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Biomedical subjects

P Bonanni

Publications and source records attributed to P Bonanni.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Implementation in Italy of a universal vaccination programme against hepatitis B.

Italy was the first industrialized country to introduce mass vaccination against hepatitis B. Following the collection of epidemiological data on age-specific incidence rates of infection, a law was issued in 1991 which established mandatory immunization of neonates and 12-year-old adolescents. This strategy will lead to the protection of all subjects aged 0-24 years within 12 years and to the elimination of circulation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in a few decades. The first data on compliance with vaccination, both in infants and in adolescents, indicate the success of the programme, which was helped by good vaccination delivery services and awareness of the risks of hepatitis B both by physicians and the public. A multi-centre study on protective antibody level and kinetics over time is in progress. Preliminary results show an excellent response to vaccination. High-risk strategies will continue by actively offering HBV vaccination free of charge to all those exposed to infection via occupation or life-style. The Italian policy of universal vaccination against HBV can therefore be regarded as a model for the introduction of mass immunization into other countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Idiopathic photosensitive occipital lobe epilepsy.

We studied 10 neurologically normal patients (8 females, 2 males) aged 8-30 years (mean 17 years) who had recurrent episodes if visually induced occipital seizures. Television and computer screens were the main triggers. Seizure onset occurred between the ages of 5 and 17 years (mean 11 years). All seizures were stimulus related and began with elementary visual symptoms, followed in most patients by a slow clustering of cephalic pain, epigastric discomfort, and vomiting, with either normal of only mildly impaired responsiveness. EEG features included normal background activity, occipital spikes and waves, and a photoparoxysmal response which could be occipital, generalized, or both. Four patients also showed spontaneous generalized epileptiform abnormalities, and 3 had rolandic spikes. An Oz electrode was critical in identifying epileptiform activity in some patients. Complete seizure control was achieved in most patients with monotherapy, although occasional stimulus-related seizures occurred in 3 patients who showed a wider range of photosensitivity. These patients have an idiopathic localization-related epilepsy with age-related onset and specific mode of precipitation. Although this type of epilepsy has been reported previously, it has remained underrecognized, probably because it is difficult to differentiate clinically from migraine or from nonreflex childhood idiopathic occipital epilepsy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Occipitotemporal seizures with ictus emeticus induced by intermittent photic stimulation.

We recorded occipitotemporal seizures induced by intermittent photic stimulation in three children with brain injuries, aged 10 to 13 years. All had a history of seizures and showed occipital spikes on EEG, but were seizure free and were not being treated at the time of investigation. In all, photic stimulation induced seizures in the right occipital lobe. They were followed by clinical and EEG signs suggesting infrasylvian spreading to ipsilateral mesiotemporal limbic structures and by vomiting, appearing at late stages of the attacks. Seizure spread was very slow in two patients in whom attacks lasted 16 and 25 minutes. Patients with occipital epileptiform abnormalities presenting with ictal vomiting are often diagnosed as having vague migraine-epilepsy syndromes. We conclude that vomiting can be a late ictal phenomenon resulting from temporal lobe spread of seizures originating in the occipital lobe.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Partial trisomy of the long arm of chromosome 6. A clinical case].

The authors present the case of a child with partial trisomy of the long arm of chromosome 6 who was observed aged between 1 and 5 months and 5 years and 5 months. The kariotype shows a duplication of the distal tract (6q22.36-->qter) deriving from the imbalance of a maternal malsegregation. The phenotype is that characteristic of the syndrome: microbrachycephalia with a high and prominent forehead, "full" orbits, exophthalmos, antimongoloid palperbral fissures, hypertelorism, flattened root of the nose, antiverted nostrils, small mouth with thin lips, micrognathy, auricles with a low implantation, short and thick neck with anterior palmature, low implantation of hair at nape, reduced diameter of chest, articular retraction, clinodactilia of 5th finger, bilateral single palmar groove, hypospadia. Weight, height and cranial circumference were below the 3rd percentile. The cases of dup (6q) reported in the literature generally describe similar somatic characteristics so much so that these may represent a syndrome. However, there is considerable variation in the level of visceral and cerebral impairment, only partly attributable to the degree of chromosome imbalance. The general conditions of the probabd were good and there was no malformation of internal organs. Magnetic resonance scan of the brain showed a slight increase in the volume of the ventricular system and a slight dilatation of the subarachnoid spaces with a dysmorphic cortical pattern.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6↗
PubMed1993

Anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies and hepatitis C virus viraemia in haemodialysis patients.

