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The Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department of University of Brescia organized free rapid screening tests for HIV and HCV as part of the Fast Track City commitment. A cross-sectional study was conducted, consisting of an anonymous, multiple-choice questionnaire that was administered to individuals who underwent the screening or consultation. The study aimed to compare knowledge and attitudes towards HIV and HCV between age groups (18-40 vs. >40) and sexual orientations (heterosexual vs. LGBTQ+). Overall, 333 questionnaires were completed. Individuals over the age of 40 and those who identified as heterosexual had the lowest level of knowledge about HIV transmission (7.9% and 30% respectively), undetectable=untransmittable (19.7% and 39.4% respectively) and PrEP (9.2% and 18.2% respectively). They were also less willing to cohabit with people with HIV (PLHIV). Only 9.6% of the population demonstrated high levels of knowledge for both HIV and HCV. People over the age of 40 had the largest gaps in knowledge and would benefit the most from educational and prevention interventions.

Purpose Since the first Italian case of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in Lombardy (Northern Italy) Italy quickly became one of the worst-affected European countries, with a severe impact on health-care workers (HCWs). In the first epidemic, HCWs accounted for 12% of all national COVID-19 cases. We evaluated the burden of COVID-19 among HCWs and other non-health-care workers (nHCWs) in a large Italian hospital. Methods From March 1st to May 31st 2020, we performed a retrospective study at ASST Civil Hospital, in the Province of Brescia, Lombardy. The study population included all hospital personnel (n = 9265), categorized by professional status. Results A SARS-CoV-2 test was performed in 3572 workers (38.5%), with a positive result in 552 (5.9% of all hospital personnel). The temporal trend of SARS-CoV-2 cases in hospital staff broadly reflected that in the community, with a great majority of infections occurred during March 2020 (87.7%). From April onward, a steep decrease of positive cases was observed among hospital personnel, while in the community the decrease was much slower. Medical doctors (8.9%) and nurses (8.5%) were the most affected professional categories with a significantly higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR 1.436 and OR 1.410, respectively p p Conclusion HCWs were severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, probably associated with an overwhelming burden of work and lack of preparedness in prevention of nosocomial transmission of the infection. The rapid decrease of COVID-19 spread in the hospital, registered before the one in the community, suggests that the adopted preventive measures were effective.

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a global shortage of medical masks, leaving most exposed health personnel without appropriate protection.Since the beginning of the outbreak, the World Health Organization WHO) has revised several times the recommendations on general use of facemasks. Until recently, WHO recommended to limit the use of facemasks to symptomatic people and advised against off-standard solutions. Moreover, recommendations differ among and within countries, causing public confusion and individual initiative.There is wide consensus that universal appropriate use of masks may contribute both to contain the epidemic and to reduce the burden on national procurement, if a community production approach is followed. Especially in low-middle income countries, due to the scarce capacity of national industrial production or import, the use of masks produced at community level may become the only viable option. For the purpose ad hoc guidelines will be needed.Current knowledge and experience call for further and updated review of global and national guidelines to provide clear and consistent criteria to ensure the widest availability and appropriate use of facial protection, bearing in mind populations in socio-economic disadvantaged settings.

As Italy is approaching a new phase in the response to the COVID-19 epidemic, the analysis of policy choices and their impact offer a useful learning opportunity. Lombardy and Veneto, two neighbouring Regions with comparable socio-economic features, implemented different policies in response to the epidemic, which resulted in divergent outcomes.

Since the early stage of the current pandemic, digital contact tracing (DCT) through mobile phone apps, called “Immuni”, has been introduced to complement manual contact tracing in Italy. Until 31 December 2021, Immuni identified 44,880 COVID-19 cases, which corresponds to less than 1% of total COVID-19 cases reported in Italy in the same period (5,886,411). Overall, Immuni generated 143,956 notifications. Although the initial download of the Immuni app represented an early interest in the new tool, Immuni has had little adoption across the Italian population, and the recent increase in its download is likely to be related to the mandatory Green Pass certification for conducting most daily activities that can be obtained via the application. Therefore, Immuni failed as a support tool for the contact tracing system. Other European experiences seem to show similar limitations in the use of DTC, leaving open questions about its effectiveness, although in theory, contact tracing could allow useful means of “proximity tracking”.

Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals faced increasing pressure, where people living with HIV risked to either acquire SARS-CoV-2 and to interrupt the HIV continuum of care. Methods This is a retrospective, observational study. We compared the numbers of medical visits performed, antiretroviral drugs dispensed and the number of new HIV diagnosis and of hospitalizations in a cohort of people living with HIV (PLWH) followed by the Spedali Civili of Brescia between the bimester of the COVID-19 pandemic peak and the bimester of October–November 2019. Data were retrieved from administrative files and from paper and electronic clinical charts. Categorical variables were described using frequencies and percentages, while continuous variables were described using mean, median, and interquartile range (IQR) values. Means for continuous variables were compared using Student’s t-tests and the Mann–Whitney test. Proportions for categorical variables were compared using the χ2 test. Results As of December 31st, 2019, a total of 3875 PLWH were followed in our clinic. Mean age was 51.4 ± 13 years old, where 28% were females and 18.8% non-Italian. Overall, 98.9% were on ART (n = 3834), 93% were viro-suppressed. A total of 1217 and 1162 patients had their visit scheduled at our out-patient HIV clinic during the two bimesters of 2019 and 2020, respectively. Comparing the two periods, we observed a raise of missed visits from 5 to 8% (p p = 0.01), a drop in ART dispensation and an increase of hospitalized HIV patients due to COVID-19. ART regimens including protease inhibitors (PIs) had a smaller average drop than ART not including PIs (16.6 vs 21.6%, p Conclusions Our experience highlights the importance of a resilient healthcare system and the need to implement new strategies in order to guarantee the continuum of HIV care even in the context of emergency.

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals faced increasing pressure, where people living with HIV risked to either acquire SARS-CoV-2 and to interrupt the HIV continuum of care.Methods: this is a retrospective, observational study. We compared the numbers of medical visits performed, antiretroviral drugs dispensed and the number of new HIV diagnosis and of hospitalizations in a cohort of people living with HIV (PLWH) followed by the Spedali Civili of Brescia between the bimester of the COVID-19 pandemic peak and the bimester of October-November 2019. Data were retrieved from administrative files and from paper and electronic clinical charts. Categorical variables were described using frequencies and percentages, while continuous variables were described using mean, median, and interquartile range (IQR) values. Means for continuous variables were compared using Student’s t-tests and the Mann-Whitney test. Proportions for categorical variables were compared using the χ2 test.Results: As of December 31st, 2019, a total of 3875 PLWH were followed in our clinic. Mean age was 51,4 ±13 years old, where 28% were females and 18.8% non-Italian. Overall, 98.9% were on ART (n=3834), 93% were viro-suppressed. A total of 1217 and 1162 patients had their visit scheduled at our out-patient HIV clinic during the two bimesters of 2019 and 2020, respectively. Comparing the two periods, we observed a raise of missed visits from 5% to 8% (p and an increase of hospitalized HIV patients due to COVID-19. ART regimens including protease inhibitors (PIs) had a smaller average drop than ART not including PIs (16,6% vs 21,6%, pConclusions: Our experience highlights the importance of a resilient healthcare system and the need to implement new strategies in order to guarantee the continuum of HIV care even in the context of emergency.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals faced increasing pressure, where HIV patients risked to either acquire SARS-Cov-2 and to interrupt the HIV continuum of care.Methods: retrospective, observational study. We compared the numbers of medical visits performed, antiretroviral drugs dispensed and the number of new HIV diagnosis and of hospitalizations in a cohort of HIV patients followed by the Spedali Civili of Brescia, between the bimester of the COVID-19 pandemic peak and the bimester of October-November 2019.Results: We observed a reduction in the number of new HIV diagnosis from 6.4 in 2019 to 2.5 per month in 2020, a raise of missed visits from 5% to 8%, a drop in ART dispensation especially for not-protease inhibitors and an increase of hospitalized HIV patients due to COVID-19.Conclusions: Our experience highlights the importance of a resilient healthcare system and the need to implement new strategies in order to guarantee the continuum of HIV care even in the context of emergency.

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a global shortage of medical masks, leaving most exposed health personnel without appropriate protection. Since the beginning of the outbreak, the World Health Organization WHO) has revised several times the recommendations on general use of facemasks. Until recently, WHO recommended to limit the use of facemasks to symptomatic people and advised against off-standard solutions. Moreover, recommendations differ among and within countries, causing public confusion and individual initiative. There is wide consensus that universal appropriate use of masks may contribute both to contain the epidemic and to reduce the burden on national procurement, if a community production approach is followed. Especially in low-middle income countries, due to the scarce capacity of national industrial production or import, the use of masks produced at community level may become the only viable option. For the purpose ad hoc guidelines will be needed. Current knowledge and experience call for further and updated review of global and national guidelines to provide clear and consistent criteria to ensure the widest availability and appropriate use of facial protection, bearing in mind populations in socio-economic disadvantaged settings.

It is important to recognise the impact of COVID-19 on TB care to mitigate its consequences. TB services have an urgent need to identify novel strategies to ensure the continuum of TB care at the time of the coronavirus pandemic. https://bit.ly/2OIKnwL