Fortunato, Francesca
Lillini, Roberto
Martinelli, Domenico
Iannelli, Giuseppina
Ascatigno, Leonardo
Casanova, Georgia
Lopalco, Pier Luigi
Prato, Rosa
Article History
Received: 17 March 2023
Accepted: 26 April 2023
First Online: 4 May 2023
Declarations
:
: The study was conducted within the public health surveillance program established by the Apulia region; ethical approval was not required. All procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Moreover, according to the Italian regulation (DETERMINAZIONE AIFA—20 marzo 2008, GU n. 76 del 31-3-2008), a retrospective epidemiological study only required notification to the Regional Public Health Authority (IRB) due to the nature of the study itself. Moreover, according to the Italian Data Protection Authority in the context of the COVID-19 health emergency, it is indicated that, in the event of the impossibility of obtaining the consent of the interested parties, observational studies take advantage of a derogation regime for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency (art. 110 of the Code regarding the protection of personal data).
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.