Sera from 82 haemodialysis patients were tested for anti-HCV, HCV-RNA, and HBsAg. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity was monitored weekly for 2 months. Anti-HCV was positive in 31 patients (37.8%), showing different single-peptide patterns. HCV-RNA was detected in 26 anti-HCV-positive patients (84%) and also in two of 21 anti-HCV-negative patients. Twenty-seven (87%) of the 31 anti-HCV-positive patients had persistently normal ALT values; 22 of these patients were HCV-RNA positive. The four patients with elevated ALT values had HCV viraemia. HBsAg was positive in nine anti-HCV-negative patients. The close correlation between HCV viraemia and HCV status, independently of ALT values, requires that anti-HCV dialysis patients must be considered potentially infective and dialysed with reserved machines and/or in separate shifts.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Immunogenicity of a yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix-B) in healthy young adults.

In a study comparing the safety and immunogenicity of a recombinant DNA yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccine with that of a plasma-derived vaccine in young female adults, 50 subjects were vaccinated with the former and 29 with the latter vaccine according to a 0, 1, and 6 month vaccination schedule. Results indicated that the yeast-derived vaccine was safe and highly immunogenic. Two months after the second vaccine dose, 86% of subjects seroconverted, a rate which increased to 100%, 30 days after the booster dose. Moreover, anti-HBs geometric mean titres increased progressively after the first two doses and rose markedly to 1098 IU/l after the booster dose. Although similar rates of seroconversion were obtained with both vaccines, the anti-HBs GMT of the plasma-derived vaccine was higher (P less than 0.05) than that elicited by the yeast-derived vaccine.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Epidemiology of accidents related to sea-swimming in the Tuscany Region using a health-promotion strategy. Preliminary report].

In the summer season 1999 an integrated epidemiological surveillance system (involving mobile emergency medical services, first aid and tourist stations, hyperbaric medical centres, bathing attendants) of sea-bathing-related accidents was set up on the coasts of Tuscany, central Italy, aimed at health promotion and education. The pilot phase allowed to collect a first set of information on periods and time with highest incidence of events, type of assistance delivered, kind of accident (trauma or illness) and seriousness of the event as codified by emergency medical services. The pilot experience also pointed out the changes to detection tools needed in order to obtain more precise and comparable data. Such corrections, introduced during the summer season 2000, could contribute to the creation of a model with potential applications in other Italian and European coastal regions.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Persistence of circulation of Corynebacterium diphtheriae non-toxigenic strains and low prevalence of carriers in a sample of children vaccinated against diphtheria].

This study was carried out with the aim to investigate the presence of carriers of diphtheria bacillus in a sample of 1970 healthy children, 6-14 years aged, residing in eight Italian towns. Three non-toxigenic strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae biotype mitis were isolated from as many healthy children. Molecular characterization by ribotyping showed close genetic relation of two of the wild strains with the C7(b) reference strain whereas one of the wild strains showed close genetic relation with two collection strains isolated in the same geographic area (Emilia-Romagna) from diphtheria patients in the seventy years. This supports the hypothesis of the persistence of some non toxigenic C. diphtheriae strains derived from ancient endemic strains under the selective pressure of mass immunization against diphtheria. The persistence of carriers of diphtheria bacilli, although non toxigenic, suggests that high levels of immunity must be maintained, not only in children, but also in adults by booster vaccination.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[An epidemiological evaluation of proximal femur fracture on a population living in the area of the Florence Local Health Trust].

Proximal femur fracture is a relevant issue of public health due to its high prevalence in elderly people and high social costs. We performed an epidemiological description of the event based on the data derived from the hospital discharge reports over a 5-year period, from 1997 to 2001, referred to a mean population of 796,990 persons. During this period, the disease incidence rate, estimated on hospital admissions, is high (higher than national average), although rather constant over years: average values are 777.92/100,000 in the >65 age group, 2627.08/100,000 in the >85 age group, and 1264.25/100,000 in the 80-84 age class. Incidence rate shows an exponential increase with age starting from the age of 50 and in the elderly age classes women exhibit around twofold values. Besides, the mean length of hospitalization is higher in the elderly age classes. Regarding 4 selected kinds of surgical intervention we made and verified the hypothesis of a correlation between length of stay in hospital before the intervention and two outcome indicators: length of stay in hospital after the intervention (data fail to confirm our hypothesis) and in-hospital mortality (data confirm our hypothesis: mean length of stay in hospital before the intervention is significantly higher in the group of dead patients than in the group of home discharged patients).

Adolescent↗