Browsing by Autor "Filippo Bartalesi"

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A Neuroepidemiological Survey in Rural Bolivia: Background and Methods
(Karger Publishers, 1998) Alessandra Nicoletti; A. Reggio; Alessandro Bartoloni; Gaetano Failla; Filippo Bartalesi; Mimmo Roselli; Herlan Gamboa; Esteban González Salazar; Franco Paradisi; G Tempera
A door-to-door survey was carried out in rural areas of the Cordillera province, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. A cluster sample of 10,124 inhabitants was selected. The aim was to determine the prevalence of the most common neurological diseases (epilepsy, stroke, parkinsonism and peripheral neuropathy) in this population using a modification of the World Health Organization screening instrument. 1,130 subjects screened positive and were then investigated by neurologists. In this paper we describe the background and methods of the survey and the characteristics of the population.
Anticuerpos contra Trichinella spiralis en la población rural de la provincia Cordillera, Bolivia
(Pan American Health Organization, 1999) Alessandro Bartoloni; Gabriella Cancrini; Filippo Bartalesi; Alessandra Nicoletti; Gerardo Méndez Prado; José Rosado; Mimmo Roselli; Franco Paradisi
A seroepidemiological study was conducted to determine the prevalence of antibodies to Trichinella spiralis among rural residents of Cordillera province, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. Using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 234 serum samples were examined, and antibodies were detected in seven of the samples (3%). The results document for the first time the presence of human infestation with Trichinella in Bolivia and suggest the need to strengthen trichinelosis surveillance in the municipal slaughterhouses, to prevent the clandestine slaughter of animals, and particularly to ensure that residents and meat producers in the area become aware of the dangers of this zoonosis.
Carriage of Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia coli Among Healthy Children and Home-Raised Chickens: A Household Study in a Resource-Limited Setting
(Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2011) Eleonora Riccobono; Lucia Pallecchi; Antonia Mantella; Filippo Bartalesi; Ignacio Chavez Zeballos; Christian Trigoso; Ana Liz Villagrán; Alessandro Bartoloni; Gian María Rossolini
We have previously observed high rates of acquired antibiotic resistance in commensal Escherichia coli from healthy children living in urban areas of Bolivia and Peru, including resistance to tetracycline and quinolones, which are not routinely used in childhood. In this work we investigated acquired resistance in commensal E. coli from healthy children and home-raised chickens in 12 households from one of the previously surveyed urban area in Bolivia, to ascertain the possibility of human-animal exchange of resistant strains in similar settings. The resistance rates to ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, and trimethoprim-sulphametoxazole were overall high (≥50%) and comparable between children and chickens, whereas those to quinolones were significantly higher in chickens (81% vs. 29% for nalidixic acid; 43% vs. 10% for ciprofloxacin). Molecular characterization of tetracycline- and quinolone-resistant isolates (n = 66) from children and chickens of three selected households revealed a remarkable clonal diversity and, in some cases, the presence of the same resistant strains among children or among chickens living in the same household, but not between children and chickens. Several resistance plasmids were characterized, but inter-clonal plasmid dissemination was not detected. Overall, the results from the present study suggested that cross-transmission between children and home-raised chickens could not represent a major spreading mechanism for resistant E. coli in households of resource-limited settings with high human-animal promiscuity.
Epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in Rural Bolivia: A Population‐based Survey
(Wiley, 2005) Alessandra Nicoletti; Alessandro Bartoloni; Vito Sofia; Filippo Bartalesi; Josè Rosado Chavez; Rimberto Osinaga; Franco Paradisi; Jean‐Luc Dumas; Victor C. W. Tsang; A. Reggio
Our data confirm a high frequency of NCC among a well-defined prevalent cohort of epilepsy patients.
