Background and Aims: Candida albicans (C. albicans) is the most common opportunistic human pathogen. Therapeutic options for Candida infections are limited to available antifungal drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of fluconazole/clotrimazole (FLU/CLT) on C. albicans hyphae formation. Materials and Methods: We have established the effectiveness of the combination of FL...

UNLABELLED The 2009 pandemic in Italy has been viewed as a false alarm, and it has not been properly understood based on historical precedents and more in-depth studies that have been conducted in other countries. Some of these studies have pointed to a phenomenon of sudden and fulminant death among healthy children, which is not the sole prerogative of pandemic influenza, but was, in 2009, a m...

Background. Human infection caused by influenza B virus (IFV-B) has been known to be less severe than that caused by influenza A virus (IFV-A). Although more recent studies did not find any significant differences between the clinical features of patients with IFV-B and those with IFV-A, clinical data are still lacking on this subject, especially in adult patients. Methods. This study was perfo...

Seasonal influenza epidemics cause consistent, considerable, widespread loss annually in terms of economic burden, morbidity, and mortality. With access to accurate and reliable forecasts of a current or upcoming influenza epidemic's behavior, policy makers can design and implement more effective countermeasures. This past year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted the "Predict...

The 2009 pandemic strain of H1N1 influenza was back in Canada this year, despite an effective vaccine and very little mutation in the virus, researchers say. Instead, they point to a low level of seroprotection in adults aged 40 to 65 as the likely culprit. Lack of previous exposure and of vaccination have probably combined to create a “pocket of residual susceptibility,” says Dr. Danuta Skowro...

BACKGROUND Concern over bio-terrorism has led to recognition that traditional public health surveillance for specific conditions is unlikely to provide timely indication of some disease outbreaks, either naturally occurring or induced by a bioweapon. In non-traditional surveillance, the use of health care resources are monitored in "near real" time for the first signs of an outbreak, such as in...