Measles and rubella in Italy, e-learning course for health care workers

Introduction. Since 2003, strategic plans for the elimination of measles and congenitalrubella have been adopted in the World Health Organization European Region. In Italy,a network of reference laboratories for measles and rubella (MoRoNet) has been recentlyimplemented to ensure high-quality laboratory investigation for the confirmation ofcases and outbreaks. Training among health care workers (HCWs) is one of the tasks ofMoRoNet and an e-learning course was produced to improve the knowledge on internationaland national elimination plans and laboratory surveillance for measles and rubella.Methods. The course, based on the problem based learning methodology, was offeredfree of charge. Data about all participants and those who completed the course havebeen collected and analysed.Results. 5822 participants enrolled and 3995 (69%) completed the course; comparisonbetween pre- and post-test shows a significant improvement in knowledge. The averagescore obtained from the satisfaction questionnaire is 4.5 out of 5.Discussion and conclusions. Course’s results are satisfactory, and data show a significantimprovement in knowledge among participants. Most of them were satisfied withcontent, learning methodology and platform. Moreover, this course represents one ofthe possible strategies to overcome resistance and mistrust about vaccinations amongHCWs

VI Seminario di studio. Salute globale e scenari attuali. Nuovi contributi di ricerca. Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Roma, 16 aprile 2015. Riassunti

Esiste un bisogno crescente di chiare evidenze scientifiche che possano supportare le politiche per la salute. Questo vale per una serie di aspetti che vanno dai protocolli diagnostici applicati alle malattie trasmissibili, agli approcci terapeutici, agli studi epidemiologici, alla definizione e identificazione dei determinanti della salute con partico lare riguardo alle situazioni di grave diseguaglianza, alle contaminazioni ambientali, alla relazione tra malattia e diritti così come alla relazione tra malattia e diritto. L’obiettivo del Dottorato di Ricerca in Malattie Infettive, Microbiologia e Scienze della Salute è proprio quello di fornire momenti di crescita, finalizzati alla formazione di nuovi ricercatori, nel campo delle malattie infettive, della microbiologia, della parassitologia, della sanità pubblica e medicina sociale, nella medicina legale e nelle scienze forensi. L’obiettivo di questo sesto appuntamento, nell’ambito della collaborazione tra Istituto Superiore di Sanità e l’Università̀ Sapienza di Roma, con i dottorandi è proprio quello di fornire una cornice il più possibile unitaria a un quadro complesso di ricerche di base e applicate nell’ambito degli obiettivi del dottorato.There is a growing need for clear scientific evidence that can support health policies. This applies to a number of issues including diagnostic protocols applied to communicable diseases, therapeutic approaches, epidemiological studies, the definition and identification of the health determinants (with particular reference to situations of severe inequality), environmental contamination, the relationship between disease and rights as well as the relationship between disease and law. The objective of the PhD Program in Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Health Sciences is precisely to provide moments of intellectual growth, aimed at the trai ning of new researchers in the field of infectious diseases, microbiology, parasitology, public health and social medicine, in forensic medicine and forensic sciences. The objective of the sixth meeting with graduate students, part of the collaboration between the Italian National Institute of Health, and the Sapienza University of Rome, is precisely to provide a frame as unitary as possible to a complex picture of basic and applied research within the objectives of the doctorat

Rapporto sul fenomeno di uso ed abuso di sostanze stupefacenti nella Regione Abruzzo. Anno 2005.

