Background: In Italy, the Ministry of Health is the main decision-making entity in healthcare. The local health authorities (LHAs) are responsible for health promotion (HP) activities, based on national and regional health plans. Our aim was to investigate the structured activities of HP in Italy at national, regional, and territorial levels. Methods: From February 2020 to July 2021, we searched for online information about the structures, projects, and responsibilities at the different levels mentioned above. The sources were the official sites of the Ministry of Health, the regions, and LHAs. Results: During the “prevalence period” of 2014–2021, we found 41 active facilities dedicated to HP: 7 complex operational units and 34 simple units. The other 30 facilities also had HP activities despite the absence of dedicated units. The most discussed topic seemed to be physical activity (63%), followed by addictions (53%), nutrition (48%), and prevention (33%); in the queue appeared dental hygiene and family/parenting (both at 7%). The LHA of the City of Turin and the LHA of Salerno had the most significant number of topics. Conclusions: The results showed great heterogeneity, in the Italian context, concerning HP activities. We assume that the phenomenon depends on reduced attention to the digitalization of information. The Italian Society of Health Promotion is pursuing the goal of the construction of an organic system of HP—with its own articulations, competencies, and scientific and operational goals—at different levels, thus transcending the health care system (which is often powerless in regulatory activity) and providing the one harbinger of the most promising results in terms of cost/benefit.

Background Schools are crowded places where outbreaks can occur. Systems capable of disinfecting air and surfaces could reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases. Aim to evaluate the effectiveness of a near-UVA (nUVA) LED ceiling lamp in improving environmental hygiene. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted for 2 weeks between November and December 2020 in a kindergarten in Siena, Italy. Four ceiling lamps with LED wavelength of 405 nm were mounted on the room ceiling. The distance of the lamps from the floor was 2.70 m and 2.0 m from the desks. We preliminary selected 12 points in different sites of the room by measuring their irradiance values. We randomly sampled between 8 and 12 pairs of Petri Dishes (PD) daily during the study, incubated at 22 and 36C°, at different irradiation times: 8, 12 or 36 hours. Paired controls were used before using the lamps (at time T0), which were automatically switched ON overnight and compared with treatment (at time T1). Air sampling was also performed at T0 and T1. Statistical analysis was performed with Stata 14. Significance was set at 95% (p < 0.05). Results 520 PDs were used in the study: 130 PDs at T0 matched at T1 incubated at 36 °C and as many at 22 °C. The mean level of contamination at T0 was respectively 249 CFU (95 % CI 193.1 - 305.0) at 36 °C and 535.2 CFU (374.3 - 696.1) at 22 °C. The reduction was significant (p < 0.05) at T1: we had 87.4 CFU (56.3 - 118.6), equal to 65%, at 36C° and 149.6 CFU (83.7 - 215.4), equal to 72%, at 22C°. Different values were recorded stratifying for dose (irradiance per exposition time). A significant mean percentage reduction of air contamination was 95.3% (98.4 - 92.3). Conclusions The system was able to improve the environmental hygiene of the kindergarten. The advantage of using this technology in the presence of people is very important in the context of controlling environmental contamination. Key messages • Near-UVA are efficient in reducing the contamination level significantly in a real-life context, on the surfaces and of the air. • Crowded places favour germ outbreaks. Hygiene control is essential to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases.

No abstract

Background The environment of hospital rooms plays a role on Hospital Acquired Infections. Objects may be repository of germs and have a role on cross contamination, mainly in high-touch surfaces. Proper sanitation and disinfection procedures are needed. Aims i) to highlight the different probabilities of microbial contaminations in Hospital, ii) to assess whether the use of a UVC device (UVC-D), after standard disinfection procedures, improves the level of hygiene. Methods Between November 2019 and February 2020 a cross sectional study in a real clinical context was conducted. Investigations were carried out in double rehabilitation rooms with patients admitted for at least 48h. 16 preliminary Petri dishes (PD) were used in one rehabilitation room and bathroom, to assess the contamination level after deep disinfection procedures (T0). Matched comparisons were made after the use of UVC-D, 3 points/room and 1 point/bathroom, 3 minutes each(T1). At T0 we estimated the probability of contamination to select the following sampling. Six rooms and bathrooms were investigated using randomized spots. PD were incubated at 36 °C and colony forming unit (CFU) counted at 48h. Descriptive statistic and Wilcoxon test were performed to assess the levels of contamination between (T0) and (T1). Results At T0 we have a mean of 5.83 CFU/PD (CI 3.79-7.86) and a median of 1.0 CFU/PD (min 0 - max 118); at T1 mean is 0.28 CFU/PD (CI 0.15-0.40) and median of 0 CFU/PD (min 0-max 5). Significant reduction of contamination was achieved between T0 and T1 (p < 0.001). 83,33% of the contamination sites had 0 CFU/PD after using UVC-D. Conclusions The probability approach has driven the selection of the highest contaminations spots. Standard disinfection, followed by using UVC-D, significantly reduces contamination assuring a lower probability of cross contamination and risk of infection. Key messages Analytical approach to assess the contamination level of room to address with greater precision the points with higher risk of cross contamination. The UVC technology assures better results when associated with standard sanitation procedure decreasing the risk of hospital acquired infections.