Localized lasing modes of triangular organic microlasers.

We investigated experimentally the ray-wave correspondence in organic microlasers of various triangular shapes. Triangular billiards are of interest since they are the simplest cases of polygonal billiards and the existence and properties of periodic orbits in triangles are not yet fully understood. The microlasers with symmetric shapes that were investigated exhibited states localized on simple periodic orbits, and their lasing characteristics like spectra and far-field distributions could be well explained by the properties of the periodic orbits. Furthermore, asymmetric triangles that do not feature simple periodic orbits were studied. Their lasing properties were found to be more complicated and could not be explained by periodic orbits.

Outbreak of skin and soft tissue infections in a hospital newborn nursery in Italy due to community-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus USA300 clone.

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is responsible for severe infections in previously healthy people acquired in the community in different areas of the world. AIM: To report an outbreak of CA-MRSA in a hospital newborn nursery in northern Italy in September-October 2010, its investigation and control measures. METHODS: The epidemiology of the outbreak is reported. The investigation included screening neonates, parents and staff for MRSA carriage. Molecular strain typing was performed on MRSA isolates. FINDINGS: The outbreak affected nine neonates with three severe infections. In addition, four mothers had postpartum mastitis, and three mothers and one father had skin infection. The outbreak strain belonged to the USA300 CA-MRSA clone. Asymptomatic carriage of the outbreak strain was found among neonates, parents and hospital staff. The implementation of appropriate infection control measures in the hospital terminated the outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a hospital outbreak caused by the USA300 CA-MRSA clone in Europe. It is important to reinforce infection control measures, particularly in high-risk groups, such as neonates, to prevent USA300 from becoming endemic in European hospitals.

[Vaccination and immunization in healthcare workers, towards specific infections: measles, varicella, rubella and mumps. The experience in a hospital in Lombardy]. / Vaccinazioni e immunizzazione nel personale sanitario verso infezioni specifiche: morbillo, varicella, rosolia e parotite. L'esperienza di una Azienda Ospedaliera Lombarda.

Lombardy Region, with the Deliberation NoVIII (22-12-2005), about vaccinations in childrens and adults, suggest to offer to the healthcare workers (HCW) of 'Infectious diseases' and of 'Obstetrics and 'Pediatrics' Department, the vaccines for varicella and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). We performed in 120 HCW of our hospital the dosage of antibodies versus these infectious diseases, in order to protect both workers and critical patients. The study results show that more than 80% of the HCW was immune to all the four infectious diseases. The percentage of immunisation to measles, varicella and rubella exceeded the 90%, while 87.5% of HCW was immune to mumps. We are going to offer the vaccine to the operators that are not immune, but we are also thinking about offer it to the HCW working with critical patient.

Nosocomial pseudo-outbreak of Fusarium verticillioides associated with sterile plastic containers.

Twenty-six patients were implicated in a nosocomial pseudo-outbreak of Fusarium verticillioides. Examination of clinical records and handling procedures revealed a fungal contamination of supposedly sterile containers used for biological materials. An accurate system of monitoring permitted us to determine the origin of the infection and the means of its spread.

Epidemiological characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains causing infection in an Italian general hospital. A one-year surveillance.

During the 1989 calendar year, P. aeruginosa caused clinical infections in 0.46% of patients admitted to Ospedali Riuniti (a general hospital), Bergamo, Italy. Strains (n = 267) of P. aeruginosa were collected during this period, and epidemiological characteristics were studied. The mean prevalence of P. aeruginosa infection in inpatients was 1.1% (range 0.06-7.3), whereas outpatients showed a significantly lower prevalence of infection (0.05%). Strains were recovered from inpatients of surgical wards (n = 126; 47.2%), and outpatients (n = 15; 5.6%). Males were more often affected than females (2.7:1). Infection of the urinary tract was the most common (34.1%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also involved in lower respiratory tract infections (18.7%) and septicaemia (17.6%). Four typing methods were performed, i.e. serotyping, antibiotyping, pyocin typing, and restriction endonuclease analysis (REA). Serotypes O:11 and O:6 were endemic in the hospital. Some serotypes correlated with specific clinical wards. Pyocin typing was an unreliable epidemiological tool. However, antibiotyping showed the presence of some epidemic clusters, probably related to the antibiotic consumption of the patients. REA suggested the circulation of edemic P. aeruginosa strains in both the obstetrics and neurosurgery wards.

Ten-year Experience with Imported Malaria in Bergamo, Italy.

Malaria infections have become an increasing public health problem in Europe, especially those imported into nonendemic areas. The transmission and diffusion of malaria has increased, especially over the last decade, due to changes in agricultural practices, vector resistance to insecticides, and most relevantly, increasing international travel and the resistance of these parasites to chemophrophylaxis. This study investigates the epidemiologic factors if imported malaria in an area of Italy, as related to international travel and prophylaxis by Italian immigrants who have revisited their country of origin. All cases (175) of imported malaria detected at the Laboratory of Microbiology of Ospedali Riuniti in Bergamo, Italy, between 1984 and 1993 were studied epidemiologically for the following variables: age, sex, and nationality; travel destination, length of stay, and date of return; and pathogen(s) detected, chemoprophylaxis used, and clinical symptoms exhibited. A high prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum was detected in more than three quarters of the cases with 91.4% of these travelers having visited African countries. Only two subjects had received adequate, correct prophylaxis. Fever, headache, and fatigue were experienced most often; however, in a few cases, blood, exchange transfusion, or treatment for splenomegaly were required. The results indicate that there is an emerging public health problem with immigrants who have resided in Italy for some time, revisited their country of origin, and consequently become infected with malaria, with specific prophylaxis not having been provided. This study emphasizes the importance of local epidemiologic studies, effective prophylaxis, and the need for those involved in the travel industry to promote specialized pretravel advice on a routine basis.

