Control Strategies for Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) in Italy.

Bovine Herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) is a major pathogen of cattle, the infection is accompanied by various clinical manifestations such as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), infectious pustular vulvovaginitis, abortion and systemic infection in neonates. Despite of a pronounced immune response the virus is never eliminated from an infected host but establishes life-long latency and may be reactivated. The viral re-excretion is responsible for the maintenance of BoHV-1 within a cattle herd. Vaccines usually prevent the development of clinical signs and markedly reduce the shedding of virus after infection, but do not completely prevent infection. The disease causes significant economic losses and trade restrictions, therefore several eradication campaigns have been carried out or are currently running in different countries. Currently in Europe only a small number of countries have achieved IBR-eradication. In Italy there is no national legislation on IBR, the new trade requirements and the need to limit the introduction of positive animals have led some Italian regions to initiate programs for the eradication, therefore we find regional differences and even provincial. Keywords: IBR, cattle, control programs, eradication programs, Italy

Migrant health convergence and the role of material deprivation

This work is financially supported by the Max Planck Society within the framework of the research initiative “The Challenges of Migration, Integration and Exclusion” (WiMi).BACKGROUND Cross–national research shows that although immigrants initially have better health than their native–born counterparts, their health deteriorates over time in their destination countries, converging to natives’ health (health convergence). Explanations include acculturation to negative health behaviours, exposure to low socioeconomic status, and social exclusion. OBJECTIVE This study is the first to examine how material deprivation, a measure of relative disadvantage that includes elements of SES and social exclusion, interacts with duration of stay to affect immigrants’ health convergence. METHODS Using data from Italy (2009), we assess the association between duration of stay and three health outcomes, and we estimate interaction effects of duration of stay with material deprivation. RESULTS We find immigrants’ duration of stay is negatively associated with self–rated health, chronic morbidities, and activity limitations. Immigrants’ health converges to natives’, net of controls. Convergence is most dramatic for self–rated health, but the pattern is also reflected in chronic morbidity and activity limitations. The health of immigrants who live in conditions of material deprivation is more similar to natives’ health at shorter durations of stay, compared to their not–deprived counterparts. CONTRIBUTION The paper contributes to a better understanding of the role of social exclusion – measured as material deprivation – on the immigrant–native health convergence process. It is the first to assess the interaction of material conditions to duration of stay in a host country.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Immigrazione, salute e mortalità degli stranieri in Italia

*** Sommario *** 1.Introduzione. 2. Gli stranieri in Italia: un fenomeno dalle molte facce. 3. La salute della popolazione straniera residente in Italia. 3.1. Salute percepita, malattie croniche e limitazioni delle attività. 3.2.Ospedalizzazione, salute riproduttiva, infortuni e malattie professionali. 4. La mortalità degli stranieri residenti. 4.1. La mortalità infantile. 4.2. La mortalità degli adulti: totale e per causa. 5. Conclusioni: un futuro difficile da prevedere. *** SINTESI *** Lo scopo principale di questo lavoro è quello di presentare un’analisi della salute e della mortalità degli stranieri residenti nel nostro paese alla luce delle informazioni esistenti, partendo, però, da un quadro il più ampio possibile dell’immigrazione e delle caratteristiche della popolazione straniera. La prima parte del lavoro è, pertanto, dedicata alla descrizione dell’evoluzione del fenomeno migratorio, condotta partendo dalle statistiche ufficiali disponibili. In particolare, viene evidenziata la sua complessità e articolazione in termini di paesi di provenienza dei migranti, considerando le motivazioni del loro spostamento e le caratteristiche demografiche e sociali, con cenni alle modalità di insediamento sul territorio italiano e all’inserimento nel mercato del lavoro. La seconda parte del lavoro affronta il tema delle condizioni di salute degli immigrati/stranieri, facendo ricorso ai dati dell’indagine realizzata dall’Istituto nazionale di statistica (Istat) nel 2009 su “Reddito e condizioni di vita delle famiglie con stranieri” e prendendo in esame tre dimensioni del fenomeno: la salute percepita, le limitazioni delle attività legate alle condizioni di salute (o salute funzionale) e la presenza di malattie croniche. Le rilevazioni correnti disponibili consentono di rivolgere uno sguardo anche alle condizioni di accesso ai servizi sanitari e di analizzare la salute riproduttiva, gli incidenti sul lavoro e le malattie professionali. Questi aspetti particolari consentono di mettere in luce alcune delle questioni più significative delle condizioni di salute della popolazione straniera che vive sul territorio italiano

Healthy immigrants, unhealthy ageing?:Analysis of health decline among older migrants and natives across European countries

