Building antimicrobial stewardship through massive open online courses: a pilot study in Macedonia.

Background: The global struggle against antibiotic resistance requires antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer health professionals unprecedented access to high-quality instructional material on AMS; the question is how apprehensible it is to non-native English speakers. Furthermore, to better understand how education interventions promote change towards rational antibiotic prescribing, leading institutions call for studies integrating behavioural science.

National Laboratory Surveillance of Influenza in Macedonia during Four Seasons.

Objective: The aim of the study is to comprehend results of the influenza lab surveillance system in the Republic of Macedonia after the 2009 pandemic and to determine the main characteristics of four consecutive epidemic seasons (from 2010/2011 until 2013/2014).

Methods: As part of the universal surveillance system, nasal and throat specimens were collected from patients. After extraction of RNA, the CDC real-time RT-PCR assays for the detection of influenza types and subtypes were performed.

Comparison of Directigen Flu A+B with Real Time PCR in the Diagnosis of Influenza.

Unlabelled: Early diagnosis and treatment of patients with influenza is the reason why physicians need rapid high-sensitivity influenza diagnostic tests that require no complex lab equipment and can be performed and interpreted within 15 min. The Aim of this study was to compare the rapid Directigen Flu A+B test with real time PCR for detection of influenza viruses in the Republic of Macedonia.

Materials And Methods: One-hundred-eight respiratory samples (combined nose and throat swabs) were routinely collected for detection of influenza virus during influenza seasons.

Gastrointestinal Colonization with Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci In Hospitalized and Outpatients.

Background: The incidence of infection and intestinal colonization with vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) is increasing in many countries in the last decade. Concerning the difficult antimicrobial treatment of infections caused by VRE, decreasing the incidence and prevalence of these infections is an important factor in VRE-induced morbidity and mortality control.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal colonization with vancomycin resistant enterococci in hospitalized and outpatients, and to determine the genetic base of the vancomycin resistance in VRE isolates.

Methods for molecular surveillance of influenza used in Macedonia.

The Aim: To present and compare different Nucleic Acid Testing assays used for laboratory diagnosis of influenza virus infection in our country.

Materials And Methods: Respiratory samples used were nose and throat swabs. The RNA extraction was performed with a QIAamp viral RNA kit.