Microbiology of Healthcare-Associated Infections: Results of a Fourth National Point Prevalence Survey in Serbia.

Millions of patients acquire healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) every year, putting them at risk for serious complications and prolonged hospitalization. Point prevalence surveys (PPS), guided by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control framework, are one of the primary methods by which countries in the European Union conduct surveillance of HAIs. Serbia, though not in the EU, implemented this approach in its national PPS.

Half of expectant women in Montenegro show iodine deficiency, indicating that supplementation during pregnancy is necessary.

Objective: In this study, iodine level in pregnant women of Montenegro and their needs for supplementation were investigated.

Methods: A urinary iodine concentration (UIC) study of 326 pregnant women between September and December 2017 in three regions of Montenegro was performed. UIC was related to creatinine (UI/Cr ratio).

A Questionnaire for Rating Health-related Quality of Life.

Background: Translations of instruments for measuring quality of life developed in certain, mostly more developed, parts of the world usually do not cover regionally specific aspects of health-related quality of life, even after transcultural validation. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a reliable questionnaire in Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin languages suitable for measuring health-related quality of life in adults.

Methods: The study was of a cross-sectional type, assessing the reliability and validity of a newly developed questionnaire for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adults residing in western Balkan states (WB-HRQoL).

A nationwide assessment of the burden of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use among surgical patients: results from Serbian point prevalence survey, 2017.

Background: As the only non-European Union (EU) country, Serbia participated in a second point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial use (AMU) organized by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in the EU countries. Here, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of HAI and AMU in patients who had recently undergone a surgery and to compare risk profile, HAI rates, and AMU among surgical patients and non-surgical patients.

Methods: A national PPS was performed in 65 Serbian acute-care hospitals, in November 2017.

Community-acquired urinary tract infections: Causative agents and their resistance to antimicrobial drugs.

Background/aim: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infections in outpatients. The aim of this study was to define the causative agents of urinary tract infections and their resistance to antimicrobial drugs in the urban area of central Serbia, as well as to evaluate eventual differences associated with age and gender of the patients.

Methods: This retrospective study analysed data taken from routine, consecutively collected urine cultures of outpatients with symptomatic UTIs, collected from the Department of Microbiology, Institute of Public Health in Kragujevac, Serbia, from January 2009 to December 2013.

Spleen cystic echinococcosis: clinical manifestations and treatment.

Aim: The aim of our study was to demonstrate clinical manifestations and diagnostic methods of splenic echinococcosis and suggest surgical approach.

Methods: The study involved 20 patients of previously diagnosed spleen echinococcosis. A diagnosis was made for each patient, based on medical history, biochemical and serological tests, physical examination and abdominal ultrasonography.

[Treatment of severe craniocerebral injuries].

During 1992. 19357 patients were examined at the Department for Neurosurgery of the Emergency Centre, Clinical Center of Serbia, out of which 15879 had head injury. In addition to those necessitating hospitalisation, there was also a large number of patients with mild head injury that were not admitted for hospital management and were sent home following initial first aid.

[Surgical treatment of recurrent Crohn's disease].

According to the literature, the incidence of Crohn's disease is 6.0:100,000, and the prevalence is 50.0-60.

[Experiences at the Blood Transfusion Center of the Socialist Republic of Serbia in providing aimed transfusions].

The development of modern medicine causes the more and more needs of blood in providing the complete health care of the patients. The increased need can be satisfied only by the rational use of blood on the principle of selective transfusions. In this work our present possibilities are given, in the separations of certain blood components, their good and bad effects, as well as the indications for use in some pathological states.