A TaqMan-based real-time PCR qualitative assay for the detection of three species of malaria parasitesPlasmodium falciparum, P. ovale, and P. vivax-was devised and evaluated using 122 whole-blood samples from patients who had traveled to areas where malaria is endemic and who presented with malaria-like symptoms and fever. The assay was compared to conventional microscopy and to an established nested-PCR assay. The specificity of the new assay was confirmed by sequencing the PCR products from all the positive samples and by the lack of cross-reactivity with Toxoplasma gondii and Leishmania infantum DNA. Real-time PCR assay showed a detection limit (analytical sensitivity) of 0.7, 4, and 1.5 parasites/l for P. falciparum, P. vivax, and P. ovale, respectively. Real-time PCR, like nested PCR, brought to light errors in the species identification by microscopic examination and revealed the presence of mixed infections (P. falciparum plus P. ovale). Real-time PCR can yield results within 2 h, does not require post-PCR processing, reduces sample handling, and minimizes the risks of contamination. The assay can therefore be easily implemented in routine diagnostic malaria tests. Future studies are warranted to investigate the clinical value of this technique.

Detection of Plasmodium ovale by use of a nested PCR assay with a novel Plasmodium ovale primer set was superior to detection of Plasmodium ovale by real-time PCR assays. Nested PCR was also better at detecting P. malariae. The detection of P. ovale in many patients first admitted >2 months following their return to Italy indicated that P. ovale relapses are common.

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Surveillance of norovirus infections in sporadic cases of pediatric gastroenteritis admitted to a main hospital in Northern Italy during a full-year period (2002) showed that noroviruses (10.4%) were the second most common causative viral agent, following rotaviruses (21.1%), and noroviruses (81%) were mostly implicated in mixed infections. The epidemic period of norovirus was September-December, with September and November as months of major prevalence (33.3 and 38.5%, respectively). Six distinct norovirus genotypes were detected (GI.7, GII.1, GII.2, GII.4, GII.7, GII, not assigned named GIIb), and the predominant genotype was GII.4. A "new GII.4 2002 variant" accounted for 82.9% of total strains. Since the severity of norovirus symptoms does not usually require admission to hospital, the burden of norovirus disease in the general children population may be much higher than that suggested by the present hospital-based investigation.