Category: Italy
333 Italian doctors have died of #coronavirus during the pandemic
The number of doctors who died in Italy during the Covid-19 pandemic rose to 333. Maria Teresa D’Istria , general practitioner, is the latest victim remembered in the list of fallen soldiers updated by Fnomceo, National Federation of Medical Surgeons and Dentists, which will remain listed in mourning in their memory, in a sad list that is gradually updated.
“The dead make no noise, they no longer make noise as grass grows, wrote Ungaretti – comments the president of Fnomceo, Filippo Anelli -. And yet, the names of our friends, our colleagues, put here, in black and white, make a deafening noise. As well as the number of infected health workers, who now make up 10% of the total. We can no longer allow our doctors, our health workers, to be sent to fight the virus with their bare hands. It is an unequal struggle, which hurts us, hurts the citizens, hurts the country ”.
Nigerian #coronavirus variant #B1525 isolated in Brescia, Italy. Mutations include E484K, Q677H, F888L and a similar suite of deletions to B.1.1.7.
The Nigerian variant of Covid has been isolated in Brescia. “For the first time in Italy we have isolated the virus carrying these mutations which are of concern because they could confer resistance to the anti Covid vaccines available today” explained Arnaldo Caruso, president of the Italian Virology Society and director of the Asst Spedali Civili Microbiology Laboratory. of the Lombard city which has been in the orange zone for a week and will remain so for another week.
“From the last survey, which ended on March 1, from the analysis of the variants on positive swabs causally extracted by the Lombard laboratories, it is highlighted that the English variant [B.1.1.7] is equal to 64% of the sampling on a regional basis. attended, a range ranging from 43% to 86% is observed “.
Image by Wilfried Pohnke from Pixabay
Italian #coronavirus vaccine begins first clinical trials
Clinical trials of the all-Italian anti Covid-19 vaccine has started. The vaccine is conceived by Takis of Castel Romano (Rome) and developed in collaboration with Rottapharm Biotech of Monza.
The first healthy volunteer of the 80 scheduled for phase 1 was vaccinated today in the San Gerardo hospital in Monza, one of the three Italian centers that, in collaboration with the University of Milan-Bicocca.
The clinical trials involve the National Cancer Institute Pascale Foundation of Naples and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani of Rome and the San Gerardo Hospital of Monza.
#Coronavirus variant circulating in #Brescia, Italy since August 2020 has #501 and #493 mutation. Possible B.1.1.7 precursor.
“A variant of coronavirus circulating in Italy since early August 2020 is “very similar to the infamous English variant [B.1.1.7]”.
An ” Italian variant ” discovered in Brescia, “which precedes the variant that emerged only at the end of September in the United Kingdom and then spread to Europe, including Italy, and could also be a precursor”.
This was announced to Adnkronos Salute by Arnaldo Caruso , president of the Italian Society of Virology (Siv-Isv), full professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology at the University of Brescia, director of the Asst Spedali Civili microbiology laboratory.
The variant identified, he explains, “has several points mutation in the Spike protein , the ‘hook’ that the virus uses to attack the receptor present on target cells in our body. Like the English one, the Italian variant also has a mutation in a nerve center of the Spike / cell receptor interaction, more precisely in position 501 ″.
But unlike the Gb mutant, “the Italian variant also has a second mutation in position 493, which makes its Spike protein slightly different from that of the pandemic virus we all know today”.
Calabriadirettanews.com article
Italy: #Schools to be closed in red zones or in areas with a high #coronavirus incidence of cases
Schools towards closure in the red areas and in the territories where there are high thresholds of contagion, regardless of the colors. ..the decree could be signed soon by Prime Minister Mario Draghi, even on Monday.
The new provisions are moving towards a step backwards on face-to-face lessons in various territories, as already feared by the Higher Institute of Health and invoked by various governors, some of whom have already done so with regional ordinances. According to CTS sources, “an evident impact of new infections in schools is , but differentiated. For this reason, a modulation of the measures according to the areas, variable according to Municipalities or Provinces and not only on a regional basis, would be desirable”.
Italy: “There is a direct link between the increase in admissions for #coronavirus in ICU’s and the reopening of #schools”
“In order to limit the spread of the epidemic in our country, I think that it is important to stop teaching as soon as possible in all schools, regardless of age, and in universities. Analysis indicates that “the curve of intensive care at national level in Italy has been increasing for about two weeks” and that “the situation at the regional level is heterogeneous both in terms of quality and quantity”, observes Sebastiani.
There is a direct link between the increase in admissions for Covid-19 in intensive care units and the reopening of schools: “the analysis of the curves of the number of hospitalized in intensive care units in Italy indicates that the return to Teaching in presence after the Christmas holidays is conveying the current increase in the spread of the SarsCov2 epidemic in Italy “, notes the mathematician Giovanni Sebastiani , of the Institute for Calculation Applications ‘Mauro Picone’ of the National Research Council ( Cnr-Iac).
