Press releases

ISS, October 19th 2021 With regard to what was reported by various media regarding the data contained in the report on the characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 positive patients who died in Italy published 19 October last, and in order to ensure the data are correctly interpreted, the following clarifications are in order: · The report does not state that only 2.9% of deaths attributed to COVID-19 are due to the virus. The percentage of 2.9%, which has also been reported in previous editions, refers to the percentage of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients who died without other pathologies being diagn...

ISS, October 22th 2021 - Here are the main data that emerged from the Situation Room: The weekly incidence at national level increased slightly: 34 per 100,000 inhabitants (15/10/2021 - 21/10/2021) versus 29 per 100,000 inhabitants (08/14/2021 - 07/10/2021), data provided by the Ministry of Health. The incidence was below the weekly threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants which means that transmission could be controlled based on containment or on the identification of cases and the tracing of their contacts. •    In the period 29 September - 12 October 2021, the mean Rt c...

ISS, October 19th 2021 - The COVID-19-related deaths of individuals who had completed their vaccination course had a higher average age (85.5 versus 78.3) than unvaccinated individuals, and the average number of concomitant diseases observed was also significantly higher in this group (5,0 versus 3.9 pre-existing pathologies). This was stated in an in-depth analysis contained in the periodic report on deaths of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) published today, and based on the analysis of a sample of 671 medical records relating to deaths tha...

Iss, 8 ottobre 2021 - Ecco i dati principali emersi dalla cabina di regia: È in diminuzione l’incidenza settimanale a livello nazionale: 34 per 100.000 abitanti (01/09/2021 –07/09/2021) vs 37 per 100.000 abitanti (24/09/2021 –30/09/2021), dati Ministero Salute.

ISS, October 15th 2021 Here are the main data provided by the Situation Room: The weekly incidence at national level has decreased: 29 per 100,000 inhabitants (08/10/2021 - 14/110/2021) versus 34 per 100,000 inhabitants (01/10/2021 - 07/10/2021), data from the Ministry of Health. The incidence was below the weekly threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants which means that transmission can be held in check through containment, identification of cases and through the tracing of their contacts. •    In the period from 22 September to 5 October 2021, the average Rt calculated o...

ISS, October 8th 2021 Here are the main data provided by the Situation Room: The weekly incidence at national level has decreased: 34 per 100,000 inhabitants (01/09/2021 - 07/09/2021) versus 37 per 100,000 inhabitants (24/09/2021 - 30/09/2021), data from the Ministry of Health. The incidence was below the weekly threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants which means that transmission can be held in check through containment, identification of cases and through the tracing of their contacts. · In the period from 15 to 28 September 2021, the average Rt calculated on symptomatic cases was e...

ISS, Ottobre 6th 2021 - In the initial months after vaccination protection from the risk of infection in the general population remains high, while a reduction in efficacy over time has been observed in immune-compromised and frail patients.

ISS, October 5th 2021 - Silvio Brusaferro, President of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS (Italian National Institute of Health), said: "I wish to extend my congratulations to Giorgio Parisi on receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics, which confirms the undisputed value of Italian research. This award makes the ISS proud. Parisi is the main representative of Rome’s school of theoretical physics, founded by Enrico Fermi who worked in our laboratories. The award encourages the entire Italian scientific community to continue in its efforts to improve the health and well-being of society." The...

ISS, October 1st 2021 EMBARGOED UNTIL 16.30 HOURS OF TODAY 1 OCTOBER According to the COVID-19 Integrated Surveillance System, in Italy in the last 45 days, 98.4% of sequenced swabs tested positive for the Delta variant (as against 88.7% recorded in the Newsletter of 17 September). The Alpha variant, on the other hand, has almost totally disappeared, being at 0.1% (again in the last 45 days, while in the previous Newsletter it was at 0.4%). The data are contained in the tenth Newsletter of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS (Italian National Institute of Health), "Prevalence and distribu...

ISS, October 1st 2021 Here are the main data provided by the Situation Room: The weekly incidence at national level has declined: 37 per 100,000 inhabitants (24/09/2021 - 30/09/2021) versus 48 per 100,000 inhabitants (13/09/2021-19/09/2021), ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) flow data. The incidence is below the weekly threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants which means that transmission can be controlled through containment or by identifying cases and tracing their contacts. · In the period from 8 to 21 September 2021, the average Rt calculated on symptomatic cases was equal...

