Chief: Alessandra Mularoni

The Infectious Disease and Infection Control Service at ISMETT focuses on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all infections in patients affected with end-stage organ failure, and patients undergoing solid organ transplants.

The Service also provides:

• Cooperation with all ISMETT departments to guarantee consulting services of excellence both for inpatients and outpatients through a multidisciplinary approach. Our specialists work in close collaboration with heart, lung, pancreas, kidney, and liver transplantation teams to ensure the best post-transplant outcome.
• Education and counseling for transplant recipients and patients waiting for a transplant.
• Expertise for the development of guidelines for the prevention and management of infectious complications for each department and transplant team.
• Educational support to the transplant teams to ensure application of the guidelines, and updating of specialists in every department.
• Infection control program: monitoring all infection rates, circulation of multi-resistant pathogens, and antimicrobial consumption. A taskforce to contain the spread of multi-resistant pathogens (KPC and ESBL) and an antimicrobial stewardship program are ongoing to promote a judicious use of antimicrobial medications.
• Collaboration with the microbiology and virology laboratory for the development and application of new diagnostic tests.
• Collaboration with the Cardiac Surgery and Heart Transplantation Unit for the treatment of complicated sternal incision infections (together with the use of V.A.C. therapy).
• Initiative aimed at the development of clinical research in collaboration with every transplant program.
• Research projects focusing on reducing the risk of transmitting infections from donors to recipients, etiologic diagnosis of infectious endocarditis by valve molecular analysis, diagnosis and management of HHV8 infection in transplant recipients, study of multi-resistant bacteria (ESBL, CRE, MRSA, VRE), prevention of CMV in the post-transplant period through a pre-emptive approach, impact of HHV6 infection in the post-transplant period, flu prevention in patients undergoing solid organ transplants.