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Updated data on genital Mollicutes prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility can help provide guidance for antibiotic stewardship and set up effective strategies for infection control policies. In this multicentre study, we assessed the prevalence and the resistance profile of Mycoplasma hominis (MH) and Ureaplasma species (U. parvum/U. urealyticum), analyzing data from 21,210 subjects who provided urogenital samples for Mollicutes detection by culture over a 5-year period (2017–2021) in two high-density urban areas in the North of Italy (i.e., Bologna and Lecco). Overall prevalence of Mollicutes infection was 22.3%, with women showing a significantly higher detection rate than men (p < 0.00001). The prevalence decreased with age (highest prevalence <30 years) and over the years considered. Ureaplasma strains were much more frequently detected (62.3%) compared to MH (8.3%) and to mixed infections (29.4%). Ureaplasma species showed high levels of ciprofloxacin resistance (39.5%), whereas MH strains were nonsusceptible to azithromycin and roxithromycin in about 60% of cases. Over time, a significant decrease of resistance to azithromycin and doxycycline was detected (p < 0.0001 and 0.0004, respectively), in parallel with an important increase of ciprofloxacin-resistance levels (p < 0.0001). Overall, our results revealed that minocycline and josamycin can be first-line drugs for Mollicutes empirical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gold standard for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT). However, rapid antigen detection kits (Ag-RDTs), may offer advantages over NAAT in mass screening, generating results in minutes, both as laboratory-based test or point-of-care (POC) use for clinicians, at a lower cost. We assessed two different POC Ag-RDTs in mass screening versus NAAT for SARS-CoV-2 in a cohort of pediatric patients admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Unit of IRCCS—Polyclinic of Sant'Orsola, Bologna (from November 2020 to April 2021). All patients were screened with nasopharyngeal swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2-RNA and for antigen tests. Results were obtained from 1146 patients. The COVID-19 Ag FIA kit showed a baseline sensitivity of 53.8% (CI 35.4–71.4%), baseline specificity 99.7% (CI 98.4–100%) and overall accuracy of 80% (95% CI 0.68–0.91); the AFIAS COVID-19 Ag kit, baseline sensitivity of 86.4% (CI 75.0–93.9%), baseline specificity 98.3% (CI 97.1–99.1%) and overall accuracy of 95.3% (95% CI 0.92–0.99). In both tests, some samples showed very low viral load and negative Ag-RDT. This disagreement may reflect the positive inability of Ag-RDTs of detecting antigen in late phase of infection. Among all cases with positive molecular test and negative antigen test, none showed viral loads > 106 copies/mL. Finally, we found one false Ag-RDTs negative result (low cycle thresholds; 9 × 105 copies/mL). Our results suggest that both Ag-RDTs showed good performances in detection of high viral load samples, making it a feasible and effective tool for mass screening in actively infected children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aim: Symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD) is characterized by abdominal pain, bloating and altered bowel habits (constipation or diarrhea) attributed to diverticula in the absence of macroscopic mucosal alterations. There is no consensus about management of these patients. DIVER-100®, an association of natural active ingredients may be effective in the treatment of patients with SUDD. The aim was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of DIVER-100® in patients with SUDD. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study to evaluate the efficacy of DIVER-100® in consecutive patients with SUDD, confirmed by radiology or endoscopy. All patients were treated with DIVER-100® 2 capsules/day 10 days per month, for 3 months. The primary endpoint was the clinical remission rate, defined as the reduction of abdominal pain and bloating, improvement of bowel habits and prevention of acute diverticulitis (AD). The secondary endpoint was the rate of adverse events. Results: One hundred and one patients were consecutively enrolled at the Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology Unit, Sant'Orsola Hospital, Bologna, Italy. DIVER-100® was effective in inducing remission of symptoms in 12 patients (11.9%) at 3 months and in 10 patients (9.9%) at 6 months. DIVER-100® significantly reduced abdominal pain and bloating in 45.5% and 57.4% of patients respectively (p <0.001) after 3 months. No episodes of AD and no adverse events related to DIVER--100® were recorded at month 6 in the study population. Conclusions: DIVER-100® is a safe and effective nutraceutical compound in obtaining remission and symptom relief in SUDD patients. Further randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials are needed to confirm these preliminary data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]