PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Manzillo

Publications and source records attributed to G Manzillo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Risk factors for acute hepatitis B: a case-control study.

Over the period 1989-1991 a case-control study was carried out in the area of Naples comparing 162 subjects with acute hepatitis B and 788 hospitalized control subjects. The results of multivariate analysis showed that surgical intervention (odds ratio 3.8; 95% CI 1.2-11.7), household contact with an hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive carrier (odds ratio 2.7; 95% CI 1.1-6.7) and intravenous drug use (odds ratio 13.0; 95% CI 3.2-52.7) were risk factors independently associated with hepatitis B. No association was found with the other risk factors considered, such as blood transfusion, hospitalization, other percutaneous exposures, dental therapy, contact with an icteric case, barber shop shaving and two or more sexual partners. As a significant proportion of the general population undergoes surgical intervention, efficient procedures for sterilization of instruments should be implemented, together with the use of disposable materials, to control the spread of HBV infection in surgical settings.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1995

Case control study of risk factors for hepatitis A: Naples 1990-1991. Hepatitis Collaborating Group.

An increased incidence of hepatitis A was observed in Naples from 1990-1991. A hospital-based case-control study was carried out to evaluate the relative importance of various risk factors. A hundred and ninety-eight cases and 238 hospital controls were recruited during the study period. The strongest association was contact with a jaundiced person among children. A correlation was also shown for children and adults with raw shellfish consumption and pre-school nursery attendance or presence in the household of children attending pre-school nurseries. History of travel and intravenous drug use were risk factors for adult subjects. Considering the relative importance of the specific risk factors we found that 38% of the acute hepatitis A cases were attributable to contact with a jaundiced person, 15% to presence in the household of children attending pre-school nurseries and 28% to raw shellfish consumption.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1994

Risk factors for acute non-A, non-B hepatitis and their relationship to antibodies for hepatitis C virus: a case-control study.

A case-control study was carried out comparing 333 case subjects with non-A, non-B hepatitis and 1095 hospital control subjects. Of 333 case subjects, 197 (59%) were positive for hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV). Excluding blood transfusion and intravenous drug use, surgical intervention and dental therapy were strongly associated with anti-HCV-positive cases: in particular, obstetric and gynecology surgical intervention was found to be strongly associated with HCV positivity (odds ratio [OR] = 32; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7, 147). Raw shellfish consumption was a risk factor for anti-HCV-negative cases (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.0, 5.1), thus suggesting an enterically transmitted virus in sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis in Italy.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Typhoid fever in the Neapolitan area: a case-control study.

Typhoid fever is endemic in the Neapolitan area, where its yearly incidence rate largely exceeds the corresponding national figure. During the period from January to June, 1990, a matched case-control study was carried out in order to identify risk factors of the disease in this area; 51 subjects (mean age 27.2 years) with typhoid fever were compared with 102 controls matched with respect to age, sex and educational level. Consumption of raw shellfish was reported by 76.5% of the cases, as opposed to 19.6% of the controls (P < 0.01). Subjects who had eaten this food item had a 13.3-fold risk (C.I. 95% = 5.5 - 32.8) of contracting typhoid fever. In contrast, no risk was found to be associated with consumption of cooked shellfish, raw vegetables, ice-cream, non-potable water, or unpasteurized milk. The risk factor identified in this study shows that hazardous dietary habits and inadequate sewage treatment facilities, combined with lack of sanitation in the harvesting and marketing of shellfish, play a major role in the endemicity of typhoid fever in the Neapolitan area.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1990

Vaccine-induced escape mutant of hepatitis B virus.

In southern Italy, 44 contacts of hepatitis B virus carriers, including infants of carrier mothers, became HBsAg positive despite passive and active immunisation according to standard protocols. In 32 of these vaccinees infection was confirmed by the presence of additional markers of viral replication. In 1 infant, serious disease occurred. The virus from this patient is an escape mutant with a different sequence from that of the isolate from the mother. A point mutation from guanosine to adenosine at nucleotide position 587 resulted in an aminoacid substitution from glycine to arginine in the highly antigenic a determinant of HBsAg. This mutation is stable: it is present in an isolate from the child 5 years later. In some of these patients, including this child, the a determinant, to which a large part of the vaccine-induced immunity is directed, has been partly lost. Binding to HBsAg of a monoclonal antibody, previously mapped to the region of the mutation, was reduced in the child relative to that of the mother.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1990

Oral S-adenosylmethionine in the symptomatic treatment of intrahepatic cholestasis. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Parenteral S-adenosylmethionine proved to be effective in reversing intrahepatic cholestasis in pregnant women. Based on these findings, a prospective multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was planned to assess whether oral S-adenosylmethionine is effective in cholestatic patients with chronic liver disease. Accordingly, 220 inpatients (26% chronic active hepatitis, 68% cirrhosis, 6% primary biliary cirrhosis) with stable (1 month or more) at least twofold increases in serum total and conjugated bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase volunteered for the trial. Serum markers of cholestasis significantly (P less than 0.01) decreased after oral S-adenosylmethionine administration (1600 mg/day), and their values were significantly (P less than 0.01) lower than the corresponding values in the placebo group. S-adenosylmethionine significantly (P less than 0.01) improved subjective symptoms such as pruritus, fatigue, and feeling of being unwell, whereas placebo was ineffective. Two patients in the S-adenosylmethionine group and 9 controls (P less than 0.05) withdrew from the trial for reduced compliance because of inefficacy of treatment. Oral S-adenosylmethionine was tolerated to the same extent as placebo. In conclusion, short-term administration of oral S-adenosylmethionine is more effective than placebo in improving clinical and laboratory measures of intrahepatic cholestasis and offers a new therapeutic modality for the symptomatic management of this syndrome.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1988

[Anti-hepatitis B vaccination in Campania. Final observations of a 3-year vaccination campaign, with special reference to infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers].

