12 research outputs found
Promotion of Fruits and Vegetables Consumption: Results of a School-Based Intervention in a Sample of 13-15 Years Old Italian Students
No full textBackground: The ...e vai con la frutta (let’s go with fruit) project was designed to respond to the worrying low consumption of fruits and vegetable in the large portion of population, especially in youth. The main objective was to increase fruit and vegetable consumptions at school level.
Methods: In 2010/11, we randomly selected subjects from middle and high schools in five Italian regions. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups: intervention (I) and control (C). A questionnaire on fruits and vegetables consumption was administered, at the baseline as well as at end of the period. The sample size was evaluated on the expected frequency of 0.5 for a binomial random variable, of ± 1.54% with IC of 95%.
Results: These results confirmed that adolescent students at baseline survey eat less than the amount of fruits and vegetables consumption recommended by the International guidelines. After the intervention time, we observed an increment in fruits and vegetables consumptions both in middle and high school students. Regarding the impact of the intervention on the factors like knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, there was a positive change in the behaviour only in the intervention group, in coherence with the consumption variations examined.
Conclusions: This study is the first time that fruits and vegetables were offered at such a large scale through vending machines at schools in five regions. Several vending companies under this project agreed to revise the list of healthy snacks offered to eliminate those clearly classified as junk foods
Moderate influenza vaccine effectiveness against A(H1N1)pdm09 virus, and low effectiveness against A(H3N2) subtype, 2018/19 season in Italy
No full textInfluenza vaccines are updated every year to match the vaccine strains with currently circulating viruses; consequently influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) has to be assessed annually. Research design and methods: A test-negative case-control study was conducted within the context of the Italian sentinel influenza surveillance network to estimate IVE by age group, virus subtype, and vaccine brand in medically attended laboratory-confirmed influenza. Results: In Italy, the 2018/19 influenza season was characterized by the co-circulation of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) viruses. The adjusted IVE estimate in preventing influenza was moderate (44.8%, 95% CI: 18.8 to 62.5) against A(H1N1)pdm09, whereas there was no evidence of effectiveness (1.8%, 95% CI: -37.8 to 30.1) in persons affected by A(H3N2). IVE against A(H1N1)pdm09 decreased with age ranging from 65.7% to 13.1% among children/adolescents and elderly, respectively; moreover results suggest that Vaxigrip Tetra® was more effective against A(H1N1)pdm09 compared to Fluarix Tetra® [62.5% (95% CI: 34.3 to 78.6) vs 24.5% (95% CI: -40.6 to 59.6)]. Low effectiveness (35.2%, 95% CI: -50.8 to 72.1) against A(H3N2) was detected only in the elderly immunized with Fluad®. Conclusions: Findings suggest that influenza vaccines were low to moderately effective, probably due to a mismatch between circulating and vaccine strains
Incidence of and risk factors for hepatitis A in Italy: public health indications from a 10-year surveillance
No full textRisk of parenterally transmitted hepatitis following exposure to surgery or other invasive procedures: results from the hepatitis surveillance system in Italy
No full textThe impact of the hepatitis B mass immunisation campaign on the incidence and risk factors of acute hepatitis B in Italy
No full textAdditional file 2: of Carriage rates and risk factors during an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C ST-11 (cc11) in Tuscany, Italy: a cross-sectional study
No full textTable S2. Factors associated with meningococcal carriage. Univariate and multivariate analyses. Tuscany, Italy (nâ=â2285). (DOCX 41 kb
Additional file 1: of Carriage rates and risk factors during an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C ST-11 (cc11) in Tuscany, Italy: a cross-sectional study
No full textTable S1. Meningococcal carriage prevalence by serogroups, demographic characteristics and risk factors. Tuscany, Italy (nâ=â110). (DOCX 42 kb
Carriage rates and risk factors during an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C ST-11 (cc11) in Tuscany, Italy: a cross-sectional study
