Observation on the nucleic acids in the chlamydospores of Candida albicans.

The presence of red (RNA) and green (DNA) fluorescent material identifying nucleic acids in the chlamydospores of Candida albicans has been well documented. Red fluorescence in chlamydospores is relatively diffused and ranges from small spots, observed in hyphal cells, to the entire protoplasmic content. Green fluorescence is rarely visible in these structures and, when present it can be observed next to the plasmalemma. The initial percentage values of the two curves related to the cell counts of red fluorescence of the suspensor cells and chlamydospores showed remarkable differences between the two structures. About 54% of the chlamydospores showed red fluorescence compared to about 28% of the suspensor cells. It seems from the results obtained in this study that much RNA was produced and/or accumulated in the chlamydospores and suspensor cells, rather than in mycelium where red fluorescence was not observed. The results obtained sustain the hypothesis that a chlamydospore should he considered a fully functional cell that is morphologically and physiologically active and independent from mycelium.

Compliance to compulsory vaccination: strategies and results.

This report is devoted to analyze the effect that compulsory vaccination has on the compliance of the population, compared with the results obtained by massive campaigns for optional vaccinations. The implementation of a specific software for the management of individual schedules helps to reach a substantial complete coverage of the individuals for the first ones, while improving but incomplete results regard the vaccines against pertussis and measles-mumps-rubella, optional in Italy. The optimization of data management at the local health unit level improves the quality and the satisfaction of the work performed by the personnel, but has a limited effect on the already nearly complete coverage for the compulsory immunizations. The mounting percentage of children immunized with optional vaccines can be explained both by the massive campaigns of information conducted in recent years and by the better tracking of individual immunization schedules.

[Prevalence of urinary infections caused by GBS in diabetic patients]. / Studio della prevalenza delle infezioni urinarie da Gbs in pazienti diabetici.

On a randomized sample of 305 diabetic patients and of 479 controls was studied for an epidemiological research about the colonization of urinary tract by Group B-Streptococci (GBS). The detection rate was 16.44% in the diabetics, and 8.77% in the controls. and it was higher in diabetic women than diabetic men (R.P. 1.96, p < 0.05). The age, the model of diabetes treatment, and the metabolic control of diabetic people didn't be significatively correlated with GBS presence. Most of GBS that have been identified in diabetic patients were belonged to the sierotype I, whereas in the controls were belonged to the sierotype III.

Growth of opportunistic yeasts on vitamin-free solid medium.

The growth of some opportunistic yeasts (Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Torulopsis glabrata, Rhodotorula rubra, Geotrichum candidum, Trichosporon cutaneum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was essayed in a solid minimal synthetic medium without vitamins. From the preliminary results some species (Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Rhodotorula rubra, Geotrichum candidum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) seem to be autotrophic regarding the growth factor considered indispensable for their metabolism and for this reason normally added to the common synthetic media employed.

[Listeriosis as an infection of food origin]. / La listeriosi come infezione di origine alimentare.

After analysing the etiopathogenesis and transmission process of the microorganism, the Authors have examined the latest and documented outbreaks owing to food-borne strains of Listeria monocytogenes in Europe and in North America. The considered studies indicate an increase of listeriosis cases caused by infected food, especially food of animal origin, such as meat and milk-dairy products.

Importance of some factors on the dimorphism of Candida albicans.

The passage between the yeast and mycelial forms of Candida albicans B 311-10 was studied by using the minimal synthetic medium of Shepherd et al. modified without biotin and with low glucose concentrations. It was observed that biotin, aminoacids and particularly pH are not important factors in the dimorphism of C. albicans. The only factor of notable importance in the passage of yeast form to mycelial form in C. albicans was glucose concentration.

