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The parasites of the genus Spirometra belong to one of the twelve genera of the family Diphyllobothriidae, with several species of zoonotic importance whose definitive hosts are carnivorous mammals. In Argentina, few reports have described these parasites in wild carnivores. Morphological studies of the adult stage obtained from necropsy allow the distinction between Diphyllobothrium and Spirometra. A less invasive method of identification is the analysis of the parasite eggs; however, the morphometric similarities between close genera and species and alterations in egg preservation affect the identification. In Argentina, molecular tools have been used as a non-invasive and accurate method to increase the information about Spirometra and to improve its identification. In the present study, DNA was extracted from Spirometra eggs from Pampas foxes and a 450-bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene was sequenced. The sequence obtained, which is the first Spirometra DNA sequence from Argentina, was deposited at GenBank. Comparison by BLASTN analysis between the sequence obtained and the sequences from GenBank showed 93 % identity with S. proliferum and 89% with S. erinaceieuropaei.

The present study reports the first case of infection by in , and the first report of this nematode in Argentina. Examining 80 foxes from Buenos Aires province, specimens of this species were recovered from 21.25 % of the small intestines and eggs were found in 7.5 % of the fecal samples.

Dupilumab is a monoclonal antibody targeting IL-4Rα recently licensed for severe asthma (SA). A Named Patients Program (NPP) was created in Italy before its commercial availability for SA patients with no other available therapeutic options. We aimed to assess the real-world effectiveness of dupilumab in patients with SA and unmet needs. We performed a multicentre retrospective study, including SA patients admitted to the NPP treated with dupilumab for 12 months. Data on the number of exacerbations, Asthma Control Test (ACT), pre-bronchodilator FEV %, oral corticosteroids (OCSs) use, FeNO and eosinophils count in peripheral blood were recorded at baseline and after 3, 6, and 12 months. We included 18 SA patients (mean age 53.3±12.4 years, 66.7% female). Eleven (61.1%) were OCSs dependent. Five patients (27.8%) received previous anti-IgE and/or anti-IL-5 agents. A significant improvement in ACT score (from 15.7±5.1 to 18.8±4.8, p=0.023), OCSs intake [10 (5-25) mg/day to 0 (0-5) mg/day, p=0.0333] and FeNO [from 25 (20-80) ppb to 21 (10.9-55.3) ppb, p=0.0190] was already detected after 3 months of treatment. After 12 months, a statistically significant decrease in the number of exacerbations from 2 (0-3) to 0 (0-1) (p<0.0068) and increase in FEV % from 73.5±19.5% to 87.1±19.2% (p=0.0407) and ACT to a mean value of 22.4±1.7 (p<0.0001) and the interruption of OCSs in all the patients (p<0.0001) was observed. A transient increase in the eosinophil count was observed in five patients (above 1000 cells/μL in 2 cases) after 3 months, without any clinical effect. Dupilumab improved all the explored clinical outcomes after 12 months, and the transient hypereosinophilia did not modify treatment response. These real-world data confirm the results reported in randomized controlled trials and provide an important opportunity to characterize the clinical impact of the treatment in a non-trial setting. Further real-world studies with a larger cohort of patients are needed to confirm these findings.