No full textAbstract Background During 2015–2016 an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease due to N. meningitidis serogroup C ST-11 (cc11) occurred in Tuscany, Italy. The outbreak affected mainly the age group 20–30 years, men who have sex with men, and the area located between the cities of Firenze, Prato and Empoli, with discos and gay-venues associated-clusters. A cross-sectional-survey was conducted to assess the prevalence and risk factors for meningococcal-carriage, in order to address public health interventions. Methods A convenience sample of people aged 11–45 years provided oropharyngeal swab specimens and completed questionnaires on risk factors for meningococcal carriage during a 3 months study-period, conducted either in the outbreak-area and in a control-area not affected by the outbreak (cities of Grosseto and Siena). Isolates were tested by culture plus polymerase chain reaction. Serogroup C meningococcal isolates were further characterized using multilocus sequence typing. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for meningococcal carriage. Results A total of 2285 oropharyngeal samples were collected. Overall, meningococcal carriage prevalence was 4.8% (n = 110), with nonencapsulated meningococci most prevalent (2.3%; n = 52). Among encapsulated meningococci, serogroup B was the most prevalent (1.8%; n = 41), followed by serogroup Y (0.5%; n = 11) and serogroup C (0.2%; n = 4); one carrier of serogroup E and one of serogroup Z, were also found (0.04%). Three individuals from the city of Empoli were found to carry the outbreak strain, C:ST-11 (cc11); this city also had the highest serogroup C carriage prevalence (0.5%). At the multivariate analyses, risk factors for meningococcal carriage were: illicit-drugs consumption (AOR 6.30; p < 0.01), active smoking (AOR 2.78; p = 0.01), disco/clubs/parties attendance (AOR 2.06; p = 0.04), being aged 20–30 years (AOR 3.08; p < 0.01), and have had same-sex intercourses (AOR 6.69; p < 0.01). Conclusions A low prevalence of meningococcal serogroup C carriage in an area affected by an outbreak due to the hypervirulent N. meningitidis serogroup C ST-11 (cc11) strain was found. The city of Empoli had the highest attack-rate during the outbreak and also the highest meningococcal serogroup C carriage-prevalence due to the outbreak-strain. Multivariate analyses underlined a convergence of risk factors, which partially confirmed those observed among meningococcal outbreak-cases, and that should be considered in targeted immunization campaigns
Impact of a nationwide lockdown on SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility, Italy
No full textOn March 11, 2020, Italy imposed a national lockdown to curtail the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. We estimate that, 14 days after lockdown, the net reproduction number had dropped below 1 and remained stable at ≈0.76 (95% CI 0.67-0.85) in all regions for >3 of the following weeks
Sudden unexpected deaths and vaccinations during the first two years of life in Italy: a case series study.
No full textBackground
The signal of an association between vaccination in the second year of life with a hexavalent vaccine and sudden unexpected deaths (SUD) in the two days following vaccination was reported in Germany in 2003. A study to establish whether the immunisation with hexavalent vaccines increased the short term risk of SUD in infants was conducted in Italy.
Methodology/Principal Findings
The reference population comprises around 3 million infants vaccinated in Italy in the study period 1999–2004 (1.5 million received hexavalent vaccines). Events of SUD in infants aged 1–23 months were identified through the death certificates. Vaccination history was retrieved from immunisation registries. Association between immunisation and death was assessed adopting a case series design focusing on the risk periods 0–1, 0–7, and 0–14 days after immunisation. Among the 604 infants who died of SUD, 244 (40%) had received at least one vaccination. Four deaths occurred within two days from vaccination with the hexavalent vaccines (RR = 1.5; 95% CI 0.6 to 4.2). The RRs for the risk periods 0–7 and 0–14 were 2.0 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.5) and 1.5 (95% CI 0.9 to 2.4). The increased risk was limited to the first dose (RR = 2.2; 95% CI 1.1 to 4.4), whereas no increase was observed for the second and third doses combined.
Conclusions
The RRs of SUD for any vaccines and any risk periods, even when greater than 1, were almost an order of magnitude lower than the estimates in Germany. The limited increase in RRs found in Italy appears confined to the first dose and may be partly explained by a residual uncontrolled confounding effect of age