Report on the state of legal and illegal substances use in the territory of Abruzzo RegionIl report analizza il fenomeno delle dipendenze nel territorio della Regione Abruzzo. La descrizione del fenomeno si sviluppa intorno all\u27analisi degli indicatori individuati dall\u27Osservatorio Europeo delle Dipendenze di Lisbona (OEDT): 1-uso di sostanze nella popolazione generale (questo indicatore va a rilevare i comportamenti nei confronti di alcol e sostanze psicoattive da parte della popolazione generale); 2-prevalenza d\u27uso problematico delle sostanze psicoattive; 3-domanda di trattamento degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 4-mortalit? degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 5-malattie infettive. Altri due importanti indicatori che si stanno sviluppando, e che vengono qui illustrati, sono l\u27analisi delle Schede di Dimissione Ospedaliera (SDO) e gli indicatori relativi alle conseguenza sociali dell\u27uso di droghe (criminalit? droga correlata). Inoltre sono state applicate diverse metodologie standard di stima sia per quantificare la quota parte sconosciuta di utilizzatori di sostanze che non afferiscono ai servizi, sia per identificarne alcune caratteristiche

Diabete Tipo 1, Tipo 2 e Tipo X

Il muro concettuale secondo il quale il diabete in età pediatrica ha preferibilmente una patogenesi autoimmune sta ormai definitivamente crollando. Il diabete in età infantile e adolescenziale è molto più eterogeneo dal punto di vista eziopatogenetico di quanto si pensasse. In presenza di una qualsiasi iperglicemia è ormai diventato importantissimo chiedersi la patogenesi di questo sintomo utilizzando tutti gli strumenti che abbiamo oggi a disposizione

Mitochondrial Diabetes in Children: Seek and You Will Find It

Maternally Inherited Diabetes and Deafness (MIDD) is a rare form of diabetes due to defects in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). 3243 A>G is the mutation most frequently associated with this condition, but other mtDNA variants have been linked with a diabetic phenotype suggestive of MIDD. From 1989 to 2009, we clinically diagnosed mitochondrial diabetes in 11 diabetic children. Diagnosis was based on the presence of one or more of the following criteria: 1) maculopathy; 2) hearing impairment; 3) maternal heritability of diabetes/impaired fasting glucose and/or hearing impairment and/or maculopathy in three consecutive generations (or in two generations if 2 or 3 members of a family were affected). We sequenced the mtDNA in the 11 probands, in their mothers and in 80 controls. We identified 33 diabetes-suspected mutations, 1/33 was 3243A>G. Most patients (91%) and their mothers had mutations in complex I and/or IV of the respiratory chain. We measured the activity of these two enzymes and found that they were less active in mutated patients and their mothers than in the healthy control pool. The prevalence of hearing loss (36% vs 75–98%) and macular dystrophy (54% vs 86%) was lower in our mitochondrial diabetic adolescents than reported in adults. Moreover, we found a hitherto unknown association between mitochondrial diabetes and celiac disease. In conclusion, mitochondrial diabetes should be considered a complex syndrome with several phenotypic variants. Moreover, deafness is not an essential component of the disease in children. The whole mtDNA should be screened because the 3243A>G variant is not as frequent in children as in adults. In fact, 91% of our patients were mutated in the complex I and/or IV genes. The enzymatic assay may be a useful tool with which to confirm the pathogenic significance of detected variants

Problem Based Learning nella formazione a distanza in ambito sanitario

L’Istituto Superiore di Sanità eroga formazione a distanza in sanità pubblica dal 2004, sperimentando nuovi modelli basati sull’integrazione di metodi di apprendimento attivo, come il Problem Based Learning (PBL), originariamente concepito per la modalità residenziale, con gli strumenti del web-based learning. Il PBL è un metodo didattico attivo, dove i partecipanti lavorano in piccoli gruppi per risolvere problemi ispirati al loro contesto lavorativo, con l’obiettivo di sviluppare capacità di lifelong learning. In questo lavoro si descrive il modello innovativo di adattamento del PBL alla formazione in rete, sperimentato in un Master di II livello in Governo Clinico per la Medicina Interna. Questo modello ha previsto un elevato livello di interattività rispetto ad altri corsi a distanza precedentemente erogati. I risultati ottenuti hanno evidenziato le potenzialità e le aree di criticità del modello, che è stato quindi modificato per la seconda edizione del Master

