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Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic in Sicily (48 new cases in 2004, of which nine were in Agrigento). In southern Europe between 25-70 per cent of adult VL cases are related to HIV infection. The HIV cases have a high risk (1.5-9%) of developing VL either as a new infection or as the revival of a latent infection. We therefore carried out serologic screening to detect antibodies against L. infantum by IFAT in 1449 blood donors in Agrigento and the surrounding area (May-December 2005) and in 120 HIV+ in western Sicily, all of whom were asymptomatic and had no history of VL. L. DNA was assessed by nested PCR in blood samples of some seropositive donors. Of the 1449 blood donors, 11 (0.75%) were positive by IFAT and three of them were also positive in PCR. L. infantum seropositivity is most probably the expression of recent infection because the clearance of serum antibodies is rather fast (6-12 months) after VL. This is why blood donation by Leishmania seropositive donors, whether positive or negative by PCR, could constitute an infection risk especially for immunosuppressed recipients, who should receive deleukocyted blood. Moreover it could be useful to monitor HIV/Leishmania coinfection cases to avoid the risk of slatentization of L. infection when CD4+ levels are very low.

Actinomycosis is a bacterial infection due to Gram-positive bacteria of the Actinomyces genus. The authors describe two cases: one of them occurred in a woman with a clinical presentation of a right submandibular indurative mass. After surgery, histological examination showed a granulomatous tissue with many actinomycetes. The second case was observed in a man admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of pulmonary heteroplastic lesion. Also in this case, histological examination showed many actinomycotic colonies. Actinomycosis is an uncommon disease. Establishment of definite diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion in all cases of relapsing cervical lesions. Pulmonary actinomycosis is a rare diagnosis; respiratory physicians should be aware of this important differential when investigating patients for persistent pulmonary shadowing.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of Salmonella spp in children hospitalised for acute gastroenteritis, and to study clinical and microbiological features of paediatric salmonellosis in our geographical area. In all, 540 patients admitted from March to September 2003 with symptoms of acute enteritis to the Infectious Diseases department of the "G. Di Cristina" hospital in Palermo were enrolled. Stool samples were collected within 48 hours of admission and tested for intestinal pathogens (bacterial, viral, parasites). Salmonella spp was detected in 18.5% of samples. The median age of infected children was 4.5 years. Salmonella enteritidis (49%) and Salmonella typhimurium (37%) were the most commonly identified genotypes. S. enteritidis infection was more frequently characterized by vomiting (65.3%) and dehydration (61.2%). Bloody diarrhoea was more common in S. typhimurium infection (40.5%). All strains were susceptible to ceftriaxone, while 40% of strains were resistant to tetracyclines and 37% to ampicillin.

Introduction: Campylobacter spp is the main cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in the developed countries, resulting mainly from the contamination of poultry and animal products. Pathogenesis remains unclear. Various clinical features ranging from watery diarrhoea in apyrexia to dysentery in hyperpyrexia may be the result of differences between strains in the expression of different pathogenetic factors. There are many difficulties in isolating the bacteria in question., Methods: We processed 540 faecal specimens of children with gastroenteritis. We detected enteropathogen bacteria including Campylobacter spp as well as Rotavirus, Adenovirus and protozoans. For the isolation of Campylobacter we employed the filter membrane technique. The filtrate was plated onto non-selective agar (blood-agar) in microaerophilic atmosphere., Results: The rank order of isolation frequency was: Rotavirus (30.0%), Salmonella (18.5%), Adenovirus (12.6%), Campylobacter (6.5%), Shigella (1.1%), Giardia (0.6%). The Campylobacter strains belonged to C.jejuni in 31 cases and C. coli in 4 cases. The clinical features were: fever (80%), vomitus (31,4%) and diarrhoea in all cases (watery diarrhoea (25.7%), stools more compact with mucus and blood (57.1%) or with mucus alone (17.1%))., Conclusions: In Western Sicily Campylobacter spp is the second most common agent of bacterial enteritis. We believe that some procedural errors, such as the employment of excessively selective media, could be the cause of the past failure to isolate Campylobacter.