COVID-19 vaccination is highly effective to prevent SARS-CoV-2 circulation

Background: We provide here an analysis of effectiveness of primary coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination and COVID-19 vaccine booster doses in preventing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) infection.Methods: We retrieved information on COVID-19 vaccination and newly diagnosed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection from the weekly official report of the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS; Last available update, January 1, 2022).Results: At the time of our analysis, 39.9 million people completed a primary COVID-19 vaccination cycle, of whom 13.6 million (34.0%) <5 months from the last dose, whilst 5.7 million had also received COVID-19 vaccine booster doses. The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 71% (OR, 0.29; 95%CI, 0.29-0.29) and 86% (OR, 0.14; 95%CI, 0.14-0.14) lower in people who received primary vaccination <5 months and booster doses <5 months compared to the unvaccinated population, but was also half (OR, 0.49; 95%CI, 0.48-0.49) in those who received booster doses <5 months compared to those who completed the primary vaccination <5 months.Conclusions: These results attest that COVID-19 vaccines not only reduce the risk of developing severe illness in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, but shall also be considered reliable and effective means to limit virus circulation within the general population.

Efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses in older people

Purpose. We provide here an updated analysis on efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses in older people (i.e., aged ≥80 years) based on ongoing Italian nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Methods. Data were obtained from the COVID-19 national integrated surveillance program, made available and regularly updated by the Italian National Institute of Health.Results. Compared to those who completed the COVID-19 vaccination cycle for ≥5 months (n=2.385.897), those receiving booster doses (n=1.549.747) had 75% lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, 82-83% lower risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and ICU admission, and 81% lower risk of death. Administration of COVID-19 vaccine boosters generated also greater protection (between 63-87% higher) against all these same endpoints compared to early completing (i.e., <5 months; n=335.458) a primary COVID-19 vaccination cycle.Conclusions. The administration of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses is advisable for reducing the risk of morbidity and mortality in older people.

Grandparents in Italy: trends and changes in the demography of grandparenthood from 1998 to 2016

In this article we explore the last two decades of changes in the demography of grandparenthood in Italy, by means of a set of measures: the proportion of men and women becoming grandparents by age and time, the age at transition to grandparenthood and its crossing with a set of life events and the length of grandparenthood. We used data from the four waves of the Survey on Family and Social Subjects carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics in 1998, 2003, 2009 and 2016. Overall, the median age at which half of the population over 35 is made up of grandparents moved forward by at least 5 years during the two observed decades. The postponement of grandparenthood is evident in middle age: between 55 and 64 the ratio of grandparents to non-grandparents decreased significantly by about 10 per cent. Overall, among people who had ever had children, the median age at the transition to grandparenthood advanced by three years from 1998 to 2016, both for men (59 to 62) and women (54 to 57). This difference is greater than that observed for age at parenthood and equal to the advantage gained in terms of life expectancy at age 60. Thus, although grandparenthood has been postponed over the last two decades in Italy, the great gains in remaining life expectancy result in grandparent-grandchildren lifetime not being reduced.

COVID-19 and the excess of mortality in Italy from January to April 2020: what are the risks for oldest old?

In February 2020, Italy has been the first country in Europe fighting against COVID-19. In March 2020, Italian government declared national lockdown. Until May 4th, people stayed in home confinement and only the so-called “essential works and activities” were continued. Like in other countries, both for the disease severity and for the risk of death, the higher the age of people the higher the risk. In the first months of 2020, Italy saw a very high number of deaths related to COVID-19, with a huge age effect, and there is an agreement on the view that there had been also an excess of mortality and on the role of mortality as a correct way to reflect the dynamics of the virus’s spread. In this paper we briefly discuss the trends of mortality during the first 4 months of 2020 according to the data by the Italian National Institute of Statistics.

An Italy-China Collaboration for Promoting Public Mental Health Recommendations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The rapid evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emergency involved Italy as the first European country. Meanwhile, China was the only other country to experience the emergency scenario, implementing public health recommendations and raising concerns about the mental health of the population. The Italian National Institute of Health [Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS)] reviewed relevant scientific literature in mental health to evaluate the best clinical practices and established the collaboration with the WHO, World Psychiatry Association, and China to support the public health system in a phase of acute emergency. This process permitted the definition of organizational and practical-operational Italian guidelines for the protection of the well-being of healthcare workers. These guidelines have been extensively disseminated within the Italian territory for maximum stakeholder utilization.

