Mother to child transmission of Hepatitis C Virus in a province of Northern Italy

NTRODUCTION: Study reports of mother to child transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) have shown transmission rates ranging from 3 to 37%, according to maternal viremia and HIV-1 coinfection. The present study evaluated the prevalence of the HCV infection in the general population and the incidence of vertical transmission, from women who delivered in the Obstetric Clinic of the Hospital of Parma from January 1st 1996 to 31st 2001 December. METHODS: Mothers and children were tested for the presence of HCV-RNA within one week after delivery. Children were considered to be infected when they were found positive at least twice for viral RNA or antibodies were still detectable at the end of the follow-up period (18 months) in blood. RESULTS: Out of 13,025 women, 110 (0.8%) were found positive for anti-HCV antibodies; 72 of them (65.4%) were HCV-RNA positive. All 110 children were positive for anti-HCV antibodies in the first blood sample (time 0); 8 of them were HCV-RNA positive. Three children were still viremic at the end of the follow-up whereas 5 showed a clearance. No significant differences were found between viremic and nonviremic children with respect to gestational week, maternal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and newborns weight at birth. CONCLUSION: This investigation shows that vertical transmission may occur in a general obstetric population despite a low prevalence of HCV-positive subjects

Reorganization of Active Surveillance of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in Emilia-Romagna, Italy: a two-step Public Health intervention

Background and aim of the work: The International Health Regulations Emergency Committee declared in 2014 that poliovirus circulation is a public health emergency of international concern. In 2017 and 2018 Italy was classified at intermediate risk of poliovirus reintroduction based on suboptimal poliovirus surveillance. Acute flaccid paralysis active surveillance is the gold standard in the polio eradication process. The aims of this study were to investigate the causes of reduced acute flaccid paralysis case reporting in Emilia-Romagna in the last few years (step 1) and to study a public health intervention to restore an adequate level of acute flaccid paralysis surveillance in that region (step 2). Methods: In the first step a context analysis was performed by analysing the 2015-2017 Hospital Discharge Registers in Emilia-Romagna with the ICD-9-CM differential diagnosis codes for acute flaccid paralysis. Data from context analysis was then used to plan a new regional collaborative network of acute flaccid paralysis active surveillance. Results: The active surveillance network was, at the end of the study, composed by 49 doctors from both hospital administrations and clinical wards from 4 University Hospitals and 7 Local Health Authorities throughout the Region. In 15 months, 7 acute flaccid paralysis cases have been reported; 85,7% received a full clinical and virological investigation and 83,3% completed the 60 day's follow-up. The mean response to each e-mail was 48,5% (SD 7,5%). Conclusions: In 2019, the Emilia-Romagna's active surveillance system reached the sensitivity, completeness of case investigation and follow-up required to achieve the minimum levels for certification standard surveillance

Kidney biopsy findings in a critically ill COVID-19 patient with dialysis-dependent. acute kidney injury: a case against \u201cSARS-CoV-2 nephropathy

NO abstract available- Case repor

Spatio-Temporal Features of Visual Exploration in Unilaterally Brain-Damaged Subjects with or without Neglect: Results from a Touchscreen Test

Cognitive assessment in a clinical setting is generally made by pencil-and-paper tests, while computer-based tests enable the measurement and the extraction of additional performance indexes. Previous studies have demonstrated that in a research context exploration deficits occur also in patients without evidence of unilateral neglect at pencil-and-paper tests. The objective of this study is to apply a touchscreen-based cancellation test, feasible also in a clinical context, to large groups of control subjects and unilaterally brain-damaged patients, with and without unilateral spatial neglect (USN), in order to assess disturbances of the exploratory skills. A computerized cancellation test on a touchscreen interface was used for assessing the performance of 119 neurologically unimpaired control subjects and 193 patients with unilateral right or left hemispheric brain damage, either with or without USN. A set of performance indexes were defined including Latency, Proximity, Crossings and their spatial lateral gradients, and Preferred Search Direction. Classic outcome scores were computed as well. Results show statistically significant differences among groups (assumed p<0.05). Right-brain-damaged patients with USN were significantly slower (median latency per detected item was 1.18 s) and less efficient (about 13 search-path crossings) in the search than controls (median latency 0.64 s; about 3 crossings). Their preferred search direction (53.6% downward, 36.7% leftward) was different from the one in control patients (88.2% downward, 2.1% leftward). Right-brain-damaged patients without USN showed a significantly abnormal behavior (median latency 0.84 s, about 5 crossings, 83.3% downward and 9.1% leftward direction) situated half way between controls and right-brain-damaged patients with USN. Left-brain-damaged patients without USN were significantly slower and less efficient than controls (latency 1.19 s, about 7 crossings), preserving a normal preferred search direction (93.7% downward). Therefore, the proposed touchscreen-based assessment had evidenced disorders in spatial exploration also in patients without clinically diagnosed USN

Sorveglianza molecolare delle gastroenteriti da rotavirus in Emilia-Romagna (area di Piacenza).

I rotavirus sono la causa principale di diarrea acuta infantile nel mondo, associati a una mortalità molto elevata, superiore a 450.000 casi l’anno, per la maggior parte nei Paesi in via di sviluppo. In Italia, un network di laboratori opera dal 2007 in 13 Regioni, per la raccolta di ceppi di rotavirus dalle feci di pazienti pediatrici, ospedalizzati per diarrea acuta. Il network RotaNet-Italia è collegato a simili reti in altri 16 Paesi europei, che condividono metodologie epidemiologiche e diagnostiche molecolari, e contribuiscono al database generale del network europeo EuroRotaNet. La principale finalità è fornire informazioni dettagliate sui genotipi di rotavirus co-circolanti in Italia, valutando le variazioni dei ceppi predominanti negli anni e nelle diverse aree geografiche, e identificando prontamente l’eventuale comparsa di ceppi emergenti e “non comuni”, prima di una loro possibile diffusione su ampia scala

Sorveglianza ambientale di poliovirus e altri enterovirus in Emilia Romagna.

In questo volume vengono illustrate due attività di sorveglianza, coordinate dall’Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) e dal Ministero della Salute: la sorveglianza delle Paralisi Flaccide Acute (PFA) e la sorveglianza ambientale di poliovirus e altri enterovirus. Vengono riportati i risultati raggiunti dall’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità (OMS) per l’eradicazione della poliomielite a livello mondiale, e le strategie innovative adottate per il conseguimento di questo obiettivo. Sono presentati e discussi i risultati del progetto di sorveglianza delle PFA, a livello nazionale e per ciascuna Regione, e riportati gli indicatori di performance richiesti dall’OMS e raggiunti nel 2011. La sorveglianza delle PFA è ritenuta essere la migliore strategia, golden standard, per la verifica dello status polio-free di ciascun Paese ma, se gli indicatori richiesti dall’OMS non vengono raggiunti, come valida attività di supporto l’OMS propone la sorveglianza ambientale di polio e altri enterovirus, effettuata sui liquami all’ingresso dei depuratori. Questa attività è stata avviata in Italia nel 2005, in otto grandi città a maggior rischio di importazione di virus selvaggi da Paesi endemici o di virus vaccinali retromutati dai Paesi che ancora usano il vaccino orale attenuato di Sabin. I risultati della sorveglianza ambientale ottenuti nel 2011 vengono riportati e discussi