Exploring Knowledge and Awareness of HCV Infection and Screening Test: A Cross-Sectional Survey Among an Italian Sample.

Addressing HCV represents a public health priority, especially in Italy, which has the highest HCV prevalence in Europe. This study primarily aimed to explore knowledge about the HCV infection and awareness of the existence of the HCV screening test in Italy, before the implementation of awareness campaigns in 2022. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted (December 2021-January 2022). The primary outcomes were: Disease Knowledge Score (DKS), Prevention and Transmission Knowledge Score (PTKS) (for both: scoring from 0 to 100%, higher scores corresponded to higher knowledge), and being unaware of the existence of the HCV screening. The final sample consisted of 813 participants. The median DKS was 75% (IQR = 66.7-83.3), the median PTKS was 46.2% (IQR = 38.5-53.8), and 23.2% of participants were unaware of HCV screening. Higher education, health-related study or profession, history of accidental injuries, being affected by HCV and having actively searched for information on HCV had positive associations with DKS. LGBT males showed significantly lower DKS. Considering PTKS, participants affected by HCV the disease had a negative association with this score. Having a postgraduate education reduced the likelihood of not knowing about the HCV screening test, while having at least one family member affected by hepatitis C increased this probability. This study highlighted a concerning lack of knowledge about prevention and transmission, indicating a need for targeted education campaigns. The findings emphasized the importance of information and motivation and identified male LGBT + individuals as a vulnerable group with limited disease knowledge. Future research should concern the effectiveness of awareness campaigns.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Strategies Including Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) for Pediatric Patients with Upper-Respiratory-Tract Infections in Primary Care: A Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations.

Upper-respiratory-tract infections (URTIs) are among the main causes of antibiotic prescriptions in pediatric patients. Over one-third of all antibiotic prescriptions for URTIs in children are estimated to be inappropriate, as the majority of URTIs are caused by viral agents. Several strategies, including clinical scoring algorithms and different point-of-care tests (POCTs) have been developed to help discriminate bacterial from viral URTIs in the outpatient clinical setting. A systematic review of the literature was conducted following PRISMA guidelines with the objective of summarizing evidence from health-economic evaluations on the use of POCT for URTIs in pediatric outpatients. A total of 3375 records identified from four databases and other sources were screened, of which 8 met the inclusion criteria. Four studies were classified as being of high reporting quality, and three were of medium quality. Five out of eight studies concluded in favor of strategies that included POCTs, with an additional study finding several POCTs to be cost-effective compared to usual care but over an acceptable WTP threshold. This review found POCT could be a valuable tool for antimicrobial stewardship strategies targeted towards childhood URTIs in primary care.

Booster Doses of Anti COVID-19 Vaccines: An Overview of Implementation Policies among OECD and EU Countries.

The need for an anti-COVID-19 booster dose posed an organizational challenge for health policy makers worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the health policies regarding the booster dose through an overview of recommendations issued in high-income countries. Between 10 November and 16 December 2021, the authors searched for state-level official documents about the offer of the booster dose, considering the 43 countries belonging to the European Union (EU) or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Mainly due to the lack of English translation, 15 countries were excluded. A total of 135 documents were selected. Almost all the countries started administering the booster dose between September and November 2021. The most used products were mRNA vaccines, followed by Vaxzevria-AstraZeneca and Jcovden-Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. All countries established criteria to define categories of individuals to be vaccinated as a priority. A six/five-months interval was the main choice for general population vaccinated with mRNA vaccines, while shorter intervals were chosen for vulnerable individuals or other vaccines. Despite diversities related to the differences in health systems, economical resources, and population numbers, and the need to adapt all these factors to a massive vaccination campaign, a progressive convergence towards the same vaccination policies was highlighted.