[Malaria prevention: new indications]. / Profilassi malarica: nuove indicazioni.

Malaria chemoprophylaxis must be continuously modified because of drug-resistant Plasmodium strains. The authors report the most recent regimens in all travelers including infants and pregnant women. The side effects of these drugs are pointed out.

[An update on the therapy of malaria]. / Aggiornamenti in tema della terapia della malaria.

The authors analyze the recent treatment regimens of malaria, related to Plasmodium strains and clinical manifestation. Chloroquine is the first choice drug for uncomplicated chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum, whereas for P. malariae, P. vivax and P. ovale infections treatment with chloroquine plus primaquine is also recommended. For uncomplicated chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum infections many treatment regimens are available. Management of complications is also analyzed.

[Malaria epidemiology]. / Epidemiologia della malaria.

The investigators examine the worldwide epidemiological aspects of malaria infection, stressing the importance of possible alternative pathways of Plasmodium transmission in countries considered free of infection. The potential danger due to the persistence in Italy of the Anopheles mosquito, which could resume its role as a vector of Plasmodium in the future, is pointed out.

[Antimalarial chemoprophylaxis in pregnancy]. / La chemioprofilassi antimalarica in corso di gravidanza.

The drugs available for malaria chemoprophylaxis in pregnancy and their posology, side-effect in pregnant women and foetus are analyzed particularly for areas of high multidrug resistance. Chloroquine and proguanil are the most used with few side-effects, while pyrimethamine is recommended only for chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum spp.

[Antimalarial chemoprophylaxis in children]. / La chemioprofilassi antimalarica in età pediatrica.

In early age, drugs without side effects are required for malaria chemoprophylaxis. Several regimens are available for drug-resistant plasmodium spp in many countries.

[Changes in the levels of serum zinc in chronic hepatopathy]. / Variazioni dei livelli dello zinco sierico in corso di epatopatia cronica.

Serum zinc levels were investigated in patients with chronic liver diseases and in control subjects. The results shows that serum zinc was significantly decreased in patients with chronic liver diseases, in contrast to controls. Zinc deficiency seems to be related to hepatic injury and not to alcoholic intake.

[Effect of methadone administration on MHV-3 virus-induced experimental hepatitis in the mouse]. / Effetto della somministrazione di metadone sulla epatite sperimentale del topo da virus MHV-3.

Mice treated with 15 mg/Kg/day methadone and infected with MHV-3 virus after 7 days did not show increased susceptibility to MHV-3 virus infection, did not develop more serious forms of hepatitis and not mortality did not increase with respect to the controls. Drug administration was continued for the duration of the experiment.

[There exists an epidemiology of Legionella pneumophila in our country]. / Esiste un'epidemiologia della Legionella pneumophila nel nostro paese.

The authors, after a brief relation on contribution given by international publications, relates about their study on Legionellosis epidemiology based on seroconversion results obtained comparing six different serotypes, precisely the ones from 1 to 6, over a sample of people living in the areas surrounding the two italian cities of Rome and Siena. This study has given proof of an high, and unaspected, seroconversion (over 27%) caused by Legionella Pneumophila. Titer was equal to or higher than 64, and there was a significantly higher incidence given by serotype 6 in both the examined areas.

[Investigations on herpes 1 and 2 infections]. / Indagini sull'infezione-malattia da herpes 1 e 2.

The authors carried out a research on diffusion of Herpes virus 1 and 2 investigating specific serous antibodies over a sample of 1660 women living in Roma and in the surrounding area aged between 14 and 40 years; 595 of them were suspected to have an Herpes infection. The results of this research confirmed an high frequency of Herpes 1 and 2 infection in the examined sample. In order to correlate better the outcomes obtained by the investigation on the suspected sample 102 vaginal smear, executed on women suspected to have a developed infection, have been examined. The issues confirmed that it's useful to execute cytoimmunologic research in so far as such method seems to give more certainty in infection and disease identification than seroconversion investigation.

[Yersinia enterocolitica infection has taken hold even in our country]. / L'infezione da Yersinia enterocolitica e' da tenere presente anche nel nostro paese.

The Yersinia enterocolitis is a kind of disease whose diffusion is gradually increasing in North Europe. The authors relates about the outcomes of a serum-immunologic research conducted during the period 1982-84 on a sample of 965 adults coming from three different italian districts (Roma, Siena, Napoli) and 65 children coming from Napoli. They interpret antibody titers painted out by their research comparing them with ones reported in bibliography. The issue of this research, even if it was conducted only in three bordering central-southern Italy regions, can anticipate an indicative epidemiological image of this Country.