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It is currently known that anosmia is a sign of SARS-CoV2 infection, as well as the symptom is caused by the neuroinflammation of the olfactory bulbs. To date, it is unknown why some patients suffer from persistent anosmia. The suspect is that genetic of the host can be responsible of this persistent symptom. Moreover, also spike variants can have a role in the symptom persistence. The susceptibility to the neuro-inflammation in the olfactory bulbs might be similar in the whole brain predisposing these patients to future neurodegenerative disease neuro-inflammation related. A precocious treatment might be helpful to avoid long neurologic sequela.

Background The European region achieved interruption of malaria transmission during the 1970s. Since then, malaria control programs were replaced by surveillance systems in order to prevent possible re-emergence of this disease. Sporadic cases of non-imported malaria were recorded in several European countries in the past decade and locally transmitted outbreaks of Plasmodium vivax, most probably supported by Anopheles sacharovi, have been repeatedly reported from Greece since 2009. The possibility of locally-transmitted malaria has been extensively studied in Italy where the former malaria vector An. labranchiae survived the control campaign which led to malaria elimination. In this study, we present paradigmatic cases that occurred during a 2017 unusual cluster, which caused strong concern in public opinion and were carefully investigated after the implementation of the updated malaria surveillance system. Methods For suspected locally-transmitted malaria cases, alerts to Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Institute of Health (ISS) were mandated by the Local Health Services (LHS). Epidemiological investigations on the transmission modes and the identification of possible infection’s source were carried out by LHS, MoH and ISS. Entomological investigations were implemented locally for all suspected locally-transmitted cases that occurred in periods suitable to anopheline activity. Molecular diagnosis by nested-PCR for the five human Plasmodium species was performed to support microscopic diagnosis. In addition, genotyping of P. falciparum isolate was carried out to investigate putative sources of infection and transmission modalities. Results In 2017, a cluster of seven non-imported cases was recorded from August through October. Among them, P. ovale curtisi was responsible of one case whereas six cases were caused by P. falciparum. Two cases were proved to be nosocomial while the other five were recorded as cryptic at the end of epidemiological investigations. Conclusions The epidemiological evidence shows that the locally acquired events are sporadic, often remain unresolved and classified as cryptic ones despite investigative efforts. The “cluster” of seven non-imported cases that occurred in 2017 in different regions of Italy therefore represents a conscious alert that should lead us to maintain a constant level of surveillance in a former malaria endemic country.

Supracricoid laryngectomies (SCLs) are conservative surgical techniques for the treatment of selected laryngeal carcinomas and are considered an organ-sparing alternative to total laryngectomy and chemo-radiotherapy. The main characteristics of SCLs are the preservation of the main laryngeal functions as respiration, phonation and swallowing, without a permanent tracheostomy. Supracricoid laryngectomies have been questioned for many years as regarding functional and oncological outcomes and are currently accepted, although patient selection criteria and functional results are still debated. The mainstream of this surgery is the maintenance of one functioning cricoarytenoid unit to allow restoring of swallowing and phonation. Thus, post-operative rehabilitation protocol is required to archive functional outcomes and avoid functional failure of this surgery; an early rehabilita- tion protocol improves functional results, in particular regarding swallowing. Swallowing and voice functional outcomes differ among several centres and are often related to the post-operative management, although SCLs provide commonly good swal- lowing and respiratory outcomes. To date, SCLs are proven surgical procedures for the treatment of laryngeal cancer and should be a valuable option to total laryngectomy and chemo-radiotherapy for selected advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In this clinical review, we discuss the clinical outcomes in patients treated with SCLs with particular attention to rehabilitation protocol and functional outcomes for swallowing and voice rehabilitation. Biomed Rev 2018; 29: 65-71