be confused with the viral access in the central nervous system of the host, which can instead be allowed by means of other routes for spreading in most of the neuroanatomical districts. Axonal, trans-synaptic, perineural, blood, lymphatic, or Trojan routes can gain the virus multiples accesses from peripheral neuronal networks, thus ultimately invading the brain and brainstem. The death upon respiratory failure may be also associated with the local inflammation- and thrombi-derived damages to the respiratory reflexes in both the lung neuronal network and brainstem center. Beyond the infection-associated neurological symptoms, long-term neuropsychiatric consequences that could occur months after the host recovery are not to be excluded. While our article does not attempt to fully comprehend all accesses for host neuroinvasion, we aim at stimulating researchers and clinicians to fully consider the neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV-2, which is likely to affect the peripheral nervous system targets first, such as the enteric and pulmonary nervous networks. This acknowledgment may shed some light on the disease understanding further guiding public health preventive efforts and medical therapies to fight the pandemic that directly or indirectly affects healthy isolated individuals, quarantined subjects, sick hospitalized, and healthcare workers

Genotypic diversity of Legionella pneumophila in environmental and clinical strains assessed by Sequence-Based Typing, in association with retrospective clinical surveillance in Northern Italy

Objective. The study aimed to evidence previous cases of legionellosis or proven or suspected pneumonia in seven hospital facilities for the mentally disabled in Northern Italy, where no clinical surveillance had been previously carried out. An additional aim was to highlight the occurrence of strains of Legionella pneumophila of clinical and environmental origin by Sequence-Based Typing (SBT), comparing them to world surveillance. Materials and method. A clinical survey was perfomed from 2003-2012, analyzing 615 medical records for hospital-and community-acquired pneumonia, with particular attention to legionellosis. Clinical (n=4) and environmental (n=25) isolates of Legionella pneumophila, isolated in the same period (2003-2012), were characterized by SBT and the Sequence Types (STs) compared with the European Working Group for Legionella Infections (EWGLI) database. Results. Surveillance revealed that there were seven detected cases of legionellosis; most pneumonia cases could not be confirmed by diagnostic tests because of the disabilities of the patients and their lack of cooperation. The same ST was found in two of the clinical strains and also in a corresponding environment, i.e. ST685 and ST16, and two clinical strains belonging to the same ST (ST1). The other environmental strains were isolated in department with confirmed/suspected clinical cases. Five other STs found in this study were new to the database: ST685 was isolated both from a patient and from water; ST694, ST1181, ST1370 and ST1371 have not been described previously. Conclusions. The study confirmed that the routine collection and analysis of environmental strains may be an important strategy for preventing sporadic and epidemic cases of legionellosis, in association with clinical surveillance

Studio "Salute degli anziani del territorio" – (SAT), efficacia dell'attività fisica adattata (APA – salute in movimento), nel miglioramento delle performance motorie e delle competenze cognitive in risposta alla cronicità

I risultati ottenuti dimostrano come un programma di attivit\ue0 motoria in dual-task combinato con training cognitivo adattato alle abilit\ue0 dei partecipanti possa contribuire a preservare la funzionalit\ue0 ecologica e le competenze cognitive che concorrono ad una migliore autonomia e conseguente qualit\ue0 della vita dell\u2019anziano. Il risultato pi\uf9 innovativo dello studio \ue8 stato il miglioramento delle capacit\ue0 cognitive riscontrato dopo il periodo di allenamento, in entrambi i Gruppi, ma con un\u2019evidenza significativa maggiore per il gruppo sperimentale, che evidenzia l\u2019importanza di comprendere, in un programma di APA, esercizi di educazione respiratoria e routine di esercizi motori e cognitivi combinati, con particolare riferimento alla fluidit\ue0 verbale, alla capacit\ue0 attentiva nonch\ue9 le abilit\ue0 prassiche spesso legate a deficit cognitivi nelle ADL. Tutto questo potrebbe avere effetti neuro protettivi che possono aiutare a rallentare il declino cognitivo in et\ue0 avanzata. Risulta quindi importante promuovere iniziative per favorire l\u2019APA tra la popolazione anziana

La popolazione ed il soccorritore laico in emergenza

Nella relazione si descrivono i ruoli delle diverse figure sanitarie nel sistema urgenza emergenza e loro competenze

Il contributo del volontariato

Nell'intervento viene descritto il ruolo del Volontariato e in particolare del Volontariato organizzato nelle reti che in Italia da oltre 100 anni garantisce la maggior parte del trasporto di emergenza su gomma nel contesto del servizio 112

Grandi prospettive e pochi finanziamenti per la ricerca. La partnership pubblico-privato quale strumento unico per diffondere ricerca, sviluppo e impiego dei vaccini

La ricerca sui vaccini, grazie anche allo sviluppo della genomica, ha trovato nuovo slancio. I nuovi target sono i vaccini terapeutici e la semplificazione dei procedimenti vaccinali per aumentarne compliance e sicurezza. Strade aperte che sar\ue0 possibile percorrere attraverso un nuovo rilancio dell'interesse pubblico e privato nel settore

Il vaccino antinfluenzale giusto per ogni età

Nella relazione vengono descritte le varie tipologie di vaccini antinfluenzali disponibili con una disamina sull' appropriatezza d'uso in funzione dell'et\ue0 del soggetto, con particolare riguardo ai vaccini adiuvati per l'anziano

Zika Virus disease and CNS consequences

The report describes the pathologies associated with zika virus and the effects on the births of infected mothers