The probability of having multiple chronic conditions simultaneously, or multimorbidity, tends to increase with age. Immigrants face a particularly high risk of unhealthy ageing. This study investigates the immigrant-native disparities in the speed of age-related chronic disease accumulation, focusing on the number of chronic health conditions; and considers the heterogeneity of this trajectory within immigrant populations by origin and receiving country. We use data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe from 2004 to 2020 on adults aged 50 to 79 from 28 European countries and employ both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. For longitudinal panel analyses, we use fixed-effects regression models to account for the unobserved heterogeneity related to individual characteristics including migration background. Our results indicate that immigrants report a higher number of chronic conditions at all ages relative to their native-born peers, but also that the immigrant-native differential in the number of chronic conditions decreases from age 65 onwards. When considering differences by origin country, we find that the speed of chronic disease accumulation is slower among immigrants from the Americas and the Asia and Oceania country groups than it is among natives. When looking at differences by receiving country group, we observe that the speed of accumulating chronic diseases is slower among immigrants in Eastern Europe than among natives, particularly at older ages. Our findings suggest that age-related trajectories of health vary substantially among immigrant populations by origin and destination country, which underscore that individual migration histories play a persistent role in shaping the health of ageing immigrant populations throughout the life course.</p

Metabolomic analysis of plasma from breast tumour patients. A pilot study

Background: Patients at risk of breast cancer are submitted to mammography, resulting in a classification of the lesions following the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS®). Due to BI-RADS 3 classification problems and the great uncertainty of the possible evolution of this kind of tumours, the integration of mammographic imaging with other techniques and markers of pathology, as metabolic information, may be advisable.Design and Methods: Our study aims to evaluate the possibility to quantify by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) specific metabolites in the plasma of patients with mammograms classified from BI-RADS 3 to BI-RADS 5, to find similarities or differences in their metabolome. Samples from BI-RADS 3 to 5 patients were compared with samples from a healthy control group. This pilot project aimed at establishing the sensitivity of the metabolomic classification of blood samples of patients undergoing breast radiological analysis and to support a better classification of mammographic cases.Results: Metabolomic analysis revealed a panel of metabolites more abundant in healthy controls, as 3-aminoisobutyric acid, cholesterol, cysteine, stearic, linoleic and palmitic fatty acids. The comparison between samples from BI-RADS 3 and BI-RADS 5 patients, revealed the importance of 4-hydroxyproline, found in higher amount in BI-RADS 3 subjects.Conclusion: Although the low sample number did not allow the attainment of high validated statistical models, some interesting data were obtained, revealing the potential of metabolomics for an improvement in the classification of different mammographic lesions

Occupational exposure to ionizing radiation and risk of lymphoma subtypes: results of the Epilymph European case-control study

Background: Evidence linking risk of lymphoma and B-cell lymphoma subtypes to ionizing radiation is inconclusive, particularly at low exposure levels. Methods: We investigated risk of lymphoma (all subtypes), B-cell lymphomas, and its major subtypes, associated with low-level occupational exposure to ionizing radiation, in 2346 lymphoma cases and 2463 controls, who participated in the multicenter EpiLymph case-control study. We developed a job-exposure matrix to estimate exposure to ionizing radiation, distinguishing between internal and external radiation, and we applied it to the lifetime occupational history of study subjects, We calculated the Odds Ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for lymphoma (all subtypes combined), B-cell lymphoma, and its major subtypes using unconditional, polytomous logistic regression adjusting for age, gender, and education. Results: We did not observe an association between exposure metrics of external and internal radiation and risk of lymphoma (all subtypes), nor with B-cell lymphoma, or its major subtypes, at the levels regularly experienced in occupational settings. An elevated risk of diffuse large B cell lymphoma was observed among the most likely exposed study subjects with relatively higher exposure intensity, which would be worth further investigation. Conclusions: Further investigation is warranted on risk of B cell lymphoma subtypes associated with low-level occupational exposure to external ionizing radiation, and to clarify whether lymphoma should be included among the cancer outcomes related to ionizing radiation

Ethical sharing of health data in online platforms – which values should be considered?

Intensified and extensive data production and data storage are characteristics of contemporary western societies. Health data sharing is increasing with the growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platforms devoted to the collection of personal health and genomic data. However, the sensitive and personal nature of health data poses ethical challenges when data is disclosed and shared even if for scientific research purposes. With this in mind, the Science and Values Working Group of the COST Action CHIP ME ‘Citizen's Health through public-private Initiatives: Public health, Market and Ethical perspectives’ (IS 1303) identified six core values they considered to be essential for the ethical sharing of health data using ICT platforms. We believe that using this ethical framework will promote respectful scientific practices in order to maintain individuals’ trust in research. We use these values to analyse five ICT platforms and explore how emerging data sharing platforms are reconfiguring the data sharing experience from a range of perspectives. We discuss which types of values, rights and responsibilities they entail and enshrine within their philosophy or outlook on what it means to share personal health information. Through this discussion we address issues of the design and the development process of personal health data and patient-oriented infrastructures, as well as new forms of technologically-mediated empowerment