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Healthcare workers (HCWs) are considered high-risk subjects for Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection due to occupational exposure to blood and body fluids. Vaccination represents the core strategy for HBV infection prevention. Following our previous publication on this topic, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of booster vaccine doses in eliciting the immunological response in seronegative (

Blood lactate concentration is known to be a good prognostic indicator associated with the severity of illness and the patient's outcome both in human and veterinary medicine. It also plays a significant role in the assessment of the newborn, being a good indicator of fetal hypoxia and the ideal predictor of morbidity at term in babies. In veterinary neonatal medicine, hyperlactatemia is considered a valid prognostic marker in critically ill foals; moreover, blood lactate measurement has been proposed for the evaluation of newborn viability and the assessment of fetal distress during delivery in dogs. Unfortunately, only a few studies have been published concerning the canine species. The present work examines 67 brachycephalic newborn dogs and their mothers, with the aim to evaluate the time-dependent changes of blood lactate and glucose concentration during the first 24 h after vaginal or caesarean delivery both in puppies and bitches. To our knowledge, this is the first published study examining the time-dependent changes of these parameters in the bitch after parturition. Within the studied population of puppies, non-surviving was significantly associated with a higher lactatemia and a lower APGAR score. Blood lactate was high at birth then progressively decreased during the first 24 h of life and a lack of normalization of blood lactate levels within this time interval was suggestive for a poor prognosis for the newborn dogs; moreover, the decrease appeared to be slower after vaginal delivery. Lactatemia also showed a positive correlation with glycemia at birth. Concerning the bitches examined, blood lactate was found to be significantly higher after vaginal delivery than after caesarean section; the normalization occurred within 24 h after parturition. Blood glucose level was significantly higher at 2 h from delivery both in the group of bitches submitted to caesarean section and in those undergoing natural whelping but no statistical correlation was found between maternal glycemia and lactatemia. The results of the present study highlighted that the monitoring of lactatemia during the first 24 h of life, in association with the assessment of the APGAR score at birth, can be an useful prognostic tool helping to identify the most severely distressed puppies and to provide them an adequate support.

Universal vaccination programmes against Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) have significantly reduced the burden of the disease; nevertheless, HBV infection remains a relevant issue for high-risk subjects, such as healthcare workers (HCWs), who may potentially be exposed to blood or body fluids. Our study evaluates the long-term duration of the immunological memory of HBV vaccination 11-23 years after primary immunization by examining the response to booster doses in HCWs and students of health disciplines at Careggi Teaching Hospital in Florence (Italy). All participants (n = 2,203) had received a complete HBV immunization course in infancy or adolescence. Blood samples were collected to measure antibody levels against the HBV surface antigen (anti-HBs); an anti-HBs titre10 mIU/mL was considered as negative. The administration of the vaccination course during infancy induced lower long-term anti-HBs titres compared to those in case of vaccination performed during adolescence (titre10 mIU/mL: 51.1% and 12.2% respectively; p0.001), also considering that an equal number of years has elapsed since vaccination. A booster dose administered to subjects vaccinated in infancy is able to induce anamnestic immunological response in a higher percentage of vaccinated people (p0.001). Few subjects (n. = 4) accepted a fifth dose of vaccine in the case of persistent anti-HBs negative titres; this aspect requires further investigation. The total absence of acute hepatitis B among vaccinated subjects suggests that the long incubation period of the disease allows the activation of immunologic memory mechanisms, which is also true in case of low anti-HBs level. In conclusion HCWs still represent a high-risk category; it is therefore, necessary to increase efforts to protect and vaccinate these subjects.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence that different protocols of urethral catheterization after pharmacological induction (Ur.Ca.P.I.) may have on the semen quality of the domestic cat. The study has been divided into two experiments: one in which different dosages of medetomidine administrated are evaluated and the second one in which the timing of the catheterization after pharmacological induction is tested. In the first experiment, 18 cats were sedated with the recommended dosage of medetomidine (130 μg/kg i.m.) while the other 18 were sedated with a lower dose of the same drug (50 μg/kg i.m.). In the second experiment, three groups were implemented, each containing 25 subjects. In group 1, the semen collection was performed immediately once the pharmacological effect of the drug was reached; in group 2, the semen collection was performed three times every 5 min after the pharmacological effect was reached; finally, in group 3, Ur.Ca.P.I. was performed 20 min after the pharmacological effect was reached. All the different protocols permitted sperm collection, nevertheless the first experiment showed a better quality in terms of volume, concentration, total number of spermatozoa (p < 0.01) and quality of the movement (motility p < 0.05 and forward progressive motility p < 0.01), using a high medetomidine dosage rather than 50 μg/kg i.m. In the second experiment, forward motility was statistically higher (p < 0.01) in the first group and total volume was higher (p < 0.01) in the second and third group, while other parameters were statistically not different. Results suggest that a single catheterization immediately after the onset of the pharmacological effect leads to a good-quality semen with the lowest possibility of damaging the urethra and that a sedation with 130 μg/kg of medetomidine leads to a better quality sperm collection than 50 μg/kg does.

The present study consists of two distinct parts, experiment 1 and experiment 2. In experiment 1, 13 anestrous queens were treated with a 4.7-mg deslorelin subcutaneous implant to assess its effectiveness in inducing estrus in the domestic cat. Deslorelin is currently used for the reversible suppression of ovarian and testicular activity in dogs and cats and for estrus induction in the bitch. Estrus induction is also reported in the queen but never reported with a targeted study. All the queens showed a positive response to the induction protocol, and estrus was detected within an average of 5.0 ± 2.2 days after the implant placement in 13 out of 13 subjects (100%). Seven of 13 queens exhibited behavioral manifestations of estrus, and the mean number of follicles detected at ultrasound examination was 4.8 ± 1.6 per subject. In experiment 2, three of the queens previously treated with deslorelin for estrus induction were submitted to artificial insemination through endoscopic transcervical catheterization, a new nonsurgical technique for intrauterine sperm deposition. All of them (100%) were pregnant after insemination and they gave birth to healthy litters. The study, as a whole, proves the effectiveness of the 4.7-mg deslorelin subcutaneous implants in inducing estrus in the domestic cat and is, to our knowledge, the first study assessing fertility of the induced estruses. Moreover, it shows the effectiveness of endoscopic transcervical catheterization for artificial insemination in the queen.

Feline-assisted reproduction is still not routinely performed in veterinary practice, although there is an increasing interest on the subject by cat breeders. In recent years, many techniques for artificial insemination in the domestic cat have been developed with regard to the intrauterine deposition of sperm through the catheterization of the cervix. Transcervical catheterization has been described also for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This article provides the first description of a new method for cervical catheterization, under the direct visualization of the cervix, using a rigid endoscope and a new specially designed transcervical catheter. The procedure was performed on 14 queens with a success rate of 85.71%.