144 research outputs found
Prevalence of Salmonella strains in wild animals from a highly populated area of north-eastern Italy
No full textIntroduction. Salmonella is a ubiquitous pathogen that can infect host species, like wild birds, rodents, and/or arthropods, which may transmit infection to domestic animals and human population. Aim. In order to assess the related risk, a cross-sectional study was performed on 1114 carcasses of wild animals from a north-eastern area of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy. Materials and methods. During postmortem examination, intestine samples were cultured. A statistical analysis demonstrated that there is no correlation between the presence of sub-clinically infected animals and greater human population density. In contrast, a significant correlation between the number of carcasses positive for Salmoriclla spp. and greater spatial density of pig, poultry, and cattle farms was observed (p < 0.01). Results. The results of the present study show that wild animals with omnivorous feeding habits are particularly exposed to Salmonella colonization and, consequently, to spreading the organism. Regarding drug resistance, this study confirms the resistance to antimicrobials is increasing in commensal and environmental isolates
Antimicrobial resistance, biofilm synthesis and virulence genes in Salmonella isolated from pigs bred on intensive farms
No full textSalmonella is the second cause of foodborne infection in humans in the USA and Europe. Pigs represent the second most important reservoir for the pathogen and the consumption of pork meat is a major risk factor for human salmonellosis. Here, we evaluated the virulence patterns of eleven Salmonella isolated from pigs (carcasses and faces) bred in intensive farms in the north of Italy. The two serotypes identified were S. Typhimurium and its monophasic variant 1,4,5,12:i:-. None of the isolates was an ESBL producer, as confirmed also by PCR. However, the presence of a multidrug resistant pattern was evident, with all the isolates being resistant to at least to five antimicrobial agents belonging to various classes. Moreover, six out of eleven isolates showed important resistance profiles, such as resistance against colistin and ciprofloxacin, with nine to twelve recorded resistances. The isolates were negative for the biofilm synthesis test, while four different virulotypes were characterized. All the isolates showed the presence of invA, hilA, stn, ssrA, sipC. One sample also harbored ssaR and spvC genes. One strain was positive for all the virulence genes tested and was resistant to 12 antimicrobial agents. The present study contributes new data to the surveillance program for antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, the presence of eleven highly virulent isolates poses concern for human health in relation to their diffusion in the environment
Occurrence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica in bivalve molluscs and associations with Escherichia coli in molluscs and faecal coliforms in seawater
No full texthe objectives of this study were to present data on the presence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica and on the enumeration of Escherichia coli and faecal coliforms respectively in different species of bivalve molluscs and seawater and to conduct a retrospective evaluation to assess the capacity of E. coli in molluscs and faecal coliforms and S. enterica subsp. enterica in sea and brackish water to predict the presence of S. enterica subsp. enterica in bivalve molluscs, and therefore, the risk of exposure for consumers. Data were collected from 4972 seawater samples and 5785 live bivalve molluscs samples (2877 Ruditapes philippinarum, 2177 Mytilus galloprovincialis, 256 Chamelae gallina and 475 C gigas and O. edulis) collected in the molluscs production area of Ferrara, Northern Italy, from 1997 to 2015. An overall S. enterica subsp. enterica occurrence of 2.2% was reported in water and molluscs, with percentages varying depending on the type of sample and on the classification areas. All the 237 Salmonella strains were identified as genus Salmonella and a total of 53 different serovars were observed. Significant associations between the fecal indicators and presence of S. enterica subsp. enterica were observed both applying EU and USA criteria, but, it should be noted that the EU approach seems to be more stringent achieving the goal of identifying the most critical batches (94 out of the 100) whereas, following the USA approach, a not negligible and higher number of batches compliant for faecal coliforms but contaminated by S. enterica subsp. enterica has to be mentioned. In any case, the faecal indicators E. coli in molluscs and faecal coliforms in seawaters reflect only in part the presence of S. enterica subsp. enterica in molluscs and the consequent potential risk for consumers. Microbiological evaluation of seawaters seems to have a minor impact into the prediction of S. enterica subsp. enterica presence in molluscs
Measuring equity in utilization of emergency obstetric care at Wolisso Hospital in Oromiya, Ethiopia: a cross sectional study
No full textIntroduction: Improving equity in access to services for the treatment of complications that arise during pregnancy and childbirth, namely Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC), is fundamental if maternal and neonatal mortality are to be reduced. Consequently, there is a growing need to monitor equity in access to EmOC. The objective of this
study was to develop a simple questionnaire to measure equity in utilization of EmOC at Wolisso Hospital, Ethiopia
and compare the wealth status of EmOC users with women in the general population.
