Rapid Identification by MALDITOF of Neisseria elongata Subspecies nitroreducens in an Endocarditis Case

Abstract Background: Neisseria elongata subspecies nitroreducens is considered to be an important pathogen responsible for infective endocarditis, even if it is infrequently reported. We report the first case of endocarditis in Italy due to N. elongata subsp. nitroreducens. Case presentation: The infection occurs in a 40-year-old male affected by Marfan syndrome with a prosthetic aortic valve. The patient had had a fever for a week which had been resistant to antibiotic therapy. Conclusion: we propose a correct and rapid identification of Neisseria elongata subspecies nitroreducens by mass spectrometry directly from the positive blood culture. The rapidly identification obtained by MALDI-TO…

Staphylococcus aureus résistant à la méthicilline chez des mères et des enfants hospitalisés à Alger : prédominance du clone virulent européen

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Antibiotic resistance profiles in Helicobacter pylori strains isolated in Sicily (Italy)

Epidemiologia della tubercolosi in Sicilia: attività del Laboratorio di Riferimento Regionale per la Sorveglianza e il Controllo della Tubercolosi in Sicilia

Introduzione In Sicilia dal 2014 è stato istituito dall’Assessorato Regionale alla Salute il Laboratorio di Riferimento Regionale per la Sorveglianza ed il Controllo della Tubercolosi (TB), per sviluppare e integrare strumenti epidemiologici tradizionali e molecolari in una regione in cui intensi flussi migratori, insediamenti stabili frutto di pregresse migrazioni ed evoluzione demografica della popolazione autoctona compongono un complesso quadro epidemiologico. Materiali e metodi Sono stati analizzati i flussi dei dati sanitari correnti del periodo 2010- 2017, in particolare le notifiche del Sistema Informativo delle Malattie Infettive e le Schede di Dimissione Ospedaliera. Dal 2014, il …

Occult HBV infection and suppression of HCV replication in the early phase of combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C

Occult HBV infection in subjects with chronic hepatitis C is related to more severe disease outcome. It has been suggested that it might reduce sensitivity to antiviral treatment.To assess in HBsAg negative subjects with chronic hepatitis C any effect of the presence of HBV genomes in the liver on the early kinetics of HCV-RNA under PEG-IFN plus ribavirin.Twenty-two anti-HCV and HCV-RNA positive subjects, with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C (M/F 15/7; 50 +/- 8.6 years, 16 genotype 1b) were given PEG-IFN alpha 2b 1.0 microg qw plus ribavirin (800 to 1,200 mg daily according to body weight) for an intended 52 week period. Early virological response was assessed over the first 4 weeks of th…

Assessment of humoral and cell-mediated immunity against Bordetella pertussis in adolescent, adult, and senior subjects in Italy

SUMMARYHumoral and cell-mediated immunity (CMI) againstB. pertussiswas assessed in a sample of adolescent, adult and senior subjects distributed in five different geographical areas in Italy. Most (99·1%) subjects had IgG anti-pertussis toxin (PT) antibodies exceeding the minimum detection level [⩾2 ELISA units (EU)/ml]. There were no significant differences between the genders; 6·2% samples recorded titres ⩾100 EU/ml. CMI was positive [stimulation index (SI) ⩾5] against PT in 39·0% of all samples. This study suggests thatB. pertussiscontinues to circulate in age groups that have been previously considered to be uninvolved in the circulation of this pathogen and that adolescent and adult pe…

Rapidly growing mycobacteria in TB/HIV co-infection: a report of two cases focusing on difficulties in diagnosis and management.

Recent reports indicate an increase in rates of infection and disease due to rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) in patients with pre-existing chronic lung disease. Studies have described difficulties in correctly identifying closely related species, even when proper methodologies are adopted, and several different gene targets have been proposed. We describe two cases of RGM infection in a 29-year-old HIV-1 positive Congolese man and a 19-year-old HIV-1 positive Liberian woman, respectively, both with bronchiectasis due to previous Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection. Mycobacterium porcinum and Mycobacterium bolletii were identified in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and sputum, respect…

Trend in rifampicin-, multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in Italy, 2009-2016

In Italy, rifampicin-resistant and MDR-TB were high in foreign-born persons, but decreased from 2009 to 2016

Genotyping of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 strains isolated in Northern Sicily, Italy.

During a three-year period, from April 2002 to May 2005, one hundred-forty-seven samples, taken from technical systems of water distribution at point of use, were repeatedly collected at six different sites in Northern Sicily and assayed for the presence of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 and serogroups 2 to 14. At the first samplings, the water distribution systems of all the sites were heavily contaminated, and disinfection treatments by the superheat and flush method were therefore performed. Treatments were always successful against L. pneumophila sg.1, but only in a few cases against all other serogroups. Eighty-six strains of L. pneumophila sg. 1, isolated from 26 of these samples,…

Gene expression during early embryogenesis of sea urchin: The histone and homeobox genes

Transcriptional regulators are thought to play a key role in cell fate determination and territorial specification in sea urchin. Our goals are to clone transcription factors for studying embryonic development. One approach has been to use promoter binding and gene transfer technology to investigate the mechanisms of transcriptional activation and repression of the early H2A histone gene. By this analysis we identified a transcriptional activator, the MBF-1, that binds to the modulator element of the H2A gene and enhances the activity of the H2A promoter. However, the enhancer activity of the modulator and its interaction with MBF-1 also occurs at the gastrula stage when the early histone g…

La sorveglianza della tubercolosi in Sicilia

Obiettivi. Descrivere l’andamento dei casi di tubercolosi (TB) in Sicilia negli anni 2010-2013. Disegno e partecipanti. Indagine osservazionale delle notifiche di TB relative agli anni 2010-2013 mediante l’analisi dei dati del Sistema informativo delle malattie infettive (SIMI) e indagine epidemiologico-molecolare mediante tipizzazione spoligo- e 24- loci mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) dei ceppi di Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolati a Palermo negli anni 2012-2013. Risultati. Negli anni 2010-2013 sono stati notificati in Sicilia 876 casi di TB con un tasso medio annuale di notifica pari a 4,4 casi per 100.000 abitanti.…

Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive sequence type 80 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carrying a staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type IVc is dominant in neonates and children in an Algiers hospital.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major antimicrobial drug-resistant pathogen causing serious infections. It was first detected in healthcare settings, but in recent years it has also become disseminated in the community. Children and young adults are most susceptible to infection by community-acquired (CA) MRSA strains. In this study 25 MRSA isolates implicated in infections of neonates and children admitted to an Algiers hospital during an 18 month period were characterized by molecular methods including staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec typing, PCR amplification of pvl genes, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). F…

Regulation of the sea urchin early H2A histone gene expression depends on the modulator element and on sequences located near the 3' end

Abstract Transcription of the sea urchin early histone genes occurs transiently during early cleavage, reaching the maximum at the morula stage and declining to an undetectable level at the gastrula stage. To identify the regulatory elements responsible for the timing and the levels of transcription of the H2A gene, we used promoter binding studies in nuclear extracts and microinjection of a CAT transgene driven by the early H2A promoter. We found that morula and gastrula nuclear proteins produced indistinguishable DNase I footprint patterns on the H2A promoter. Two sites of interactions, centred on the modulator/enhancer and on the CCAAT box respectively, were detected. Deletion of the mod…