COVID-19 Post-Exposure Evaluation (COPE) Study: Assessing the Role of Socio-Economic Factors in Household SARS-CoV-2 Transmission within Campania Region (Southern Italy).

Campania is the sixth poorest region of Italy, and it is the region with the highest income inequality. The secondary attack rates of SARS-CoV-2 among households are found to be substantially heterogeneous among published studies and are influenced by socio-economic factors. We conducted a retrospective study to describe the role of socio-economic factors in the household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among patients living in Campania Region and referring to "Federico II" Hospital. We interviewed 413 subjects followed-up for COVID-19 between the 8 March 2020 and the 24 May 2021 with the aim to collect demographic, clinical, economic, and social data regarding their household and the index cases. The variables associated with SARS-CoV-2 attack rate higher than 50% among households were higher age (p = 0.023) and higher Charlson Comorbidity Index of the index case (p = 0.023) and, for household characteristics, higher number of families per house (p = 0.02), location of the houses in Naples' suburbs (Chi2 = 5.3, p = 0.02) and in Caserta City area (Chi2 = 4, p = 0.04), and renting the house compared to owning it (Chi2 = 5.83, p = 0.01). This study confirms the finding described by other authors that household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is correlated with the income inequality of the analyzed geographical area as well as with the indicators of health and economic wealth of the families, and this correlation also applies to the Campania Region.

Environmental surveillance and in vitro activity of antimicrobial agents against Legionella pneumophila isolated from hospital water systems in Campania, South Italy: a 5-year study.

BACKGROUND: Legionellosis' treatment failures have been recently reported showing the possibility of resistance development to traditional therapy, especially in healthcare related disease cases. Environmental impact of antibiotic residues, especially in hospital waters, may act on the resistome of Legionella resulting in developing resistance mechanisms. OBJECTIVES: In this study we investigate the antibiotic susceptibility of environmental Legionella pneumophila (Lpn) strains isolated from hospital water systems in Campania, a region located in Southwest Italy. METHODS: 5321 hospital water samples were investigated for the presence of Lpn. Among positive samples, antibiotic susceptibility was tested for a random subset of 125 Lpn strains (25 Lpn isolates from each of the following serogroups: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8). Susceptibility testing was performed, using the E-test on buffered charcoal yeast extract agar supplemented with α-ketoglutarate, for 10 antimicrobial drugs: azithromycin, cefotaxime, clarithromycin, doxycycline, erythromycin, rifampicin, tigecycline, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and moxifloxacin. Non parametric tests were used to determine and assess the significant differences in susceptibility to the different antimicrobics between the serogroups. RESULTS: Among the isolated strains, none showed resistance to the antibiotics tested. Rifampicin was the most active antibiotic against overall Legionella strains, followed by levofloxacin. Between the macrolides the clarithromycin was overall the most active drug, instead the azithromycin was the less active. Analyzing the different serogroups a significant difference was found between serogroup 1 and non-1 serogroup isolates for doxycycline and tigecycline. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic susceptibility of environmental isolates of Legionella spp. might be useful for the early detection of resistance to antibiotics that directly impacts on mortality and length of hospital stay.

Intestinal microbiota in adult patients with Short Bowel Syndrome: Preliminary results from a pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: Intestinal bacterial flora plays a central role in human intestinal health and disease. Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS), a clinical condition deriving from extensive bowel resections, influence intestinal microbiota (IM) composition in order to reach a new metabolic balance. Little is known about IM in adult patients after wide intestinal resections. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fecal samples from 12 SBS patients and 16 controls were analyzed in their microbial profile by using both culture-dependent method and quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: The two methods revealed significant lower concentrations of Bacteroidetes (p-value = .02), Firmicutes (p-value = .05), Bifidobacterium (p-value < .01), and Methanobrevibacter Smithii (p-value = .04) in SBS patients than controls. CONCLUSIONS: The significantly different fecal microbiome in SBS patients compared with healthy controls could open new perspectives on the care of their intestinal functions.