Hazardous o-toluidine mineralization by photocatalytic bismuth doped ZnO slurries.

Photocatalytic mineralization of o-toluidine in aqueous media under UV/solar irradiation was achieved by bare and bismuth doped zinc oxide nanoparticles. By adopting different analytical approaches a reaction mechanism is proposed, explaining the differences in photodetoxification performances.

Emergence of macrolide-resistant strains during an outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in children.

OBJECTIVES: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a frequent cause of human lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) for which macrolides are the treatment of choice. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of macrolide resistance and to subtype M. pneumoniae strains in Italy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During an outbreak of M. pneumoniae infections in southern Italy in 2010, 48 clinical specimens from 43 paediatric patients hospitalized for LRTIs were analysed for macrolide resistance. The mutations associated with resistance (A2063G and A2064G) and M. pneumoniae subtypes were detected by sequencing the targeted domain V region of the 23S rRNA gene and a region in the MPN528a gene, respectively. RESULTS: Macrolide resistance genotypes were detected in 11 (26%) of the 43 M. pneumoniae-positive children. The A2063G mutation was identified in seven patients and the A2064G mutation was identified in the remaining four. Upon admission, the isolates from three patients showed a susceptible genotype but subsequently acquired the A2063G mutation. Genotyping revealed M. pneumoniae subtype 1 in 33 of 40 sequenced strains and subtype 2 in the remaining 7. There was no association between macrolide resistance or susceptibility and the M. pneumoniae subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of macrolide resistance among M. pneumoniae strains in Italy. Our findings indicate an unexpected high prevalence of macrolide resistance genotypes in children, and so macrolide resistance should be carefully considered in patients who do not respond appropriately to antibiotic treatment. The epidemiological monitoring of macrolide resistance has become necessary in Italy and in the rest of Europe.

Giardiasis in HIV: a possible role in patients with severe immune deficiency.

We report the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic characteristics of giardiasis in a population of HIV-infected patients with diarrhoic syndrome. During the period between 1988 and 1995, 720 HIV-patients with diarrhoic syndrome were evaluated. Fecal specimens were submitted to parasitological examination according to the Ritchie formalin-ethil acetate centrifugal sedimentation method and stained with iodine. Samples also underwent modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining and standard bacteriologic testing. Cystis of G. intestinalis were identified in stool sample of 25 patients. Two patients were classified as in stage A2 and 23 in C3. Mean CD4 values of patients with giardiasis (26.9 cells/mmc) were compared with those of 65 patients from whom, during the study, was isolated Cryptosporidium parvum (63.12, cells/mmc): the difference resulted highly significant (p < 0.001). Among the patients with full-blown AIDS, giardiasis occurred following a single previous AIDS-defining event in 13 inividuals, in seven and in five subjects giardiasis was the 3rd and, respectively, the 4th relevant AIDS-defining condition. Death occurred within the following 2 months in nine patients and within 6, 12 and 24 months in seven, six and two patients, respectively; at present only three AIDS patients are still alive. In general, G. intestinalis in HIV+, is not considered a major cause of enteritis; nevertheless, in our experience enteritis due to G intestinalis is a frequent event among AIDS patients, especially in the most advanced stage of disease, irrespectively of the risk factor. The increase in mean survival of AIDS patients will probably lead to a progressive emergence of this pathogen which could determine a severe diarroic syndrome with hydro-electrolytic impairments.

Epidemiological research on trichinellosis in Apulia and Basilicata (southern Italy).

Trichinellosis is a zoonotic infection and has a worldwide distribution. In Italy numerous sporadic cases and outbreaks of human trichinellosis have been reported. The authors report an epidemiological survey of trichinellosis in Apulia and Basilicata, two regions of southern Italy, where two outbreaks of human trichinellosi (about one hundred cases) have recently occurred, due to ingestion of wild boar meat (sausages). Serological and/or parasitological research was carried out in the trichinellosis patients, in uninfected people (control group), and in wild and synantropic animals. The incidence of infection found in various animal species (sylvatic trichinellosis) in these two regions is high and can represent a serious health risk.

[Urinary schistosomiasis: description of a case. Clinico-therapeutic considerations and preventive measures]. / Schistosomiasi urinaria: descrizione di un caso. Considerazioni clinico-terapeutiche e misure di prevenzione.

In Italy, imported cases of urinary schistosomiasis may be frequently undiagnosed, because the symptoms are mild and the number of schistosome eggs in urine is low. The Authors report one case of S. haematobium infection in whom the diagnosis was suspected on the basis of the anamnestic and clinical data and confirmed by the presence of typical eggs in urine and histologically in biopsies taken at cystoscopy. Moreover preventive measures are suggested for the individuals who go to those Countries where schistosomiasis is endemic.

