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Background and Objectives : Cardiac patients are particularly at risk of herpes zoster (HZ), which is associated with a higher risk of major cardiovascular events. This research aimed to analyze the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) among cardiac healthcare professionals (HPs). Materials and Methods : A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a cardiological hospital in Italy. Multivariate regression models were built to identify factors associated with the outcomes of interest. Results : The response rate was 78.2% (154/197). Overall, age > 50 years and immunosuppression were recognized as risk factors for HZ by 38.3% and 75.3% of respondents, respectively. Regarding RZV, 29.1% of the HPs correctly responded about its schedule and 57.6% about the possibility of administration in immunocompromised individuals. This knowledge was significantly higher in HPs with a higher educational level (odds ratio (OR) = 4.42; 95%CI 1.70-11.47), in those who knew that HZ could cause postherpetic neuralgia (OR = 2.56; 95%CI 1.05-6.25) or major cardiovascular events (OR = 4.23; 95%CI 1.50-11.91), in those who had participated in professional updates on vaccinations (OR = 3.86; 95%CI 1.51-9.87) and in those who stated the need for further information about the RZV (OR = 6.43; 95%CI 1.42-29.98). Younger HPs (coefficient ( β ) = -0.02; 95%CI -0.04--0.01), those with a positive attitude toward RZV safety ( β = 2.92; 95%CI 2.49-3.36) and those who had previously cared for patients with HZ ( β = 0.45; 95%CI 0.03-0.88) reported a more positive attitude toward RZV effectiveness. The practice of recommending vaccination was more prevalent in younger HPs (OR = 0.94; 95%CI 0.89-0.99), in those who had a master's degree or higher education (OR = 7.21; 95%CI 1.44-36.08), in those with more positive attitudes toward RZV effectiveness (OR = 7.17; 95%CI 1.71-30.03) and in HPs who had already recommended the vaccine to patients in the past (OR = 4.03; 95%CI 1.08-14.96). Conclusions : Despite being a single-center study, our research brings attention to factors that currently impact cardiac HPs' approaches to RZV. The findings indicate potential measures to enhance HPs' awareness and practices, ultimately aiming to improve vaccination adherence and reduce the burden associated with HZ.

Objective: The objective of this study was to complete a teacher questionnaire on a sample of children (N = 232) in nine fourth grade classes in schools in two regions of central Italy to assess the frequency of occurrence of symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the rates of probable cases in the sample., Method: Each ADHD symptom was rated by the teacher as either absent (0), sometimes present (1) or frequently present (2)., Results: Of the children 3.9% had eight or more DSM-III-R Criterion A symptoms of ADHD scored at a "frequent" level (score of 2) and were considered to be "likely cases" of ADHD; an additional 6.9% did not meet this threshold but had a total score of 16 or more on the scale and were considered to be "possible cases.", Conclusions: The findings suggest the need for more systematic epidemiological investigations to evaluate the true prevalence of the syndrome and its risk factors in the Italian population.