Screening for schistosomiasis in a non-endemic setting: Accuracy of a rapid antibody test using finger prick blood.

Human schistosomiasis is a chronic neglected tropical disease caused by blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma, infecting 250 million people worldwide, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Recently, thousands of cases have been reported in immigrants to non-endemic countries, including Italy. Serological screening is recommended but so far, no accurate point-of-care (POC) and lab-free test is available.

Seventeen cases of Mycobacterium marinum infection in Italy: A multicenter retrospective study.

Mycobacterium marinum infection is rare, misrecognized and underdiagnosed but can cause severe clinical pictures, especially if the diagnosis is late and the patient is immunocompromised. Treatment includes long-term antibiotic therapy combined with surgical therapy when necessary. We performed a multicenter retrospective study with data from five Italian hospitals describing the epidemiological, clinical, bacteriological characteristics, and treatment outcome of subjects diagnosed with M.

Babesiosis in the immunocompromised population: Results from a multicentric cohort study conducted in Italy.

Human babesiosis is an emerging zoonotic disease; diffused especially in some regions of the United States, it has been less frequently observed in other continents, including Europe. Serological surveys suggest that babesiosis could be more frequent than expected in European countries, representing an emerging health-issue and a possible harm, especially in immunocompromised populations. Only one case of human babesiosis has been reported in Italy and data about the diffusion of the pathogen in this country are scant.

Re-emergence of human leishmaniasis in northern Italy, 2004 to 2022: a retrospective analysis.

BackgroundHuman leishmaniasis is a protozoan disease transmitted by sand flies and endemic in the Mediterranean region. In Italy, leishmaniasis is present in the south and the western coastal regions, with an epidemic peak detected in northern Italy in the early 1970s.AimTo examine temporal trends, and demographic, clinical, geographical and environmental features of human leishmaniasis cases recorded by the local health unit (LHU) of Bologna, northern Italy.

Update of drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment guidelines: A turning point.

In December 2022 World Health Organization released a new treatment for multidrug-resistant/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) guideline. The main novelty of this update is two new recommendations (i) a 6-month treatment regimen composed of bedaquiline, pretomanid, linezolid (600 mg), and moxifloxacin (BPaLM) is recommended in place of the 9-month or longer (18-month) regimens in MDR/RR-TB patients, now including extensive pulmonary TB and extrapulmonary TB (except TB involving central nervous system, miliary TB and osteoarticular TB); (ii) the use of the 9-month all-oral regimen rather than longer (18-months) regimen is suggested in patients with MDR/RR-TB and in whom resistance to fluoroquinolones has been excluded. Longer (18-month) treatments remain a valid option in all cases in which shorter regimens cannot be implemented due to intolerance, drug-drug interactions, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, extensive forms of extrapulmonary TB, or previous failure.

Updated diagnosis and graft involvement for visceral leishmaniasis in kidney transplant recipients: a case report and literature review.

Purpose: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has become a rising concern to transplantation teams, being associated with graft dysfunction and reduced survival of renal transplant recipients. Here, we describe a case of VL occurring in a kidney transplant (KT) recipient in Italy, a country in which Leishmania infantum is endemic and we reviewed the literature on the clinical course and diagnosis of VL in KT recipients residing or travelling to southern Europe.

Results: The VL case was diagnosed 18 months after transplant and 28 days after the onset of symptoms by quantitative PCR (qPCR) on peripheral blood.

Out-of-Hospital Treatment of Hepatitis C Increases Retention in Care among People Who Inject Drugs and Homeless Persons: An Observational Study.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) and homeless people represent now a large reservoir of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, Hepatis C elimination programs can barely reach these subgroups of patients. We aimed to evaluate and compare the retention in care among these difficult-to-treat patients when managed for HCV in hospital or in an out-of-hospital setting.

Pattern of arterial inflammation and inflammatory markers in people living with HIV compared with uninfected people.

Study Design: To compare arterial inflammation (AI) between people living with HIV (PLWH) and uninfected people as assessed by F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET).

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 20 PLWH and 20 uninfected people with no known cardiovascular disease and at least 3 traditional cardiovascular risk factors. All patients underwent F-FDG-PET/computed tomography (CT) of the thorax and neck.

Simplification to dual therapy containing lamivudine and raltegravir or dolutegravir in HIV-infected patients on virologically suppressive antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Antiretroviral dual regimens including lamivudine and one boosted PI or dolutegravir are warranted in order to optimize combination ART (cART), prevent long-term toxicity and reduce the cost of treatments.

Objectives: We hypothesized that a maintenance dual regimen of lamivudine plus raltegravir would be effective and as well tolerated as the dual maintenance combination of lamivudine plus dolutegravir.

Methods: We performed an observational, retrospective study of HIV-infected patients on suppressive ART who switched to a dual regimen containing lamivudine 300 mg once daily plus raltegravir 1200 mg once daily or dolutegravir 50 mg once daily.

Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in HIV-1-infected patients on combination antiretroviral therapy.

Vitamin D insufficiency has been associated with faster progression of atherosclerosis and increased cardiovascular disease risk, but limited data are available in HIV-infected people. So, we examined potential correlation between vitamin D status and atherosclerosis in people living with HIV. A cross-sectional study was performed including adult HIV-infected patients on stable antiretroviral therapy, aged 40-60 years, and with a recent carotid ultrasonography.

No progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in HIV-infected patients starting an initial regimen including tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine plus raltegravir, dolutegravir or elvitegravir/cobicistat during a two-year follow-up.

Cardiovascular disease has become one of the most common comorbidities among HIV-infected patients, but available data about the correlation between antiretroviral drugs and progression rate of atherosclerotic disease are still limited. We evaluated the progression rate of carotid atherosclerosis in patients starting an initial antiretroviral regimen including one integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI). Observational, prospective study involving HIV-1-infected, antiretroviral therapy-naive, adult patients who started an antiretroviral regimen including tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine (TAF/FTC) plus raltegravir (RAL group), elvitegravir/cobicistat (EVG/c group), or dolutegravir (DTG group).