Epilepsy-associated stigma in Bolivia: A community‐based study among the Guarani population
(Elsevier BV, 2012) Elisa Bruno; Alessandro Bartoloni; Vito Sofia; Florentina Rafael; Donata Magnelli; Sandra Padilla; Graziella Quattrocchi; Filippo Bartalesi; Higinio Segundo; Mario Zappia
Evaluation of a rapid screening method for detection of antimicrobial resistance in the commensal microbiota of the gut
(Oxford University Press, 2005) Alessandro Bartoloni; Marta Benedetti; Lucia Pallecchi; Mattias Larsson; Antonia Mantella; Marianne Strohmeyer; Filippo Bartalesi; Connie Fernandez; Elisa Guzmán; Yolanda Vallejos
The assessment of antimicrobial resistance among commensal bacteria is an indicator of the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Rapid screening methods for detection of antimicrobial-resistant faecal Escherichia coli directly on MacConkey plates have been successfully adopted but suffer from lack of standardisation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a direct plating method (DPM) for detection of antimicrobial-resistant faecal E. coli and to compare it with a conventional method. Faecal samples were collected from 71 healthy children from Peru and Bolivia. In the DPM, a faecal swab was directly plated onto a MacConkey agar plate and antimicrobial disks were applied onto the seeded plate. Raw data were obtained by direct reading of the plate and were subjected to confirmatory analysis. Good concordance between the DPM and a conventional method was observed in detecting carriage of resistant E. coli, with a higher sensitivity for the DPM. Analysis of the results allowed interpretive criteria to be defined for DPM raw data. The DPM showed good sensitivity and specificity at very low cost (ten times cheaper than the conventional method) to investigate the faecal carriage of drug-resistant E. coli. It may represent a useful tool to conduct large-scale resistance surveillance studies and to monitor resistance control programmes cost effectively, particularly in low-resource countries.
High Prevalence of Acquired Antimicrobial Resistance Unrelated to Heavy Antimicrobial Consumption
(Oxford University Press, 2004) Alessandro Bartoloni; Filippo Bartalesi; Antonia Mantella; Emanuela Dell’Amico; Mimmo Roselli; Marianne Strohmeyer; Herlan Gamboa Barahona; Virgilio Prieto Barrón; Franco Paradisi; Gian María Rossolini
In a very remote rural Bolivian community where the use of antimicrobials has been minimal and where exchanges with the exterior are very limited, 67% of subjects were found to be carriers of fecal Escherichia coli with acquired resistance to >/=1 antimicrobial agent(s); the highest rates were observed for tetracycline (64%), ampicillin (58%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (50%), and chloramphenicol (41%). The most relevant implication of these findings is that, in certain settings, the spread and maintenance of antimicrobial resistance can occur, regardless of whether selective pressure generated by the use of antimicrobials is present.
Increasing Resistance in CommensalEscherichia coli, Bolivia and Peru
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008) Alessandro Bartoloni; Lucia Pallecchi; Costanza Fiorelli; Tiziana Di Maggio; Connie Fernandez; Ana Liz Villagrán; Antonia Mantella; Filippo Bartalesi; Marianne Strohmeyer; Angela Bechini
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Lifetime Prevalence of Bell’s Palsy in Rural Bolivia: A Door-to-Door Survey
(Karger Publishers, 2002) Alessandra Nicoletti; Vito Sofia; Alessandro Bartoloni; Filippo Bartalesi; C Marletta; Maria Luisa Lo Bartolo; José Rosado; Francesco Le Pira; A. Reggio
We carried out a door-to-door survey in rural areas of the Cordillera Province, Bolivia, to determine the prevalence of the most common neurological diseases in a sample of about 10,000 inhabitants. A team of non-doctor health workers administered a standard screening instrument for neurological diseases, a slightly modified version of the World Health Organization protocol. All subjects found positive at the screening phase underwent a complete neurological examination. On screening, we found 1,130 positive subjects, of whom 909 were aged 15 years and above. After the neurological examination, we found 52 cases who had experienced Bell's palsy during their life in the population aged 15 years and above. The lifetime prevalence on November 1, 1994 was 11.1/1,000 (95% confidence interval 7.8-14.5) for the population aged 15 years and above. The prevalence was higher in women than in men (13.7 and 8.7/1,000, respectively) and increased with age, reaching a peak in the group aged 65 years or more (31.7/1,000). Only 3 cases (5.8%) had received medical therapy.