ISS, September 30th 2021 The weekly death-rate due to Sars-CoV-2 infection has decreased sharply since the start of the vaccination campaign, and has remained below 0.01% also in recent weeks. This is what emerges from the third update of the surveillance report on the long-term care facilities produced by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità - ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the National Authority for the rights of persons deprived of personal liberty, and the ARS Toscana. According to the report there has been a new increase in the number...

ISS, September 24th 2021 The Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) has updated its information on access to COVID-19 vaccines by pregnant and breastfeeding women. These are the main conclusions. Vaccination of pregnant women · On the basis of the growing evidence on the safety of vaccination in pregnancy for both the foetus and the mother, the new evidence on the greater morbidity associated with the Delta variant, the increasing circulation of this variant and the significant lowering of the median age of infection in Italy, the ISS has updated its previ...

ISS, September 17th  2021 - According to the COVID-19 Integrated Surveillance System, in Italy in the last 45 days, 88.7% of sequenced swabs tested positive for the Delta variant (as against 88.1% recorded in the Newsletter of 3 September). 

ISS, September 7th 2021 Marco Martuzzi is the new Director of the Environment and Health Department of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità - ISS (Italian National Institute of Health). He graduated in Mathematics from the University of Bologna and worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) for over 25 years. Mr. Martuzzi returned to Italy from Seoul to take on the role of Director of the Environment and Health Department of the ISS, where he started his career in the Environmental Epidemiology Unit. Author of over 300 publications, Martuzzi was the Head of WHO’s Asia-Pacific Centre for En...

Data of the eighth Newsletter and of the ISS flash survey ISS, September 3rd 2021 In Italy in the last 45 days, a predominance of the Delta variant, identified in 88.1% of cases, has been reported to the Integrated Surveillance System. The data are contained in the eighth ISS Newsletter, "Prevalence and distribution of SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest for public health in Italy". In fact, from 17 July to 30 August, according to the data in the Newsletter, the number of reports of cases caused by the delta variant (of which the lineage B.1.617.2) in Italy is still higher than the number of r...

A strategic document for the prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2 infections and a monitoring plan to control the circulation of the virus in schools have been drawn up to protect classroom teaching.

In Italy, during the last 45 days, 82.4% of sequenced swabs tested positive for the Delta variant, while the Alpha variant declined, stopping at 8.0%. New cases of infection caused by the Delta variant have been reported in all Regions / Autonomous Provinces. The data are contained in the seventh ISS Newsletter "Prevalence and distribution of SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest for public health in Italy"

In Italy, in the last 45 days, 69.2% of sequenced swabs tested positive for the delta variant, thus taking over the alpha variant which has stopped at 17.3%. New cases of infection caused by the Delta variant have been reported in all Regions / Autonomous Provinces. The data are contained in the sixth ISS Newsletter "Prevalence and distribution of SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest for public health in Italy",and are confirmed by the data of the flash survey which reported data referring only to 20 May. 6.6% of the Sars-CoV-2 positive swabs were sequenced in July. The platform for the genomic ...

ISS, August 2nd 2021, The measures introduced last autumn with the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 3 November 2020 to mitigate the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy reduced the transmissibility (RT) of the SARS-COV-2 virus by 13-19% in the Yellow Zone, by 27-38% in the Orange Zone and by 36-45% in the Red Zone. These findings are the main results of a joint study carried out by the Bruno Kessler Foundation, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) and INAIL which was published in the journal Nature Communications.

ISS, July 30th 2021 In Italy, as at 20 July, the prevalence of the so-called 'Delta variant' of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was 94.8%, a sharp increase compared to the survey of 22 June, with values of individual Regions ranging between 80% and 100%. On the same date, the 'Alpha' variant had a prevalence of 3.2% (range between 0 and 14.7%), while the prevalence of the 'Brazilian' variant was 1.4% (0-16,7%). These figures are provided by the new flash survey carried out by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) and the Ministry of Health together with the region...