Suspected transmission of tuberculosis in a maternity ward from a smear-positive nurse: preliminary results of clinical evaluations and testing of neonates potentially exposed, Rome, Italy, 1 January to 28 July 2011.

We report preventive measures adopted after tuberculosis(TB) transmission from a nurse to a newborn assessed in late July 2011. All exposed neonates born between January and July 2011 were clinically evaluated and tested by QuantiFERON TB gold in-tube; newborns testing positive were referred for prophylaxis.Of 1,340 newborns, 118 (9%) tested positive and no other active cases of TB were found. Active surveillance for TB will be continued over the next three years for all those exposed.

[Virus C hepatitis: successful therapy in a health care worker]. / Epatite C: la vittoria della terapia sul virus in un operatore sanitario.

Hepatitis C viral is a problem of population health. The World Health Organization considers Hepatitis C an epidemic, a "silent" epidemic because a patient living with Hepatitis C can be infected for decades before being discovered. Recent data show an estimated number of 170 million patients infected with hepatitis C virus in the world. Number of new infections per year has declined from an average of 240,000 in the 1980s to about 26,000 in 2004. The incidence of HCV infected patients is estimated to 500-600 new cases in a year in Italy. Chronic infection is present in 55%-85% of infected persons. Approximately one third of the patients develop cirrhosis over a number of years, which can lead to liver failure and other serious complications. There is no vaccine and no completely effective treatment. Recent data show PEG-IFN-RBV combination therapy is most effective. We describe one HCV infected individual case report with HCV genotype 1b who received combination therapy for 4 weeks. Levels of HCV RNA became undetectable after an mouth of treatment.