Low prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in urban and rural community settings in Bolivia and Peru
(Elsevier BV, 2012) Alessandro Bartoloni; Lucia Pallecchi; Connie Fernandez; Antonia Mantella; Eleonora Riccobono; Donata Magnelli; Dario Mannini; Marianne Strohmeyer; Filippo Bartalesi; Higinio Segundo
This study provides an insight into the epidemiology of MRSA in community settings of Bolivia and Peru. Reliable, time-saving, and low-cost methods should be implemented to encourage continued surveillance of MRSA dissemination in resource-limited countries.
Multidrug-resistant CommensalEscherichia coliin Children, Peru and Bolivia
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006) Alessandro Bartoloni; Lucia Pallecchi; Marta Benedetti; Connie Fernandez; Yolanda Vallejos; Elisa Guzmán; Ana Liz Villagrán; Antonia Mantella; Chiara Lucchetti; Filippo Bartalesi
Using a rapid screening method, we investigated the prevalence of fecal carriage of antimicrobial drug-resistant Escherichia coli in 3,174 healthy children from 4 urban settings in Peru and Bolivia. High resistance rates were observed for ampicillin (95%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (94%), tetracycline (93%), streptomycin (82%), and chloramphenicol (70%). Lower resistance rates were observed for nalidixic acid (35%), kanamycin (28%), gentamicin (21%), and ciprofloxacin (18%); resistance to ceftriaxone and amikacin was uncommon (<0.5%). In a random sample of 1,080 resistant E. coli isolates, 90% exhibited a multidrug-resistance (MDR) phenotype. The 2 most common MDR phenotypes (ampicillin/tetracycline/trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and ampicillin/tetracycline/trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole/chloramphenicol) could be transferred en bloc in conjugation experiments. The most common acquired resistance genes were blaTEM, tet(A), tet(B), drfA8, sul1, sul2, and catI. These findings underscore the magnitude of the problem of antimicrobial drug resistance in low-resource settings and the urgent need for surveillance and control of this phenomenon.
Natural history and mortality of chronic epilepsy in an untreated population of rural Bolivia: A follow‐up after 10 years
(Wiley, 2009) Alessandra Nicoletti; Vito Sofia; Giuseppina Vitale; Sara Irene Bonelli; Vladimir Bejarano; Filippo Bartalesi; Duc‐Si Tran; Pierre‐Marie Preux; Mario Zappia; Alessandro Bartoloni
Our data suggest that spontaneous remission of epilepsy occurs in a substantial proportion of untreated patients affected by chronic epilepsy; concerning mortality, we found a 3-fold increased mortality in patients with remote symptomatic epilepsy.
Population Structure and Resistance Genes in Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria from a Remote Community with Minimal Antibiotic Exposure
(American Society for Microbiology, 2007) Lucia Pallecchi; Chiara Lucchetti; Alessandro Bartoloni; Filippo Bartalesi; Antonia Mantella; Herlan Gamboa; Alessandra Carattoli; Franco Paradisi; Gian María Rossolini
In a previous study, we detected unexpectedly high levels of acquired antibiotic resistance in commensal Escherichia coli isolates from a remote Guaraní Indian (Bolivia) community with very low levels of antibiotic exposure and limited exchanges with the exterior. Here we analyzed the structure of the resistant E. coli population from that community and the resistance mechanisms. The E. coli population (113 isolates from 72 inhabitants) showed a high degree of genetic heterogeneity, as evidenced by phylogenetic grouping (77% group A, 10% group B1, 8% group D, 5% group B2) and genotyping by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis (44 different RAPD types). The acquired resistance genes were always of the same types as those found in antibiotic-exposed settings [blaTEM, blaPSE-1, catI, cmlA6, tet(A), tet(B), dfrA1, dfrA7, dfrA8, dfrA17, sul1, sul2, aphA1, aadA1, aadA2, aadA5, aadB, and sat-1]. Class 1 and class 2 integrons were found in 12% and 4% of the isolates, respectively, and harbored arrays of gene cassettes similar to those already described. The cotransferability of multiple-resistance traits was observed from selected isolates and was found to be associated with resistance conjugative plasmids of the F, P, and N types. Overall, these data suggest that the resistance observed in this remote community is likely the consequence of the dissemination of resistant bacteria and resistance genes from antibiotic-exposed settings (rather than of an independent in situ selection) which involved both the clonal expansion of resistant strains and the horizontal transfer/recombination of mobile genetic elements harboring resistance genes.