C’è un legame diretto fra l’aumento dei ricoveri per Covid-19 nelle unità di terapia intensiva e la riapertura delle scuole: “l’analisi delle curve del numero dei ricoverati nei reparti di terapia intensiva in Italia indica che il ritorno all’attività didattica in presenza dopo le vacanze di Natale sta veicolando l’attuale aumento della diffusione dell’epidemia di SarsCov2 in Italia”, rileva il matematico Giovanni Sebastiani, dell’Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo ‘Mauro Picone’ del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Cnr-Iac). “Allo scopo di limitare la diffusione dell’epidemia nel nostro Paese, penso – rileva il matematico – che sia importante interrompere quanto prima l’attività didattica in presenza in tutte le scuole, indipendentemente dalla fascia d’età, e nelle università. L’analisi indica che “la curva delle terapie intensive a livello nazionale in Italia è in aumento da circa due settimane” e che “la situazione a livello regionale è eterogenea sia a livello qualitativo che quantitativo”, osserva Sebastiani.
#Brescia, #Italy : “The third #coronavirus wave has started”- Infant centers, preschools and elementary schools closed
In some provinces of Lombardy, the ‘strengthened’ orange zone has been triggered to stem the spread of the coronavirus and curb the contagion linked to the covid variants. An order by Governor Attilio Fontana will establish special rules and measures for the province of Brescia and a series of municipalities: Viadanica, Predore San Martino, Sarnico, Villongo, Castelli Calepio, Credaro and Gandosso, in the province of Bergamo, and Soncino in the province of Cremona.
The rules of the orange zone strengthened
The enhanced orange zone, explains Vice President Letizia Moratti, “provides, in addition to the normal measures of the orange zone, also the closure of elementary schools, kindergartens and crèches, the prohibition of going to second homes, the mandatory use of smart working and the closure of university activities in presence “.
Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay
Italian vaccinated with Pfizer/Biontech vaccine is infected with Brazilian #coronavirus variant #501YV2
A health professional at a hospital in L’Aquila, Italy, was infected with the variant Brazilian P.1 of the new coronavirus, even after being immunized with the vacina pharmaceutical company Pfizer in partnership with BioNTech. The strain was identified in periodic examinations and analyzed by the Abruzzo and Molise experimental zooprophylaxis institutes.
According to reports, the patient would have contracted the mother’s virus after six occurrences of the disease were recorded in his family. Fortunately, none of them show symptoms, but the hospital’s doctors will analyze whether the other infections are also linked to the Brazilian variant.
Image by Nicky ❕❣️ PLEASE STAY SAFE ❣️❕ from Pixabay
Women are twice as likely to develop Long Covid compared to men, but only up to about 60yrs old
Long COVID also seems to affect younger patients as demonstrated by the study conducted at the A. Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome on a cohort of 129 children with microbiologically confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. 27.1% had at least one symptom more than 120 days later from the first diagnosis and 20.6% had three or more symptoms. The more problems common were muscle and/or joint pain, headache, or chest pain sensation of chest tightness, palpitations and sleep disturbances.
Currently there are few data, divided by sex, on the incidence of Long COVID and only on the adult population. In general, women seem to have twice as likely to develop Long COVID, compared to men, but only until around 60, when the risk level becomes similar. In addition to being a woman, older age and a higher body mass index also appear to be risk factors for having Long COVID.
https://www.epicentro.iss.it/coronavirus/sars-cov-2-differenze-genere-long-covid
Image by silviarita from Pixabay
59 children test positive for coronavirus at a nursery and elementary school in Bollate, Milan
The British variant of COVID-19 (B.1.1.7) has been found in three of the 59 children who have tested positive for Covid-19 at a nursery and elementary school at Bollate near Milan.
More young #children are being infected with #coronavirus in #Israel and #Italy, emerging data suggest
Paediatricians in Israel, which has surged ahead in vaccinating its adult population, reported a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections among young people, with more than 50,000 children and teens testing positive in January—more than Israel saw in any month during the first and second waves.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Unexpected detection of #SARSCoV2 antibodies in Italy in September 2019
Table 1 reports anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibody detection according to the time of sample collection in Italy. In the first 2 months, September–October 2019, 23/162 (14.2%) patients in September and 27/166 (16.3%) in October displayed IgG or IgM antibodies, or both.
The first positive sample (IgM-positive) was recorded on September 3 in the Veneto region, followed by a case in Emilia Romagna (September 4), a case in Liguria (September 5), two cases in Lombardy (Milano Province; September 9), and one in Lazio (Roma; September 11). By the end of September, 13 of the 23 (56.5%) positive samples were recorded in Lombardy, three in Veneto, two in Piedmont, and one each in Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Lazio, Campania, and Friuli.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0300891620974755
Image: Jin, Y., Cai, L., Cheng, Z. et al., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
