Analysis of Cultured Gut Microbiota Using MALDI-TOF MS in COVID-19 Patients from Serbia during the Predominance of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant.

The currently dominant SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant, while causing mild respiratory symptoms, exhibits high transmissibility, drug resistance, and immune evasion. We investigated whether the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 affected the dynamics of fecal microbial composition isolated in culture in moderate COVID-19 patients. Blood, stool, and medical records were collected from 50 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Pneumococcal carriage in adults aged 50 years and older in outpatient health care facility during pandemic COVID-19 in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Background: Data related to carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) and antimicrobial resistance patterns in middle-aged and older adults are limited. We assessed the carriage of Spn, and its antibiotic resistance patterns, among participants ≥50 years of age living in the city of Novi Sad during the second year of COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Analysis of prospectively collected data among participants with or without symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection who visited their elected physicians in the Primary Health Care Centre of Novi Sad (outpatient facility) was conducted from May 18, 2021 to December 7, 2021.

Pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage in children under 5 years of age at an outpatient healthcare facility in Novi Sad, Serbia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: To assess whether pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage among children aged 24-60 months reduced during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Novi Sad, Serbia, and to investigate the overall prevalence of carriage, serotype distribution and dominant serotypes 2-3 years after the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 10.

Design And Methods: This prospective, observational study was conducted in February-March 2020, September-November 2020 and April-June 2021, enabling the comparison of results in the pre-pandemic/early pandemic period with two periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pneumococci were identified by standard microbiological methods.

Seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 virus in Northern Serbia (Vojvodina): A four consecutive sentinel population-based survey study.

Background: Monitoring changes of seroprevalence over time is important at the beginning and during of COVID-19 outbreak to anticipate its dynamics and plan an adequate public health response.

Methods: We conducted a repeated cross-sectional investigation among asymptomatic outpatient subjects and covered 0.1% of total population of Northern Serbia (Autonomous Province of Vojvodina).

Endemicity of OXA-23 and OXA-72 in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii from three neighbouring countries in Southeast Europe.

According to the World Health Organization, bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii is the first on the critical priority list of pathogens in urgent need for new antibiotics. The increasing resistance of A. baumannii to the last-line treatment options, including carbapenems, is a global problem.

Aristolochic Acids as Persistent Soil Pollutants: Determination of Risk for Human Exposure and Nephropathy from Plant Uptake.

Exposure to aristolochic acids (AAs) from Aristolochia plants is one of the major global causes of nephropathy, including Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN); renal failure; and urothelial cancer. The high incidence of BEN on the Balkan Peninsula is assumed to result from consumption of Aristolochia clematitis L. seeds coharvested with crops.

Quantitation of Aristolochic Acids in Corn, Wheat Grain, and Soil Samples Collected in Serbia: Identifying a Novel Exposure Pathway in the Etiology of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy.

While to date investigations provided convincing evidence on the role of aristolochic acids (AAs) in the etiology of Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) and upper urothelial cancer (UUC), the exposure pathways by which AAs enter human bodies to cause BEN and UUC remain obscure. The goal of this study is to test the hypothesis that environmental pollution by AAs and root uptake of AAs in the polluted soil may be one of the pathways by which AAs enter the human food chain. The hypothesis driving this study was that the decay of Aristolochia clematitis L.

Detection of carbapenemase genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates.

Introduction: Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the leading causes of serious hospital-acquired infections worldwide among Enterobacteriaceae species. It is the most common producer of carbapenemases in many parts of the world.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine which enzymes were responsible for resistance to carbapenems in Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated at the Centre of Microbiology of Public Health Institute of Vojvodina.

[Carbapenems resistance of Acinetobacter spp strains isolated from wound swabs during 2009-2010].

Introduction: Acinetobacter spp has become an important cause of nosocomial infections due to its great ability to survive and spread in a hospital setting and to develop resistance to many antibiotics. The aim of this study was to examine the resistance to carbapenems and other commonly used antibiotics in strains of Acinetobacter isolated from wound swabs.

Material And Methods: In the Laboratories of Microbiology Center at the Institute for Public Health in Novi Sad wound swabs were taken from the patients hospitalized at the Institutes and Departments of the Clinical Center of Vojvodina in Novi Sad.

[Frequency of vancomycin-resistant enterococci isolated from blood cultures from 2008 to 2010].

Introduction: Enterococci are important hospital-acquired pathogens. The most commonly isolated species of the genus, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium are the third to fourth-most prevalent nosocomial pathogens worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of resistance to vancomycin and other antimicrobial agents of Enterococcus spp strains isolated from blood cultures of hospitalized patients.