The main lines of research include environmental microbiology,
epidemiology and promotion of health.
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Environmental microbiology
. In this area her research concerned the assessment and control of
infection risk due to the contamination of water, air and aliments,
from pathogenic or opportunistic microorganisms. Of particular
importance are her scientific contributions regarding the
environmental prevalence of Legionella pneumophila in
artificial water environments (domestic, hotel and hospital hot
water systems; swimming pools and spas; spa environments; dental
units) and the assessment of measures to apply for risk
control.
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Epidemiology
. In relation with the research on the microbiology of water,
prevalence and case-control epidemiological studies were carried
out on nosocomial and community acquired pneumonia from
Legionella pneumophila, and on infections from swimming
pools. Investigations were also made, through retrospective
epidemiological studies, on the risk factors associated with
epidemic outbreaks of food-borne infectious diseases, such as
salmonellosis and viral hepatitis A.
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Health promotion
. After various prevalence studies aimed at assessing the life
styles of children and teenagers, campaigns for the promotion of
motor activity were planned, performed and evaluated in primary
schools, in children from the third to fifth class, involving the
introduction of a programme of physical activity during school
hours, regularly distributed throughout all days of school
attendance. The assessment of the campaigns was made by means of
pre-post and prospective prevalence studies, examining the
anthropometric characteristics (BMI) and motor skills through
standardized tests.