Experiential teaching of planetary sciences from kindergartens to secondary schools: the "Astronomiadi" educational project

&lt;p&gt;The Piedmontese town of Pino Torinese is one of the twelve italian locations hosting a local department of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, the Astronomical Observatory of Turin. This peculiarity led to the development of a close collaboration between researchers, teachers and local community and administration, aiming at the promotion of astronomy, and in particular planetary sciences, among students from kindergartens to secondary schools. The chosen driving approach, experiential learning, is not very common in Italy.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

Planetary sciences artfully told

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Y2IQFc&quot; lang=&quot;en&quot;&gt;In the context of a project of narration of astrophysical themes through Cinema and Theater, we will tell the story of the birth of a documentary film on the discovery of the Cavezzo Meteorite, made by the PRISMA fireball network in January 2020. The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics and the theater company Il Piccolo Teatro d'Arte have created a documentary that brings the voices of the protagonists of the discovery together with the mythical, historical and poetic narration of the meteoric phenomenon in a broad sense, with the aim of obtaining an involvement of the audience on both sound science and emotionality.&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

“The sky in your living room”: a streaming format for live astronomy events

&lt;p&gt;During the last year, the outreach community had to rearrange the way of communicating science and resort to new tools for education in schools. In particular, the impossibility of organizing public events has encouraged the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) to find an alternative way to engage remotely with the general public and students. The team of EduINAF, the official INAF online magazine for education and public outreach, has developed a new format for live streaming events, titled &amp;#8220;The sky in your living room&amp;#8221; (&amp;#8220;Il cielo in salotto&amp;#8221;), to be organised around specific astronomy events such as eclipses, comets, different Moon phases, etc. The format has been designed to be centred around a live stream of telescope observations, which takes advantage of INAF&amp;#8217;s network of observatories spread all over the Italian peninsula. The images of those telescopes are commented live by the INAF researchers, presenting the latest scientific results about the topic selected for each specific event. The team running these events has researched several options to find the best and simplest technical tools for live streaming by using only a computer and an internet connection.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;In this talk, we will present the first live event of the format, organized for the Super Moon of the 26th of May, with a focus on both its educational and outreach contents and possible fallouts, and on the technical and communicative solutions chosen for the streaming, including lessons learnt that could be of interest to colleagues organising similar events in other countries.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

PRISMA: an Italian network for the recovery of freshly fallen meteorites

&lt;p&gt;PRISMA is the Italian fireball network dedicated to the observation of bright meteors. It is active since 2016 and formed a collaboration involving more than 60 institutes, being coordinated by INAF, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. PRISMA is also a member of the European network FRIPON. To date, the network counts more than 60 all-sky detectors and has observed more than 2000 bright meteor, four of them being meteorite-dropping fireballs with a predicted strewn-field over the Italian territory. On 04/01/2020, two meteorite pieces were recovered near Cavezzo (MO) in the predicted area just three days after the fall. This was the first recovery of this type in Italy. However, due to the morphology of the two fragments, other meteorites pieces are yet to be found. More recently, on 15/03/2021, a similar event was observed in the skies of southern Italy, near Isernia. Searches for the meteorite are still ongoing, involving the local people and volunteers. In addition, two more meteorite-dropping fireballs were observed, in 2017 and 2018, for which a reliable strewn-field is available. We will report on the current status of the network operations.&lt;/p&gt;

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Italian pediatric population: a regional seroepidemiological study

Background Data on the effective burden of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in pediatric population are very limited, mostly because of the higher rate of asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic cases among children. Updated data on COVID-19 prevalence are needed for their relevance in public health and for infection control policies. In this single-centre cross-sectional study we aimed to assess prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection through IgG antibodies detection in an Italian pediatric cohort. Methods The study was conducted in January 2021 among both inpatients and outpatients referring to Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health “Burlo Garofolo” in Trieste, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Italy, who needed for blood test for any reason. Collected samples were sent to Italian National Institute of Health for analysis through chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA). Results One hundred sixty-nine patients were included in the study, with a median age of 10.5 ± 4.1 years, an equal distribution for sex (49.7% female patients), and a 55.6% prevalence of comorbidities. Prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 trimeric Spike protein IgG antibodies was 9.5% (n = 16), with a medium titre of 482.3 ± 387.1 BAU/mL. Having an infected cohabitant strongly correlated with IgG positivity (OR 23.83, 95% CI 7.19–78.98, p < 0.0001), while a cohabitant healthcare worker wasn’t associated with a higher risk (OR 1.53, 95% CI 0.4–5.86, p 0.46). All of the 5 patients who had previously tested positive to a nasopharyngeal swab belonged to the IgG positive group, with a 3-month interval from the infection at most. Conclusion We assessed a 9.5% SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in a pediatric cohort from Friuli Venezia-Giulia region in January 2021, showing a substantial increase after the second peak of the pandemic occurred starting from October 2020, compared to 1% prevalence observed by National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) in July 2020.