The results obtained at the end of the first three years of a hepatitis B vaccination campaign in Campania, are reported. HEVAC-B and H-B-VAX proved innocuous and efficacious in producing anti-HBs. Newborn babies and children produced anti-HBs more often and with higher titres than adults. Titre 10 mUI/ml of anti-HBs persisted, in the responders for at least 36 months on average. AVH by HBV was observed in two adult non responders. Transplacental or delivery infection was observed in 9.3% of the babies born of HBsAg positive mothers and more often among babies born of HBeAg positive mothers. Infection by HBV was observed in 6.0% of the babies, in 4.0% of the children and in 12.0% of the adults, in spite of the production of anti-HBs. HB-antigenemia, was as a rule transitory, but sometimes fluctuating or persistent. Careful observation during a prolonged follow up is necessary for these subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

[Maternal-fetal transmission of hepatitis B virus. Follow-up study of 21 infants born to HBSAG-positive mothers, and 6 born to HBSAG-negative mothers with anti-HBV antibodies].

Vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) was studied in 21 mother-infant pairs. A transient HBs-antigenemia was observed in 60% of the 10 children born to HBsAg healthy carrier mothers and 91% of the 11 babies born to mothers with HBsAg-positive CAH. Among the 16 children showing HBs-antigenemia, 3 developed acute viral hepatitis two of whom showed progression to chronicity.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1980

Serum levels of hepatitis B surface and core antigens during immunosuppressive treatment of HBsAg-positive chronic active hepatitis.

One of the following treatments was randomly assigned to 101 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven chronic active hepatitis: prednisone 20 mg daily, azathioprine 100 mg daily, prednisone 20 mg and azathioprine 50 mg daily, or B vitamins 2 tablets daily (control group). Patients were observed at the beginning of the study, then at 2, 6, and 12 months after treatment. At each visit levels of HBsAg and Dane-particle-associated core-antigen (HBcAg) and their corresponding antibodies were determined. 42 patients were HBcAg positive at the beginning of the study. Of these 42 patients, the 34 who were under treatment remained HBcAg positive and showed a rise in HBcAg titre, while the 8 who were not treated had a fall in HBcAg titre (6 patients) or became HBcAg negative (2 patients) in 6 months. Among 59 patients who were HBcAg negative at the beginning of the study, this antigen became persistently detectable in 40% of the 42 patients who were treated, and was transiently present in 2 (12%) out of the 17 untreated patients (p < 0.05). Our data indicate that long-term prednisone and/or azathioprine treatments favour the replication of hepatitis-B virus in patients with HBsAg-positive chronic active hepatitis.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1979

Abnormal steroid sulfate in plasma of women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.

Concentrations of numerous sulfate steroids were checked in the plasma of 10 women in normal pregnancy (NP), 21 women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) and 10 pregnant women suffering from viral hepatitis with jaundice (VHP). A considerable increase in 5 alpha pregnane and 5 beta pregnane 3 alpha, 20 alpha diols, mono- and disulfates and in 5 alpha pregnane 3 beta, 20 alpha diols disulfates was observed only in ICP and not in VHP. This observation permits us to hypothesize that these hormone changes can have a causative role in the pathogenesis of ICP.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1978

[Presence of Salmonella wien in Campania in 1974-75].

Salmonella wien was detected in various patients admitted to the D. Cotugno Hospital between May 1974 and June 1975. Strains isolated in Naples showed the same in vitro transferable resistance to antibiotics as those responsible for the recent epidemics in Algeria and France.

Algeria↗
PubMed1978

The significance of the Australia antigen (HBsAg) persistent healthy carrier "status": a long-term follow-up study of 34 cases.

Thirty-four persistent healthy carriers of HBsAg (serum HBsAg detectable for longer than 3 months with normal liver function tests and normal liver histology or slight aspecific abnormalities) were discovered by routine testing of household relatives of B virus hepatitis patients. The carriers were followed-up for 11 to 37 months by clinical control, liver function tests and liver needle biopsy. None carrier had previous jaundice. During the follow-up period, in 17 of the 34 subjects, was there no evidence of deterioration in either clinical state, liver function of pathological findings. In 5 of the 34 carriers, HBsAg disappeared from serum after a period ranging from 6 to 12 months. The remaining 12 cases developed clinical and histological picture of acute viral hepatitis after 6 to 29 months (mean 12 months). Of these 12 patients, 6 recovered and become HBsAg; 2 remained HBsAg healthy carriers despite normalization of biochemical and histological abnormalities; 3 progressed from the acute stage to antigen positive CAH. The remaining one case could not be followed-up after the acute hepatitis. Our data indicate that the outcome of the HBsAg carrier state is unpredictable and stress the need of long-term follow-up surveillance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Total body wash-out in patients with fulminant hepatitis.

Two patients with fulminant hepatic necrosis and in stage IV coma were treated with a rapid infusion of refrigerated buffered albumin electrolyte solution combined with simultaneous total body wash-out in order to remove the circulating neurotoxins and to provide additional time for liver regeneration. Both patients awoke from the coma following treatment. One patient recovered completely, the other died on the second day as a result of massive gastro-intestinal bleeding. The clinical value and the technical problems of the procedure are investigated.

Adult↗