The aim of the present study was to describe the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of acute viral gastroenteritis in hospitalised Italian children. A total of 215 stool specimens were collected from January to December 2003 from patients hospitalised in Palermo for acute diarrhoea. Samples were tested for group A rotavirus, astrovirus, adenovirus, norovirus, enteropathogenic bacteria, and parasites. Rotaviruses, mostly belonging to types G1-G4, were detected in 25.1% of samples, astrovirus in 7%, adenovirus in 6%, norovirus in 18.6%, and bacterial agents in 17.2%. No parasitic infections were diagnosed. Mixed infections represented 9.8% of all cases. The mean and median ages of children with rotavirus gastroenteritis were lower than those of children with other viruses (p = 0.029), with the highest median ages being found in astrovirus-infected patients. Vomiting and dehydration were more frequent among patients with viral infection (p < 0.01), and the severity score was significantly higher for children infected with astrovirus or group A rotavirus (p = 0.008). Rotavirus was the leading cause of prolonged hospitalisation (p = 0.005). In conclusion, viruses were confirmed in Italy as the most common cause of severe enteric illness in childhood, with rotavirus types G1-G4, which correspond to those included in the rotavirus vaccines being developed, playing the main role. Routine testing should be introduced for noroviruses, since they seem to represent an important cause of sporadic paediatric gastroenteritis.

Visceral leishmaniases are vector-borne parasitic diseases caused by protozoa belonging to the genus Leishmania. The heterogeneity of clinical manifestations and epidemiological characteristics of the disease reflect the complex interplay between the infecting Leishmania species and the genetic and immunologic characteristics of the infected host. The clinical presentation of visceral leishmaniasis depends strictly on the immunocompetency of the host and ranges from asymptomatic to severe forms. Conditions of depression of the immune system, such as HIV infection or immunosuppressive treatments, impair the capability of the immune response to resolve the infection and allow reactivation and relapses of the disease.

Background: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is an acute febrile, zoonotic disease caused by Rickettsia conorii and transmitted to humans by the brown dogtick Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Nearly four hundred cases are reported every year (mainly from June to September) on the Italian island of Sicily. The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with MSF and the efficacy of the drugs administered.

The diagnosis and treatment of Kawasaki disease might be delayed if intestinal symptoms appear before the characteristic clinical features of Kawasaki disease, thus, increasing the risk of cardiac complications. Furthermore, patients may undergo unnecessary invasive procedures. Pediatricians and pediatric surgeons, therefore, should consider Kawasaki disease among diagnoses in children with fever, abdominal symptoms, and radiologic findings of pseudo-obstruction.

Although molecular biologic techniques can now detect minimal numbers of residual cancer cells in patients in complete clinical remission, the clinical significance of minimal residual disease has never been conclusively established. If the detection of minimal residual disease predicts which patients will relapse, then therapy could be altered based upon the detection of these cells. The t(14;18) can be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification in 50% of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and allows detection of one lymphoma cell in up to 1 million normal cells. To determine the clinical significance of the detection of minimal residual lymphoma cells in the bone marrow (BM) PCR amplification was used to detect the presence of residual lymphoma cells after autologous BM transplantation (ABMT) in serial BM samples from 134 patients with B-cell lymphoma in whom a bcl- 2 translocation could be detected. PCR analysis was performed on a total of 542 BM samples obtained while these patients were in complete remission. Disease-free survival was markedly increased in patients with no PCR-detectable lymphoma cells in the marrow compared with those in whom residual lymphoma cells were detected (P < .00001), and the presence of detectable lymphoma cells was associated with a 48-fold increase in the risk of relapse. Of the 77 patients (57%) with no PCR- detectable lymphoma cells in their most recent BM sample, none have relapsed. In contrast, all 33 patients (25%) who have relapsed had PCR- detectable lymphoma cells detected in their BM before clinical relapse occurred. In 19 patients (14%), residual lymphoma cells in the BM were detected early following transplantation and subsequently were no longer detectable, although these patients received no further therapy. In these patients, residual lymphoma cells may already have been irreversibly damaged by the high-dose therapy or an endogenous immune mechanism may be capable of eliminating residual lymphoma cells in some patients. Therefore, although the detection of minimal residual disease by PCR following ABMT in patients with lymphoma identifies those patients at high risk of relapse, the presence of residual minimal disease early after transplantation may not be associated with poor prognosis in a small subset of patients. Confirmatory studies will be required to determine more definitively the role of minimal disease detection to identify which patients require additional therapy.