A synthetic medium for Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain Castelli 20 has been observed in a minimal synthetic medium using different glucose concentrations and without biotin, during the first 30 hrs of its development at 28 degrees C. The yeast's growth was observed spectrophotometrically at 675 nm reading the Optical Density every hour. The minimal medium of Sheperd et al. (1980), with glucose 15 g/L and biotin was modified: the vitamin was eliminated and the concentration of glucose was gradually reduced down to 0.5 g/L. At 5 g/L of glucose concentration and without vitamins the strain grew very well. From our results up to 30 hrs biotin has no influence on the yeast's growth. The medium would be useful to study Saccharomyces cerevisiae physiology during the early period of its development.

[Epidemiology of bronchopulmonary hospital infections]. / Epidemiologia delle infezioni broncopolmonari ospedaliere.

Hospital acquired infections (HAI) represent one of the major problems, due to their elevated frequency and high number of fatal cases, in the control of infectious diseases. With the perspective to evaluate the incidence of bronchopulmonary infections and to determine their role as cause of death of hospitalized patients, as well as to identify the etiology and the associated risk factors, we have studied 105 autopsy cases of patients decreased in hospital. 37 patients had pneumonias, of which 48.6% were of hospital origin. Hospital pneumonia was responsible for death in 12.3% of the cases. The risk factors significantly associated with HAI were recognized to be the following: hospital recovery for a period longer than 10 days, and surgery. Among the etiologic agents isolated in HAI, there was a distinct prevalence in Gram-negative bacteria (55.5% of the samples), such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila.

A new medium for the production of chlamydoconidia by Candida albicans.

Several isolates of Candida albicans were tested for production of chlamydoconidia and metabolic changes when grown on several different solid and liquid media. A liquid medium, consisting solely of sterilized skimmed milk and a solid medium containing processed cheese stimulated more rapid and greater production of chlamydoconidia than the corn meal agar and the other media tested.

Sources of fungal contamination in a burn-care unit.

A microbiological study was carried out in the burn-care unit of the Centro Traumatologico Ortopedico of Turin (Italy) in order to detect the most important sources of fungal contamination in patients at high risk of infection. Identification of the fungi was carried out only for those of medical mycological interest, with the exclusion of the yeast isolates.

[Presence of bacterial endotoxins in drinking and bottled water, with monitoring of eventual contaminations]. / La presenza di endotossine batteriche in acque condottate ed imbottigliate, con monitoraggio di eventuali contaminazioni.

83 samples of drinking water of different source were examined with LAL-test, valuing some characteristics of the water (bacterial count, Coliform, pH, dissolved CO2) which might influence the test. Quantity higher than 0.5 ng/ml of endotoxin were detected in 40 of 44 mineral water samples and 37 of 39 tap water samples. The results are discussed.

[Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni: etiological, epidemiological and preventive aspects]. / Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni: aspetti eziologici, epidemiologici e di prevenzione.

The Authors, after a brief introduction, examine on the basis of the most recent literature, the taxonomy and the microbiological features of Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni, giving a detailed description of the chemical composition, of the biochemical, physiological and nutritional characters, of the antigenic composition and of the cultural methods. Later on, they state the problems arising from the epidemiology of the infections caused by this germ either in man or in animals, examining the most relevant sources of infection. Finally, the Authors describe the most recent laboratory diagnostic methods, the pathogenesis, the clinical manifestations and the prevention of infection, concluding with some therapeutical remarks.

[Epidemiological aspects of salmonelloses in Turin. II: The presence of Salmonella in surface waters and sewerage waters of Turin]. / Aspetti epidemiologici delle salmonellosi in Torino: Nota II: La presenza di Salmonella in acque correnti superficiali e nei liquami fognari di Torino.

The Authors have examined several sets of superficial water and of sewerage waters (respectively 44 and 27) in the metropolitan area of Turin in search of Salmonella bacteria.

[Case of L. monocytogenes meningitis in the non-neonatal period]. / Su un caso di meningite da L. monocytogenes in età non neonatale.

A case of Listeria monocytogenes meningitidis in a little girl of Envie (Cuneo) is reported. The epidemiologic study has shown the presence of significatively high antibodies titers also in the sera of other members of the family.