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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as a risk factor for patients in general population and particularly in immunocompromised patients. As a matter of fact, it can produce serious infections that may then evolve in septicaemia. However, transmission of MRSA from food to people can represent a serious problem only for immunocompromised people. Vancomycin is the elective antimicrobial commonly used in case of MRSA infection, but S. aureus strains with reduced sensibility to vancomycin are emerging worldwide. We isolated 42 strains of S. aureus from 176 samples of raw meat (poultry, pork and beef) during a one-year survey. Each strain was tested against twelve antimicrobial to verify antibiotic resistance. We found no evidence of methicillin-, teicoplanin-or vancomycin-resistance, but a lot of multiresistant microorganisms, i.e. resistant to three or more antibiotics. These results confirm the hypothesis that antibiotics resistance is present not only in nosocomial bacteria, but also in community environments microorganisms.

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Following the report of many cases of Legionnaires’ disease associated with accommodation facilitiessuch as hotels, spas, workplaces, hospitals and nursing homes, we verified if Legionella pneumophila andLegionella spp. were present in some of those structures in Tuscany, in order to estimate the species andserogroups in circulation. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (30.9%) was the most frequently isolatedspecies along with serogroups 3 (16.1%) and 6 (13.3%); these three serogroups are identified, in literature,as those most responsible for Legionnaires’ disease (LD). Studying all analyzed structures, we found someparts of the water system where Legionella concentration was higher than 103 CFU/L, indicated, in Italy, asthe maximum admitted concentration value above which a decontamination treatment is necessary whenone or more cases of healthcare-acquired Legionnaires’ disease are observed. Moreover disinfection isrecommended in any case when counts exceed 10 4CFU/L.Consequently, in order to prevent cases of Legionnaires’ disease, a continuous surveillance of the watersystems of all accommodation facilities is necessary, with particular attention to hospitals and nursinghomes where immunocompromised patients lodge, so as to promptly estimate the presence of thepathogen and consequently plan the most suitable intervention activities. We concluded that, in anystructure, a continuous surveillance and disinfecting treatment of water systems is necessary. Moreover,after any disinfection treatment the temperature of the hot water flowing in the system must be necessarilymaintained near 51°C in order to minimize the probability of recontamination from Legionella and limit therisk of LD in consumers.