Prevalence of Stroke
(Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000) Alessandra Nicoletti; V. Sofia; Salvatore Giuffrida; Alessandro Bartoloni; Filippo Bartalesi; Michelangelo Bartolo; Salvatore Lo Fermo; V. Cocuzza; H Gamboa; Esteban González Salazar
Our crude prevalence is lower compared with rates from developed countries, probably because of a high case fatality rate. Our findings are comparable with those reported from other surveys carried out in rural developing countries.
Seroprevalence of antibodies to Trichinella spiralis among rural residents of Cordillera province, Bolivia
(1999) Alessandro Bartoloni; Gabriella Cancrini; Filippo Bartalesi; Alessandra Nicoletti; Gerardo Méndez Prado; José Rosado; Mimmo Roselli; Franco Paradisi
Seroprevalence of varicella zoster and rubella antibodies among rural populations of the Chaco region, south‐eastern Bolivia
(Wiley, 2002) Alessandro Bartoloni; Filippo Bartalesi; Mimmo Roselli; Antonia Mantella; Francesca Dini; Esteban Salazar Carballo; Virgilio Prieto Barrón; Franco Paradisi
OBJECTIVE To determine the seroprevalence of antibodies against varicella zoster virus (VZV) and rubella virus among the population of two rural areas, Camiri and Villa Montes, Chaco region, south‐eastern Bolivia. METHODS In a cross‐sectional study, serum samples from randomly selected subjects were screened for VZV‐ and rubella antibodies using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS The prevalence of VZV antibodies was 80% (391 of 489). No significant differences were observed between genders and study areas. The prevalence increased with age with a seropositivity rate of 21.2% in the 1–4‐year‐old children, 56.9% in the 5–9 age group and 83.7% in the 10–14 age group, and reached 98.2% in over 45‐year olds. The prevalence of rubella virus antibodies was 76.9% (377 of 490), without significant differences between genders and study areas. Similar to the trend observed for VZV antibodies, the seroprevalence increased with age with a seropositivity rate of 18.1% in the 1–4‐year‐old children, 53.9% in the 5–9 age group and 78.4% in the 10–14 age group, and reached 94.7% in over 45‐year‐old subjects. Among the 95 women of childbearing age (15–44 years) the susceptibility rate was 11.6%. CONCLUSIONS A common seroimmunological profile was evidenced for the two infections. The age‐specific profile of VZV seropositivity differs from that reported for other tropical countries where higher median age of seroconversion and lower seroprevalence among adults are observed. Data concerning the prevalence of immunity to rubella may be useful to evaluate the impact of the recently introduced rubella immunization programme.
Sociocultural dimension of epilepsy: An anthropological study among Guaraní communities in Bolivia—An International League Against Epilepsy/International Bureau for Epilepsy/World Health Organization Global Campaign Against Epilepsy Regional Project
(Elsevier BV, 2011) Elisa Bruno; Alessandro Bartoloni; Vito Sofia; Florentina Rafael; Donata Magnelli; Elio Quiala Ortiz; Sandra Padilla; Graziella Quattrocchi; Filippo Bartalesi; Higinio Segundo