Background/Objectives: HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infectious agent worldwide and adolescents are at high risk of contracting HPV. The aim of our study was to find out how much adolescents know about the virus and its effects, and to obtain information on attitudes and behaviors regarding HPV vaccination to close these gaps. Methods: As part of the ESPRIT project, 598 lower secondary (11–14 years) and upper secondary (14–19 years) school students from three Italian regions were surveyed between December 2023 and March 2024 using a seven-question online questionnaire on awareness, knowledge, and attitudes about HPV and the HPV vaccine. Count and zero-inflation models were used to determine correlations between sexes, urban/suburban, province of residence, and school type with knowledge. Results: Lower secondary students believed that HPV causes HIV/AIDS (8.9%) or hepatitis C (3.0%) and rarely mentioned anal (21%) and oral sex (9.6%) as ways of transmission. Among upper secondary students, misconceptions were similar, with worrying rates of students stating that HPV only causes cancer in females (18%) or males (2.4%), and low rates of identifying transmission risk through anal (41%) and oral (34%) sex and genital contact (38%). The HPV vaccination rate was quite low (47% in lower secondary students, 61% in upper secondary students). In the regressions, sex, urban/suburban area, and province were the variables associated with higher levels of knowledge for lower secondary students; for upper secondary students, level of knowledge was associated with sex, urban/suburban area, school type, and province of residence. Conclusions: Awareness and knowledge of HPV and the HPV vaccine are low among Italian students in this study and reported vaccination coverage is below the national target. Coordinated efforts at the national level are needed to address this public health issue.

In the realm of antenatal care, vaccinations serve as a cornerstone, crucial for safeguarding the health of both the mother and the fetus, while also extending protection to the newborn against communicable diseases. Nevertheless, vaccine adherence among pregnant women remains very low. The aim of our study was to evaluate the uptake of vaccines (influence, pertussis, and COVID-19) among women during pregnancy and to understand pregnant women’s knowledge of vaccines and the diseases they protect against. The purpose was to investigate the reasons why pregnant women chose not to be vaccinated and to develop effective strategies for informing them about the importance of vaccination for both maternal and fetal safety. A prospective observational study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, “Ospedale Santa Maria della Misericordia” in Udine, from 1 December 2021 to 30 June 2022. During this period, a self-completed paper questionnaire was administered to women at the end of pregnancy or during the puerperium. A total of 161 questionnaires were collected. Higher educational level was found to be significantly associated with influenza vaccination uptake (p = 0.037, OR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.05–4.51). Similarly, for pertussis vaccination, adherence was mainly associated with higher educational level (p = 0.014, OR = 2.83, 95% CI 1.24–6.47), but also with Italian nationality (p = 0.003, OR = 3.36, 95% CI 1.56–8.43) and pregnancy attended by a midwife or private gynecologist (p = 0.028, OR = 0.39, 95% CI 0.17–0.90). Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, the only factor positively influencing uptake was Italian nationality (p = 0.044, OR = 2.66, 95% CI 1.03–6.91). Women’s fear that vaccines would endanger the fetus appeared to be the most important reason for refusing vaccinations. Simultaneously, patients also exhibited a desire to receive more information about maternal vaccination, particularly from their general physician or gynecologist. For this reason, it is imperative to enhance maternal vaccination counselling, making it a routine step in prenatal care from the first antenatal visit until the postpartum period.

Introduction: Actinomyces are commensal bacteria that colonize various sites in the human body. Under certain predisposing conditions, they can proliferate and cause granulomatous inflammation in different tissues. Pelvic actinomycosis is an extremely rare condition; its significance lies in the fact that it can be easily misdiagnosed as gynecological malignancy based on clinical manifestations and imaging findings. According to the literature, this type of inflammatory disease is a common mimic of ovarian cancer. Objective and methods: This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the characteristics of pelvic actinomycosis through a literature review and the description of two cases collected between 2023 and 2024 at Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Santa Maria della Misericordia in Udine Italy.

Ectopic pregnancy is a relatively common condition and an important cause of morbidity in women of childbearing age. The most frequent implantation site is the fallopian tube. Most cases are diagnosed in an early gestational period. Patients come to the attention of clinicians for pelvic pain and vaginal blood loss, and consequent diagnosis is made through clinical presentation, laboratory tests, and ultrasound. Other rarer implantation sites such as the abdominal cavity give space for ectopic pregnancy to grow until later gestational ages, delaying diagnosis. This is a rare case of a healthy 41-year-old woman with an advanced ectopic pregnancy after emergency contraception with Ulipristal Acetate. The patient went to visit for amenorrhea after taking a contraceptive. Evaluation with ultrasound demonstrated a 10 + 4 weeks’ unruptured tubal pregnancy with fetal heart rate. The patient underwent laparoscopic salpingectomy without complication. This is the first case of such an advanced ectopic pregnancy in a woman who performed emergency contraception with Ulipristal Acetate.

This feasibility study explores the potential of salivary microRNAs (miRNAs) as non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing endometriosis and assessing treatment response. Almost one-third of patients with endometriosis do not respond to the standard progestin treatment due to various mechanisms of progesterone resistance. MiRNAs, recognized for their stability in body fluids and role in gene regulation, may offer new diagnostic and prognostic opportunities as they are involved in the pathogenic pathways of endometriosis and progesterone resistance. We sequenced salivary miRNAs in three cohorts of patients: control women without endometriosis and patients with endometriosis who responded and did not respond to standard progestin treatment. This aims to identify the differential miRNA expression profiles associated with therapeutic response to dienogest. The preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of miRNA sequencing from saliva and reveal distinct miRNA profiles between responders, non-responders, and controls. Key miRNAs, including mir-3168, the mir-200a family, and mir-93-5p, emerged as potential biomarkers, showing significant differential expression linked to both endometriosis presence and treatment response. Further validation of these findings in larger cohorts could pave the way for miRNA-based diagnostic and prognostic tools, potentially reducing diagnostic delays and personalizing treatment approaches for endometriosis patients, also with new target therapies.

Background/Objectives: HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infectious agent worldwide and adolescents are at high risk of becoming infected with HPV. Our study aimed at understanding how much adolescents know about the virus and its effects, and to obtain infor-mation on attitudes and behaviors regarding HPV vaccination to close these gaps. Methods: Within the ESPRIT project, 598 lower and upper secondary school students from 3 Italian regions were surveyed between December 2023 and March 2024 using an online questionnaire with 7 questions on awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards HPV and the HPV vaccine. A regres-sion model was used to determine correlations based on sex, living context, province of residence and school type. Results: Younger students believed that HPV causes HIV/AIDS (8.9%) or hepati-tis C (3.0%) and rarely mentioned anal (21%) and oral sex (9.6%) as ways of transmission. Among older students the misconceptions were similar, with worrying rates of students stating that HPV causes cancer only in women (18%) or men (2.4%), and low rates of identifying trans-mission risk from anal (41%) and oral (34%) intercourse and genital contact (38%). HPV vac-cination rate was quite low (47% in younger, 61% in older students). Considering regressions, the living context was decisive for the knowledge of younger students; sex, school type and province of residence in older students. Conclusions: Awareness and knowledge of HPV and the HPV vaccine are low among Italian students, and reported vaccination coverage is below the national target. Coordinated efforts at national level are needed to address this public health issue.