[An epidemic of familial toxoplasmosis (author's transl)]. / Episodio familiare di toxoplasmosi.

After observation of choroiditis of toxoplasmic nature in a member of a rural family, the authors have led a clinical and serological study on other five members of the household. Three of five had antibody titers and two of these demonstrated antibody titers consistent with recent toxoplasmic infection; one of these members manifested asymptomatic choroiditis. Therefore, it would be interesting to carry out a clinical and serological study on relatives of patient with toxoplasmosis.

[Studies on the efficacy of cholera vaccination in a population sample of Bari]. / Indagini sull'efficacia della vaccinazione anticolerica in un campione di popolazione barese

To measure the efficacy of cholera vaccination during the epidemic of cholera occurred in August-September 1973 in Bari, agglutinating and vibriocidal antibody titers were determined in 151 subjects; of these, 65 were children between 6 months and 4 years of age and 86 adults past thirty years. Antibodies could be proved in 80% of the subjects, with relatively higher frequency in children (84,6%) than in adults (76,7%). No significant difference was seen against the serotypes Inaba and Ogawa. The vibriocidal antibody tests was uniformly more sensitive than the agglutination test. In 108 of these subjects (all of 65 children and 43 of the adults), it was possible to make the serological controls 3 and 6 months after vaccination. At 3 months, antibodies were determined in 50,7% of the children and in 44,2% of the adults; at 6 months, only 20% of the children and 18,6% of the adults showed agglutinating and vibriocidal antibodies. For the control, the research of V. cholerae-antibodies was maked also in sera of 300 healties subjects of all ages, by whom the bleedings were obtained prior to epidemic of cholera. Antibodies against the serotypes Inaba and Ogawa were determined in 23 subjects (7,6%); of these, 5 had vibriocidal titers of 1:2560-1:5120.

[Research on V. cholerae anti-antibodies (agglutinating and vibriocidal) in patients affected by cholera-like gastroenteritis. Studies performed during the cholera epidemic occurred in Apulia in August-September 1973]. / Ricerca degli anticorpi anti-"V. cholerae" (agglutinanti e vibriocidi) in soggetti affetti da gastroenterite coleriforme. Studi condotti durante l'epidemia di colera verificatasi in Puglia nell'Agosto-Settembre 1973

Agglutinating and vibriocidal antibody titers anti-V. cholerae of the serotypes Ogawa and Inaba, were determined in sera from 189 patients with cholera-like diarrheas during the epidemic of cholera occurred in August-September 1973, in Bari. Antibodies were determined in 74,2% of 70 patients, whose in the faeces and vomiting were isolated strains identified as V. cholerae, biotype El Tor, serotype Ogawa. This frequency was higher against the serotype Ogawa. The antibodies could be proved very early, 4-6 days from the beginning of symptomatology, but they disappeared as rapidly; really, at 2.3 months antibodies were determined in 7,7% only of the above mentioned subjects. As regards the other 119 patients with non-vibrio, cholera-like diarrheas, antibodies were determined in 28 subjects only; 27 of these has received cholera-vaccine some weeks before. One single case remained which was bacteriological negative, but showed signifcant agglutinating and vibriocidal antibody titers against the serotypes Ogawa and Inaba.

[Studies on the physiopathology of cholera in Bari]. / Rilievi sulla fisiopatologia del colera a Bari

During a small epidemic of cholera in South Italy in summer of 1973, the infection showed some peculiarities and differences in comparison with cholera classic picture of Asiatic areas. In this paper epidemiological, pathogenetic, clinical and biochemical data of patients admitted to the Institute of Infectious Diseases of Bari are reported. The age of the majority of patients (over 50) is an important factor for understanding cause of infection; but also preexistent basal diseases are responsible of severe course of infection. In fact, in spite of low mortality (2/70), in many cases the course of disease has been complicated by metabolic disorders. Also cardio-vascular conditions have influenced course of infection. The Authors discuss the causes of this atypic behaviour of cholera in South Italy.

Gastric abnormalities in cholera: epidemiological and clinical considerations.

The anatomofunctional status of the stomach was studied in cholera patients during the outbreak in Bari, Italy, in 1973. Of a total of 70 patients examined, 24 were found to have undergone gastric resection for ulcer in the past. Stomach secretions induced by fasting and histamine stimulation were studied in 30 patients, the majority of whom showed achlorhydria and other disturbances of gastric secretion. These abnormalities not only predisposed the patients to cholera infection but shortened the incubation period. The clinical course and severity of the disease were also related to the degree of gastric damage, the most serious cases occurring in gastrectomized patients.