COVID-19 HEALTH EMERGENCY: CENTRAL ROLE OF THE E-LEARNING COURSE OF THE ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITÀ FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONAL PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

COVID-19 HEALTH EMERGENCY: CENTRAL ROLE OF THE E-LEARNING COURSE OF THE ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITÀ FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONAL PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE Alessandra Di Pucchio (a), Donatella Barbina (a), Debora Guerrera (a), Andrea Vittozzi (b), Pietro Carbone (a), Alfonso Mazzaccara (a) (a) Training Service, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy (b) Technical-Scientific Service Research Coordination and Support, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy Background. On January 31, 2020, Italy declared a public health emergency concerning the novel Coronavirus Disease named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. On February 28, 2020, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) promptly launched the first e-learning course to train healthcare professionals entitled “Health Emergency from the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: Preparedness and Response”. Objectives. In this research study, we investigate: 1- Methods and technology of the first e-learning course available on the EDUISS platform in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (https://www.eduiss.it); 2- Efficacy of the e-learning course including completion rate and dropouts, numbers and types of enrolled healthcare professionals; 3- Evaluation of knowledge acquired by participants, their level of satisfaction and course’s quality; 4- Effectiveness of technological infrastructure and participants’ skills using EDUISS. Preliminary Results. Between February 28 and April 28 2020, the ISS launched the first distance course to train Italian healthcare professionals in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The course included three training units for a total of 16 hours based on the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) teaching method and was free of charge. During the delivering, the course significantly exceeded the projected participation rate. The number of participants was more than doubled, totaling 215,000 participants. Preliminary data analyses show that about 70% participants successfully completed the course, improved their professional knowledge with high satisfaction for course contents, methodology and technology. Future perspectives. Since 2004, ISS has been delivering distance training for Public Health by EDUISS platform integrating active methodologies such as PBL with e-learning tools provided by Learning Management System Moodle and recently, Totara Learn. During the national emergency, the EDUISS platform promptly played a central role in the education and training of Italian healthcare professionals becoming a fundamental learning tool after March 2020, when no attendance courses could be held. Considering the clinical and management implication of this pandemic, it is also fundamental to conduct a training needs assessment among the Italian healthcare professionals to identify any gaps or areas to further improve e-learning courses and to support the scientific community in particular during health emergencies

XII Seminar - PhD Day Happiness is a simple system

The last meeting of PhD students in Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Health has been strongly influenced by, and focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. The XII meeting tries to get out from the emergency, with invited talks dedicated to two aspects: happiness and simplicity/complexity. Happiness is intended as the including the comprehensive concept of well-being, while the contrasting simple/complex dichotomy is a paradigm of biological systems that requires both complex interactions and simple adaptive solutions

Fighting COVID-19 Contagion among University Students of Healthcare Professions: An Italian Cross-Sectional Study

During the pandemic, most governments around the world temporarily closed educational institutions to contain the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of an e-learning course on COVID-19 transmission for healthcare university students, in order to advance the preparedness of healthcare university students against contracting COVID-19 within the general university population. The e-learning course was run using a free web service for education. Access to the course was limited to participants enrolled in degree courses related to healthcare professions within the Italian university system. A specific and validated questionnaire was administered at two different times (pre-test and post-test). A paired sample t-test was then used to evaluate their knowledge on COVID-19. Furthermore, a questionnaire measuring their satisfaction was distributed. Data were analyzed from a qualitative point of view. The course was made available from March to July 2020. Over 25,000 students from different Italian universities and various backgrounds participated in the course. The analysis of final test scores revealed that approximately 97% of participants acquired new knowledge and skills on COVID-19, with a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05). Therefore, it is possible to state that most students enrolled in degrees relating to healthcare at Italian universities are adequately trained with respect to COVID-19 knowledge. Furthermore, students declared a high satisfaction rate both with the course content, and with the management of the telematic platform used