Methods: Women in the Ethiopia 2005 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) constituted our reference population. We cross-tabulated DHS wealth variables against wealth quintiles. Five variables that differentiated well across quintiles were selected to create a questionnaire that was administered to women at discharge from the maternity from January to August 2010. This was used to identify inequities in utilization of EmOC by comparison with the reference population.
Results: 760 women were surveyed. An a posteriori comparison of these 2010 data to the 2011 DHS dataset, indicated that women using EmOC were wealthier and more likely to be urban dwellers. On a scale from 0 (poorest) to 15 (wealthiest), 31% of women in the 2011 DHS sample scored less than 1 compared with 0.7% in the study population. 70% of women accessing EmOC belonged to the richest quintile with only 4% belonging to the poorest two quintiles. Transportation costs seem to play an important role.
Conclusions: We found inequity in utilization of EmOC in favour of the wealthiest. Assessing and monitoring equitable utilization of maternity services is feasible using this simple tool
Occurrence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica in bivalve molluscs and associations with Escherichia coli in molluscs and faecal coliforms in seawater
No full textThe objectives of this study were to present data on the presence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica
and on the enumeration of Escherichia coli and faecal coliforms respectively in different species of bivalve
molluscs and seawater and to conduct a retrospective evaluation to assess the capacity of E. coli in
molluscs and faecal coliforms and S. enterica subsp. enterica in sea and brackish water to predict the
presence of S. enterica subsp. enterica in bivalve molluscs, and therefore, the risk of exposure for consumers.
Data were collected from 4972 seawater samples and 5785 live bivalve molluscs samples (2877
Ruditapes philippinarum, 2177 Mytilus galloprovincialis, 256 Chamelae gallina and 475 C. gigas and
O. edulis) collected in the molluscs production area of Ferrara, Northern Italy, from 1997 to 2015. An
overall S. enterica subsp. enterica occurrence of 2.2% was reported in water and molluscs, with percentages
varying depending on the type of sample and on the classification areas. All the 237 Salmonella
strains were identified as genus Salmonella and a total of 53 different serovars were observed. Significant
associations between the fecal indicators and presence of S. enterica subsp. enterica were observed both
applying EU and USA criteria, but, it should be noted that the EU approach seems to be more stringent
achieving the goal of identifying the most critical batches (94 out of the 100) whereas, following the USA
approach, a not negligible and higher number of batches compliant for faecal coliforms but contaminated
by S. enterica subsp. enterica has to be mentioned. In any case, the faecal indicators E. coli in molluscs and
faecal coliforms in seawaters reflect only in part the presence of S. enterica subsp. enterica in molluscs and
the consequent potential risk for consumers. Microbiological evaluation of seawaters seems to have a
minor impact into the prediction of S. enterica subsp. enterica presence in molluscs
Zinc Supplementation during Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial
No full textZinc deficiency during pregnancy has been related to adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, the results of zinc-supplementation trials have not been consistent in improvement of pregnancies outcomes. This study was undertaken to investigate whether zinc supplementation was associated with pregnancy complications in Iranian women during the last 2 trimesters. It also assessed the anthropometric measurements of infants at birth. A double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted in Ardabil Province located in northwest of Iran. One-hundred ninty-six pregnant women between 16-20 weeks of gestation were recruited from urban healthcare centres. These women had no evidence of hypertension, diabetes, renal disease, history of prematurity, premature rupture of membranes (PROM) or low birth weight (LBW) infants. They were randomly assigned to receive zinc (50 mg daily) or placebo until delivery. Basic information was collected on socioeconomic status, reproductive and disease histories before randomization. The subjects were monthly followed during pregnancy and maternal complications were carefully recorded. The weight, length and head circumference of each infant was measured within 24h of birth. Of the 196 women, 17 were excluded from the study (9 in the zinc group and 8 in the placebo group, NS). The supplementation had no significant effect on prematurity, preeclampcia, PROM and stillbirth as well as gestational age, infant length and head circumference. The incidence of low birth weight was significantly lower in those under Zinc than placebo (p = 0.01). Meanwhile, pregnancy-induced hypertension and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) were observed only in the placebo group. The birth weight was also higher in the zinc group than that in the placebo group (p = 0.03). Supplementation with 50mg elemental zinc during pregnancy improved birth weight but did not reduce maternal complications
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