Survey of diagnostic and typing capacity for enterovirus infection in Italy and identification of two echovirus 30 outbreaks.

BACKGROUND: Enterovirus infections can cause a variety of illnesses, ranging from asymptomatic infections to severe illness and death. AIM: To support polio eradication activities, in February 2019, the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for polio in Italy, at the National Institute of Public Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), promoted an investigation on non-polio enterovirus laboratory capacity, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Health. The aim was to collect data on the assays used routinely for diagnostic purposes and to characterize enterovirus outbreaks strains by sequence analysis of the Viral Protein 1 region. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to public health laboratories through all Italian Regions for 2018 and subsequently, an electronic form for lab-confirmed enterovirus infection reported from February 2019 to January 2020, including patients clinical characteristics, and laboratory data was distributed through 25 laboratories participating the survey. RESULTS: Overall, a homogenous laboratory capacity for enterovirus infection diagnosis was found and 21,000 diagnostic tests were retrospectively reported in 2018. Then, in 2019, two outbreaks of Echovirus 30 were identified and confirmed by molecular analyses. CONCLUSION: These results underline the need monitor the circulation of non-polio enterovirus to ascertain the real burden of the disease in the country.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection: Role of the setting of catheter insertion.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) in patients admitted to a surgical ward in Central Italy and to analyze the associated risk factors. METHODS: An active surveillance program for CAUTI was carried out in patients catheterized for at least 48 hours. Place of catheter insertion (operating room, hospital ward, cystoscopy room, emergency care unit), indication for catheterization and its duration, among other risk factors were monitored until discharge. Antibiotic resistance profiles of isolates were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 641 catheterized patients monitored for CAUTI onset. Of these, 40 (6.2%) developed a CAUTI (rates were 15.1/1,000 catheter days, 95% confidence interval [CI], 11.9-22.6; 8.7/1,000 patient days, 95% CI, 6.9-13.1). Patients with CAUTI were older (P < .05) and their durations of hospitalization and catheterization were both longer compared with those who were not affected (P < .05). Catheterization >4 days (odds ratio [OR] = 8.21; 95% CI, 3.79-17.73; P < .05) and place of catheter insertion different from the operating room (OR = 7.9; 95% CI, 2.83-22.08; P < .05, for catheters placed in the ward) were associated with CAUTI. Among the micro-organisms isolated in CAUTIs, the most common were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (41.5%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (19.5%), and Escherichia coli (12.2%); 82.5% of them were resistant to different classes of antibiotics. CONCLUSION: These results highlight the role played by the setting of catheter insertion in CAUTIs onset, therefore reflecting the importance of hand hygiene and proper aseptic insertion techniques as crucial determinants in CAUTIs prevention.