Three cases of ophthalmomyiasis externa by sheep botfly Oestrus ovis in Italy.

Human infection with the sheep nasal botfly Oestrus ovis is sporadic and is often the consequence of an accidental deposit of the larvae by an adult botfly in the eye. This infestation results in external ophthalmomyiasis that, although a very rare condition, is more common among people living close to farming communities. We report three cases of O. ovis infestation which occurred in Italy in a limited area of La Spezia province (Le Cinque Terre), Italy during summer 2004. None of the patients had contact with wild or farm animals.

Safety of MF-59 adjuvanted vaccine for pandemic influenza: results of the vaccination campaign in an Italian health district.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009 led health authorities to promptly start massive vaccination campaigns. Due to the need of shortening time for development and approval, the pandemic vaccine was prepared by mock-up strategy, and limited safety data were available upon starting vaccine administration. AIMS: To determine the frequencies and clinical features of adverse events (AEs) observed in a population of subjects of an Italian health district receiving pandemic vaccination. The risk for the development of at least one AE was calculated for patients receiving H1N1 vaccine only or H1N1+seasonal vaccine. METHODS: This prospective observational study was performed on the population of La Spezia Health District scheduled to receive pandemic MF-59-adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine. Subjects were enrolled at the time of vaccine administration and followed up at least for 6 months. The study population was stratified in two subgroups defined by administration of H1N1 vaccine only or H1N1+seasonal vaccine. AEs were recorded during the first hour following vaccine administration (early AEs) and through periodic telephonic interviews (delayed AEs). RESULTS: An overall number of 506 subjects receiving pandemic vaccine were enrolled (H1N1 only: 131 subjects; H1N1+seasonal: 375 subjects). 233 AEs occurred throughout the study period. Among them, 211 were resolved, while 22 were ongoing at the last available follow-up. Adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) for the development of at least one AE was 1.14 (0.77-1.69) for H1N1 only group vs H1N1+seasonal group. Patients with a nervous system AE were more frequent in the H1N1+seasonal group (adjusted IRR: 2.33; 95%CI: 1.04-5.23). Only two cases of ischemic stroke, both in the H1N1+seasonal vaccine group, occurred in patients with cardiovascular risk factors, were classified as serious AEs. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, the MF59-adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine was generally well tolerated. AEs were usually transient and mild to moderate in intensity. Our findings support the validity of mock-up strategy for rapid development of a safe vaccine in the emergency of a pandemic influenza.

Detection of multiple noroviruses associated with an international gastroenteritis outbreak linked to oyster consumption.

An international outbreak linked to oyster consumption involving a group of over 200 people in Italy and 127 total subjects in 13 smaller clusters in France was analyzed using epidemiological and clinical data and shellfish samples. Environmental information from the oyster-producing area, located in a lagoon in southern France, was collected to investigate the possible events leading to the contamination. Virologic analyses were conducted by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) using the same primer sets for both clinical and environmental samples. After sequencing, the data were analyzed through the database operated by the scientific network FoodBorne Viruses in Europe. The existence of an international collaboration between laboratories was critical to rapidly connect the data and to fully interpret the results, since it was not obvious that one food could be the link because of the diversity of the several norovirus strains involved in the different cases. It was also demonstrated that heavy rain was responsible for the accidental contamination of seafood, leading to a concentration of up to hundreds of genomic copies per oyster as detected by real-time RT-PCR.