At this time small bowel biopsy seems to be the only correct procedure to diagnose a case of suspected celiac disease, especially in patients with mild symptoms or suspected for celiac disease, because they belong to high-risk groups.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Several measures aimed at containing the spread of this virus have been recommended by international and nation public health institutions, but whether the influenza vaccine, while not protective against COVID-19, nonetheless reduces disease severity is unclear. This study evaluated the potential role of influenza vaccine in reducing the rate of hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 cases recorded in the province of Brindisi (Apulia, Southern Italy) during the first pandemic wave (February–May 2020) and occurring in patients vaccinated with the influenza vaccine during the 2019–2020 influenza season were considered. From February 2020 to May 2020, 3872 inhabitants of the province of Brindisi underwent SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing and 664 (8.7%) tested positive. A multivariate analysis showed that among COVID-19 patients neither hospitalization nor death was significantly associated with influenza vaccination (p > 0.05), whereas within this group male sex, older age, and chronic diseases were identified as risk factors for morbidity and mortality. Our study did not show an association between the influenza vaccine and complications of COVID-19. Nonetheless, influenza vaccination must be promoted as a central public health measure, because by reducing the burden on hospitals it can greatly benefit the management of COVID-19 patients.

This study showed that the endoscopic appearance of the duodenum may be predictive of histological damage grading. Moreover, we showed that in young patients with subclinical/silent celiac disease there is a greater probability of finding slight/mild endoscopic abnormalities associated with slight/mild histological damage.