A variety of national and international guidelines exist around the management of carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CREs), but some of these are several years old and do not reflect current epidemiology and they also do not necessarily give pragmatic advice around active surveillance of CREs in countries with a high burden of cases and limited resources. This paper aims to provide a best practice position paper to guide active surveillance in a variety of scenarios in these settings, and discusses which patients should be screened, what methods could be used for screening, and how results might influence infection prevention interventions. This paper was developed as a result of a series of meetings of expert opinion leaders representing the major infectious disease and infection prevention societies in Italy and having the endorsement of AMCLI (Italian Association of Clinical Microbiology) and SITA (Italian Society for Anti-infective Therapy). There was no attempt to undertake a full systematic review of the evidence, as it was felt that this was inadequate to inform a pragmatic view on the best way forward based on current epidemiology and infection rates. Key recommendations focus on the urgent need to promote measures to prevent transmission and infection, focusing on high risk patients and clinical areas, as well as outbreak situations. Active surveillance leading to appropriate infection prevention precautions plays a major role in this. There are limited national or international guidelines giving pragmatic advice on the most appropriate measures for active surveillance and management of colonized patients in a high-burden setting such as Italy. While individual hospitals and regions will need to formulate their own policies based on local epidemiology, this position paper attempts to highlight current best practice in this area and provide pragmatic advice for clinicians, infection prevention staff, and healthcare managers.

Intra-abdominal infections are still associated with high rate of morbidity and mortality. A multidisciplinary approach to the management of patients with intra-abdominal infections may be an important factor in the quality of care. The presence of a team of health professionals from various disciplines, working in concert, may improve efficiency, outcome, and the cost of care. A World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) Consensus Conference was held in Bologna on July 2010, during the 1st congress of the WSES, involving surgeons, infectious disease specialists, pharmacologists, radiologists and intensivists with the goal of defining recommendations for the early management of intra-abdominal infections. This document represents the executive summary of the final guidelines approved by the consensus conference.

Despite evidence supporting the effectiveness of best practices in infection prevention and management, many healthcare workers fail to implement them and evidence-based practices tend to be underused in routine practice. Prevention and management of infections across the surgical pathway should always focus on collaboration among all healthcare workers sharing knowledge of best practices. To clarify key issues in the prevention and management of infections across the surgical pathway, a multidisciplinary task force of experts convened in Ancona, Italy, on May 31, 2019, for a national meeting. This document represents the executive summary of the final statements approved by the expert panel.

Candida auris is an emerging fungus that represents a serious health threat globally. In Italy, the first case was detected in July 2019. Then, one case was reported to the Ministry of Health (MoH) on January 2020. Nine months later, a huge number of cases were reported in northern Italy. Overall, 361 cases were detected in 17 healthcare facilities between July 2019 and December 2022 in the Liguria, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto regions, including 146 (40.4%) deaths. The majority of cases (91.8%) were considered as colonised. Only one had a history of travel abroad. Microbiological data on seven isolates showed that all but one strain (85.7%) were resistant to fluconazole. All the environmental samples tested negative. Weekly screening of contacts was performed by the healthcare facilities. Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures were applied locally. The MoH nominated a National Reference Laboratory to characterise C. auris isolates and store the strains. In 2021, Italy posted two messages through the Epidemic Intelligence Information System (EPIS) to inform on the cases. On February 2022, a rapid risk assessment indicated a high risk for further spread within Italy, but a low risk of spread to other countries.

On January 2020, the WHO Director General declared that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The world has faced a worldwide spread crisis and is still dealing with it. The present paper represents a white paper concerning the tough lessons we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, an international and heterogenous multidisciplinary panel of very differentiated people would like to share global experiences and lessons with all interested and especially those responsible for future healthcare decision making. With the present paper, international and heterogenous multidisciplinary panel of very differentiated people would like to share global experiences and lessons with all interested and especially those responsible for future healthcare decision making.

Mixed vaginitis is defined as the simultaneous presence of at least two different vaginal pathogens, both contributing to an abnormal vaginal milieu leading to signs and symptoms. Pathogen coinfect...