Search results for "valence"
showing 10 items of 2732 documents
Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Stray Dogs from Southern Italy
2020
Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial pathogen transmitted by Ixodes ticks and is responsible for Lyme disease in both humans and dogs. The aim of this work was to evaluate B. burgdorferi diffusion among stray dogs in Palermo (Sicily, Italy) by serological methods in order to study the risk factors associated with the infection. Serum and blood samples of 316 dogs were collected from a shelter in Palermo, and were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and of the ospA gene by real-time PCR, respectively. Seventeen sera (5.4%) were positive for the antibodies via IFA and one blood (0.3%) for ospA via real time PCR. On the basi…
Serological and Molecular Evidence of Bartonella henselae in Stray Cats from Southern Italy
2021
Bartonella henselae is a slow growing and facultative intracellular pathogen mainly transmitted by arthropod vectors adapted to domestic and wild mammalian reservoir hosts. Since cats are the major source of the B. henselae infection, this study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence and the DNA presence in randomly sampled stray cats. Blood samples of 429 cats were collected from shelter of Palermo (Southern Italy) and sera and whole blood were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. henselae by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. Two hundred and three sera (47.3%) were positive to IFA and 148 blood samples (34.5%…
Assessment of prevalence and load of torquetenovirus viraemia in a large cohort of healthy blood donors.
2020
OBJECTIVES: Torquetenovirus (TTV) is an emerging marker of functional immune competence with the potential to predict transplant-related adverse events. A large-scale epidemiological study was performed to understand how basal values vary in healthy individuals according to age and gender.; METHODS: We tested plasma from 1017 healthy blood donors aged 18-69years. The presence and load of TTV were determined by a real-time PCR assay. A sub-cohort of 384 donors was tested for anti-cytomegalovirus IgG antibodies, and 100 participants were also tested for TTV viraemia on a paired whole blood sample.; RESULTS: The overall prevalence of TTV was 65% (657/1017) with a mean (±SD) growth of 5±4% ever…
Evidence of increased circulation of Bordetella pertussis in the Italian adult population from seroprevalence data (2012–2013)
2016
Incidence data on pertussis cases in Italy do not show pertussis resurgence as recently described in other European countries. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to pertussis toxin (PT-IgG) in selected adult age groups, who can serve as a reservoir of Bordetella pertussis and be responsible for onward transmission to vulnerable infants. The seroprevalence of PT-IgG was studied in sera collected in 2012-2013 in three age groups: 20-29 years and 30-39 years (reproductive age), and ≥60 years. These data were compared to those from sera collected in similar age groups in 1996-1997. More than 80 % of the adult population analysed in the 2012-2013 group pr…
Resistance to third-generation cephalosporins in Escherichia coli in the French community: The times they are a-changin'?
2020
Since the early 2000s, Escherichia coli resistance to third-generation cephalosporins (3GCs) has been increasing in all European countries, mainly due to the spread of extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs). Here we present a retrospective study that combines resistance of E. coli to 3GCs and quinolones with data on antibiotic use in the community in a region of Northeastern France.Since 2012, an observational surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic use in the community was conducted: data on antimicrobial resistance in E. coli isolates were collected from 11 private laboratories, and consumption data were collected from the three main healthcare insurances.A significant dec…
Field performance of the Abbott RealTime MTB assay for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in a low-prevalence setting
2020
Introduction: The sensitivities of conventional mycobacterial culture in solid or liquid media and acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear microscopy for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) detection in extrapulmonary specimens are suboptimal. We evaluated the field performance of the Abbott RealTime MTB assay for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in a low-prevalence setting. Methods: The total number of extrapulmonary specimens with mycobacterial culture and PCR results was 566: sterile fluids (n = 278), non-sterile fluids (n = 147), lymph node material (n = 69) tissue biopsies (n = 63), and abscess aspirates (n = 9). A composite standard consisting of mycobacterial culture results,…
Global emergence of the widespread Pseudomonas aeruginosa ST235 clone
2018
Abstract Objectives Despite the non-clonal epidemic population structure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa , several multi-locus sequence types are distributed worldwide and are frequently associated with epidemics where multidrug resistance confounds treatment. ST235 is the most prevalent of these widespread clones. In this study we aimed to understand the origin of ST235 and the molecular basis for its success. Methods The genomes of 79 P. aeruginosa ST235 isolates collected worldwide over a 27-year period were examined. A phylogenetic network was built, using a Bayesian approach to find the Most Recent Common Ancestor, and we identified antibiotic resistance determinants and ST235-specific genes…
Lipid levels, atrial fibrillation and the impact of age:Results from the LIPIDOGRAM2015 study
2020
Background and aims: An inverse relationship between lipid levels and atrial fibrillation (AF) has been suggested, but whether the association is upheld for all age groups remains unclear. The aim of the study was to examine associations between lipid levels and AF by age groups in a nationwide study in Poland. Methods: Multivariate Poisson regression models were used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) for AF by lipid levels. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), non-HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratios were grouped into quartiles. Results: Of the 13,724 participants, 5.2% (n = 708) had AF. People with…
Management of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with chronic kidney disease: position statement of the joint committee of Italian association f…
2018
Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is now considered a systemic disease due to the occurrence of extra-hepatic manifestations. Among these, the renal involvement is frequent. HCV infection, in fact, is strongly associated with proteinuria and chronic kidney disease (CKD) and negatively affects the prognosis of renal patients. In the last few years, availability of more specific and effective drugs against HCV has dramatically changed the clinical course of this disease. These drugs may provide further advantages in the CKD population as a whole by reducing progression of renal disease, mortality rate and by increasing the survival of graft in renal transplant recipients. The strict …
Prognosis and cure of long-term cancer survivors: A population-based estimation.
2019
Background: Increasing evidence of cure for some neoplasms has emerged in recent years. The study aimed to estimate population-based indicators of cancer cure. Methods: Information on more than half a million cancer patients aged 15-74 years collected by population-based Italian cancer registries and mixture cure models were used to estimate the life expectancy of fatal tumors (LEFT), proportions of patients with similar death rates of the general population (cure fraction), and time to reach 5-year conditional relative survival (CRS) >90% or 95% (time to cure). Results: Between 1990 and 2000, the median LEFT increased >1 year for breast (from 8.1 to 9.4 years) and prostate cancers (from 5.…