[Legionellosis in Apulia (Italy): an underevaluated disease]. / Legionellosi in Puglia: una malattia ancora sottovalutata.

The frequent occurrence of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks in many countries, including Italy, highlights the importance of epidemiological investigations on this disease. For this purpose, an active surveillance programme of pneumonia patients was carried out in a large hospital in Apulia (Italy) from March 2001 to December 2003. A total of 612 patients were tested for Legionella pneumophila infection by urinary antigen detection and evaluation of antibodies titre. Culture of respiratory specimens was performed on 117 patients. Thirty-seven patients (6%) tested positive for legionellosis: 10 resulted nosocomial cases and 27 as community-acquired. Only 9 cases di Legionella pneumophila infection were reported from Apulia to the routine surveillance system between 1996 and 2000. The results of our study denote the level of underestimation of this disease in Apulia.

Factors influencing hospital infection control policies in Italian hospitals.

A study was undertaken to determine the resources available in Italian hospitals for the control of nosocomial infections and the factors favouring a successful approach. During January-May 2000 a questionnaire about infection control was sent to the hospital health director of all Italian National Health System hospitals treating acute patients and with more than 3500 admissions in 1999. An active programme was defined as a hospital infection control committee (HICC) meeting at least four times in 1999, the presence of a doctor with infection control responsibilities, a nurse employed in infection control and at least one surveillance activity and one infection control guideline issued or updated in the past two years. There was a response rate of 87.5% (463/529). Almost fifteen percent (69/463) of hospitals had an active programme for Infection Control and 76.2% (353/463) had a HICC. Seventy-one percent (330/463) of the hospitals had a hospital infection control physician and 53% (250/463) had infection control nurses. Fifty-two percent (242/463) reported at least one surveillance activity and 70.8% (328/463) had issued or updated at least one guidance document in the last two years. The presence of regional policies [odds ratio (OR) 8.7], operative groups (OR 4.2), at least one full-time nurse (OR 4.6) and a hospital annual plan which specified infection control (OR 2.1) were statistically associated with an active programme in the multivariate analysis.

[Spontaneous nystagmus caused by barbiturates in normal subjects]. / Il nistagmo spontaneo da barbiturici in soggetti normali.

The authors studied in the normal subjects the barbiturate nystagmus to standardize a procedure for testing the brain stem activity involved in nystagmogenetic pathways. An electronystagmographic study has been carried out on 13 subjects suffering from extraotological surgical diseases after in venam injection of 20 mg/min of Pentothal, to anaesthetic induction. The spontaneous nystagmus was changeable at the beginning and almost regular in the culmination phase. The authors believe that in this phase the barbiturate nystagmus is useful as a test of brain stem activity in subjects suffering from central dizziness.