Serum-epidemiological survey in a group of illegal immigrates for the evaluation of immunity against vaccine-preventable diseases in Italy

Background During the period May 2004 – December 2005 a serum epidemiological survey for preventable diseases through compulsory vaccination in Italy (diphtheria, tetanus, poliovirus, hepatitis B) and rubella in women was performed in a group of adult and illegal immigrants living in Rome, to evaluate the relationship between vaccination coverage and socio-demographic characteristics. Methods It was carried out by Elisa test (for rubella, tetanus, diphtheria and hepatitis B) and by neutralizing antibody titration (Poliovirus). Both descriptive analyses (calculation of mean, median, standard deviation, percentage) and inferential statistics (hypothesis tests) were used. Results Six hundred and sixty-seven immigrants were invited to participate and 318 of them performed the analysis (participation rate = 47.6 %). The percentages of immunized individuals were: 39.1% for diphtheria (basic immunization 59.3%), 74.8% for tetanus, 74.1% for poliomyelitis, and 94.7% for rubella. Only 2.8% was vaccinated against hepatitis B. Conclusion Most immigrants would need a booster dose for diphtheria and tetanus. Among Eastern European subjects Poliovirus vaccination coverage was lower than 70%, implying that the maintenance of high levels of it is strongly necessary. With regard to rubella, African women had the lowest coverage (87.5%) and their young age exposes to congenital rubella. Over half of immigrants were healthy carriers for HBV

The Disturbed Habitat and Its Effects on the Animal Population

Changes in the “habitat” may interfere with the normal functioning of all biological systems. The existence of relationships between environmental changes and health in humans and animal species is well known and it has become generally accepted that poor health affects the animal’s natural behaviors and animal welfare and, consequently, food safety and animal production quality. Microclimate alterations, husbandry-management conditions, quality of human-animal interactions, feeding systems, and rearing environment represent the main factors that could negatively affect animal welfare and may produce behavioral, biochemical, endocrine, and pathological modifications in domestic and wild animals. Particularly, high stress levels can reduce the immune system response and promote infectious diseases. Adverse socio-environmental factors can represent a major stimulus to the development of different pathologies. This chapter will discuss the main pathological modifications described in domestic and wild animals due to “disturbed habitat” paying more attention to critical points detected in standard breeding systems

The use of antimicrobials in Italian heavy pig fattening farms

Data on antimicrobial use (AMU) in heavy pig production (>150 kg) are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the AMU in this production. Data from 2015 were collected for 143 fattening farms. The AMU was estimated through a treatment index per 100 days (TI100) using the defined daily dose animal for Italy (DDDAit). When possible, a comparison with the European Medicines Agency's defined daily doses for animals (DDDvet) was performed. The median TI100 was 10.7 (range, 0.2-49.5). Group treatments represented 94.6% of overall consumption. The AMU calculated using DDDAit and DDDvet were strongly correlated (rho = 0.976; p < 0.001). The AMU was negatively correlated with injectables use (rho = -0.46, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with oral products (rho = 0.21, p = 0.014), premixes (rho = 0.26, p = 0.002), and mortality (rho = 0.18; p = 0.027). Farm size was negatively correlated with AMU (rho = -0.29, p < 0.001). Smaller farms were more frequently above the median TI100 (odds ratio = 2.3, 95% confidence interval = 1.2-4.7), suggesting that they may have lower biosecurity and management standards. The results of this study should provide useful insights for the development of an Italian monitoring system

Predominant VH1-69 IgBCR Clones Show Higher Expression of CD5 in Heterogeneous Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Populations

The immunoglobulin B cell receptor (IgBCR) expressed by chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis, supporting neoplastic transformation, survival, and expansion of tumor clones. We demonstrated that in the same patient, two or more CLL clones could coexist, recognized by the expression of different variable regions of the heavy chain of IgBCR, composing the antigen-binding site. In this regard, phage display screening could be considered the easier and most advantageous methodology for the identification of small peptide molecules able to mimic the natural antigen of the tumor IgBCRs. These molecules, properly functionalized, could be used as a probe to specifically identify and isolate single CLL subpopulations, for a deeper analysis in terms of drug resistance, phenotype, and gene expression. Furthermore, CLL cells express another surface membrane receptor, the CD5, which is commonly expressed by normal T cells. Piece of evidence supports a possible contribution of CD5 to the selection and maintenance of autoreactivity in B cells and the constitutive expression of CD5 on CLL cells could induce pro-survival stimuli. In this brief research report, we describe a peptide-based single-cell sorting using as bait the IgBCR of tumor cells; in the next step, we performed a quantitative analysis of CD5 expression by qRT-PCR related to the expressed IgBCR. Our approach could open a new perspective for the identification, isolation, and investigation of all subsets of IgBCR-related CLL clones, with particular attention to the more aggressive clones

Percutaneous treatment of patients with heart diseases: selection, guidance and follow-up. A review

Aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation, patent foramen ovale, interatrial septal defect, atrial fibrillation and perivalvular leak, are now amenable to percutaneous treatment. These percutaneous procedures require the use of Transthoracic (TTE), Transesophageal (TEE) and/or Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE). This paper provides an overview of the different percutaneous interventions, trying to provide a systematic and comprehensive approach for selection, guidance and follow-up of patients undergoing these procedures, illustrating the key role of 2D echocardiography

Healthcare utilization among urban homeless followed by an outpatient clinic: more intensive use by migrant groups

Introduction: The increasing share of homeless represents a challenge for the healthcare system. In Rome, Italy, a large ambulatory care centre for the homeless had adopted several measures to improve access to health care facilities by migrants. We aimed to determine the rate of utilization among migrants as compared to the Italian homeless. Methods: We collected data on 2604 homeless adults who had their first medical examination between 2007 and 2011. We conducted Poisson regression to analyse the association of medical and demographic variables with the number of revisits within 1 year after the first contact. Results: As compared to the Italian-born homeless, the number of revisits among the migrants which included undocumented migrants, homeless EU citizens, forced migrants and refugees, was increased. These differences were also noted among those with chronic conditions detected on the first contact. The differences were substantial among males but not among females. A greater frequency of revisits was also observed among the uneducated and those who were not registered with the National Health Service. Conclusion: The specialised services in this clinic were able to achieve relatively high rates of revisits among the homeless of foreign background. This suggests that the utilization of health care services by these people may be effectively increased by the implementation of a series of migrant-oriented practice

Improved synthesis of DA364, a NIR fluorescence RGD probe targeting αvβ3 integrin

Optical imaging (OI) is gaining increasing attention in medicine as a non-invasive diagnostic imaging technology and as a useful tool for image-guided surgery. OI exploits the light emitted in the near-infrared region by fluorescent molecules, able to penetrate living tissues. Cyanines are an important class of fluorescent molecules and by their conjugation to peptides it is possible to achieve optical imaging of tumours by selective targeting. We report here the improvements obtained in the synthesis of DA364, a small fluorescent probe (1.5 kDa) prepared by conjugation of a pentamethine cyanine Cy5.5 to an RGD peptidomimetic, which can target tumour cells overexpressing integrin αvβ3 receptors