Nosocomial outbreak of severe Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in haematological patients.

From June to September 1988, an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in neutropenic patients admitted to the Haematological Wards of "Ospedali Riuniti" in Bergamo, Italy, was detected. Out of 11 cases of P. aeruginosa infections, 8 were bacteremic. Of these, 7 died within few days of onset (mortality rate: 87.5%). Consequently, possible sources of infection were investigated, and moist areas of the hospital environment were shown to be highly contaminated by P. aeruginosa. A clinical and microbiological follow-up of patients admitted to the Haematological Wards was performed for a 10 month period following the outbreak. Adequate measures for cleaning and disinfection were shown to reduce the frequency of P. aeruginosa hospital infections.

[Tuberculosis in Bergamo Province. Statistical estimates for the quadrennium 1984-1987]. / La tubercolosi nella provincia di Bergamo. Alcune valutazioni sul quadriennio 1984-1987.

The clinical files of patients admitted to the Ospedali Riuniti of Bergamo between January 1984 and December 1987 in which the presence of mycobacteria has been demonstrated have been reviewed. We have analysed the clinical pattern and the complicating diseases and we have reported the typing of mycobacteria in comparison with the literature data. We stress the danger of mycobacterial infections particularly in patients who are in an immunodepressed state.

Clinical evaluation of non-radiometric BACTEC NR 660 system for routine detection of bacteremia.

A study was undertaken to evaluate the sensitivity, accuracy and practicability to a two-bottle nonradiometric blood culture system (BACTEC NR 660) with the two bottle conventional blood culture system in use in our laboratory. A total of 592 sets of four blood culture bottles were collected from adults in a twenty-week period, giving 126 positive sets. The conventional system recovered 121 isolates, whereas the BACTEC NR 660 system recovered 97 microorganism. The difference in the recovery rate was not statistically significant. Contaminant isolates were detected with greater frequency in the conventional system (p less than 0.001). Microorganism were recovered faster in one or both BACTEC NR 660 bottles than in conventional system (p less than 0.001). Our study confirms that BACTEC NR 660 system is suitable for routine detection of bacteremia.

[Comparison of 2 different blood culture systems: liquoid-BHI and hemoline performance diphasique]. / Confronto tra due diversi sistemi emocolturali: liquoid-BHI ed hemoline performance diphasique.

The Liquoid-BHI, biphasic blood culture system, was compared with a conventional blood culture bottle (Hemoline performance diphasique) in 3125 paired blood cultures. Both systems were inoculated with equal volumes of blood (5 ml). Streptococcus spp. (P less than 0.02) and S. epidermidis (P less than 0.05) were recovered from BHI system. In contrast, P. fluorescens (P less than 0.02) were recovered in conventional system. No important differences were found for other bacteria and fungi. For optimal detection of microorganisms, however, the biphasic BHI system should be paired with conventional bottle.

[Isolation of thymidine-dependent strains. Microbiologic considerations and personal observations]. / Isolamento di ceppi timidino-dipendenti. Considerazioni microbiologiche ed osservazioni personali.

We describe the emergence of three thymidine-dependent strains (Thy-): two Escherichia coli obtained in successive occasions from urine of a woman treated with co-trimoxazole before the organisms were isolated and one Proteus mirabilis obtained from urine of a man who had a treatment with norfloxacin. Cultural characteristics and methods for the detection of these Thy- strains are given.

[Polycenter evaluation of the break-point system]. / Valutazione policentrica del sistema break-point.

Several research center have been set up to evaluate the system that deals with sensitivity to microbes under Sensititre break-point. The study has been broken down as follows: the break-point system was compared with the agar diffusion according to Bauer et al., using 1180 strains of fast-growing Gram-negative bacteria; a limited number of strains (176) have been used to compare the Sensititre break-point and the Sensititre MIC; results have been obtained testing 448 strains processed by break-point with correct inoculum and with simplified inoculum, from a colony; an investigation has been carried out on the time and cost of the break-point functioning. Having taken the Bauer system and others are compared them with the break-point, it was seen that their total agreement was 90.3% with 2% of major disagreement. The total major disagreement between Sensititre MIC and Sensititre break-point was 2.7%. The total major disagreement of the latter was largely the result of cephalotin (21%) on the Escherichia coli strains. An initial research centre has been formed to try to trow light upon the origins of such disagreements and we are now pleased to report back their initial findings. The preparation and reading of a test with the Bauer system and others takes about 18 minutes and costs 5600 Lit; a break-point test takes 10 minutes and costs 4500 Lit.

[Management of data in the microbiological laboratory. Experience with the Olivetti TES 501 system]. / La gestione dati nel laboratorio di microbiologia. Esperienza con il sistema TES 501 Olivetti.

The Authors note their experience of dealing with data in a microbiology laboratory using the Olivetti TES 501 system. This system permits a rational organisation of the work programme, from writing out the work sheets, simultaneous type-out of results, filing, to the possibility of rapid consultation of records, etc. According to the Authors, however, its most important function is the possibility of being able to obtain the read-out of the infective position of each ward in the hospital very easily and rapidly, which makes it possible to adopt an effective antibiotic policy.