Objective – The aim of the study was to establish the prevalence of hearing and sight impairment, and the differences in relation to school grade and sex in school children in the area of the Jajce municipality.Materials and Methods – Screening of sight and hearing impairment in school children took place in 2018 and 2019. Vision screening covered a total of 1002 students from 1st to 5th grades, and hearing screening 768 students from 2nd to 5th grades in all central and district (rural) schools in the area of the municipality of Jajce.Results – Of the total number of students covered by the vision screening, in 163 (16%) some impairment was noticed, and they were sent for further diagnostic testing by a specialist. In relation to sex, there was a higher percentage of girls, 60%, than boys, 40%. In relation to screening of hearing, 44 (6%) of the students were sent for further diagnostics, of which 57% were boys and 43% girls. During the vision screening, 5% of the students were wearing dioptric glasses. In relation to age, the largest number of students were in first grade, 14 (27%), then in second grade, 10 students (19%). Conclusion – In this study, the results showed that a large percentage of school children were found with hearing and vision impairment, which indicates the pressing need to continue running these preventive programmes.

Background: Healthcare workers at all levels of the healthcare system are at the front line of the response to the COVID-19 epidemic and are consequently more exposed to risk of infection. To examine the characteristics of the healthcare workers morbidity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the area of Central Bosnia Canton.Methods: This research includes all healthcare workers of this Canton (n=2276) in the period from March 2020 to March 2022. A total of 666 health workers tested positive (RT-PCR method) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) in healthcare institutions.Results: The average age of the patients was 45.16 (±11.93) (range 18-77 years old), with a median of 45 years old. Of the total number of positive patients, 68.2% were women, 165 or 24.77% were doctors, and 57.80% were other medical workers. Interactions with infected colleagues accounted for 28.4% of infections, 22.2% of infections occurred during patient care, 36.3% outside a healthcare facility, and in 13.1% the mode of infection was not confirmed. Due to the severity of the clinical status, a total of 74 people were hospitalized with a hospitalization rate of 11.11 (95% CI 8.78-13.87). The second positivity of the test (by RT-PCR method) was after 12.34 months from the first infection (mean=12.34: SD±4.270; median=13).Conclusions: High rates of morbidity among healthcare workers certainly have a significant, long-term impact on the healthcare provision, especially in healthcare systems where there is a pronounced lack of professional workers. 

Motivation/Background: positive staphylococci (CPS) are common contaminants of raw milk. Before it is used, various heat treatments are applied to destroy microorganisms, inactivate enzymes and improve technological properties and concentration of dry matter of milk. This work aimed to determine the influence of commonly used heat treatments in diary on presence and number CPS in raw milk from Bosnia and Herzegovina area and to affirm whether there is a difference in efficacy between different treatments. Method: Using the standard method, 40 samples of raw milk from farms were inoculated for counting the initial number of CPS in raw milk. Samples were then exposed to heat treatments in vapor sterilizer and CPS number was counted using the same standard method. Results: Applied treatments included heat treatments at: 68 °C/40 s, 70 °C/15 s, 72 °C/without holding, 63 °C/30 min and 72 °C/15 s. CPS presence was detected in all tested samples of raw milk in numbers ranging from 2,82 to 5,32, with an average of 4,30, calculated as log10 /ml. Conclusions: Raw milk samples collected in the field initially registered a high CPS number. The applied heat treatments were effective to a large extent. The initial CPS count of milk seems to be the most important factor determining the number of CPS after heat treatments as well as traits of the strains.

Aim The damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made the prevention of its further spread at the top of the list of priorities of many governments and state institutions responsible for health and civil protection around the world. This prevention implies an effective system of epidemiological surveillance and the application of timely and effective control measures. This research focuses on the application of techniques for modelling and geovisualization of epidemic data with the aim of simple and fast communication of analytical results via geoportal. Methods The paper describes the approach applied through the project of establishing the epidemiological location-intelligence system for monitoring the effectiveness of control measures in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Results Epidemic data were processed and the results related to spatio-temporal analysis of the infection spread were presented by compartmental epidemic model, reproduction number R, epi-curve diagrams as well as choropleth maps for different levels of administrative units. Geovisualization of epidemic data enabled the release of numerous information from described models and indicators, providing easier visual communication of the spread of the disease and better recognition of its trend. Conclusion The approach involves the simultaneous application of epidemic models and epidemic data geovisualization, which allows a simple and rapid evaluation of the epidemic situation and the effects of control measures. This contributes to more informative decision-making related to control measures by suggesting their selective application at the local level.

Aims and objectives: This paperwork aims to analyse the knowledge and attitudes on immunisation, subjective perceptions of the risks and decision theory of vaccination amongst the specific female population living in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Purpose: The purpose of the research is to point out the significance of parents’ decisions and strengthening of positive attitudes on vaccination. Material and methods: The research was conducted during 2018. Females from different parts of the Federation were asked questions. There were 4000 respondents of different ages ranging from 20 to 50 years old females (approximately 1% of the target population). The respondents were classified according to their place of living (urban/rural), and also being a parent or not. The questionnaire was answered by 2504 respondents being parents with a certain experience with immunisation of their children, but also 1496 future parents who expressed their attitude towards immunisation. For this research, a special questionnaire was used, comprising 18 questions classified into 4 different groups. Results: Most of the respondents (71.2%) who already have children claim they vaccinated their children completely whereas 2.0% respondents from urban areas and 1.3% from rural areas explicitly refuse to vaccinate their children. The rest of the respondents (25.4%) claim they partially vaccinated their children or they are not familiar with the vaccination status of their children. Our research shows that parents are mostly informed about vaccinations and immunisation by some medical workers – paediatricians (36.6%). This research also suggests that respondents are showing a great level of reluctance and scepticism towards some medical workers and that only 40.6% of respondents unconditionally trust their doctor. Additionally, the results show that considering the safety of vaccines there are significant differences amongst urban and rural population. In urban areas, 18.8% of respondents claim that they completely trust vaccines and in rural areas there are 36.2% of respondents trusting them. Conclusion: We may conclude that personal experience, medical system efficiency, trusting medical professionals, vaccine safety and communication in public health community are very important to make decisions on vaccinating children

OBJECTIVE The aim of this research was to establish the incidence of smoking habits and the level of nicotine dependence in education workers in the Central Bosnia Canton (CBC). MATERIALS AND METHODS The research was conducted in the 2017/2018 school year. It covered education workers in all elementary (N=53) and high schools (N=23), in the area of the CBC. A total of 857 subjects were included. For the purpose of this research a special questionnaire was designed that included information on smoking, how long people had smoked, age and gender, smoking habits, and a modified Fagerstrom test for assessment of nicotine dependence. RESULTS In relation to smoking status, the subjects were divided into two categories: 646 (75.38%) non-smokers and 211 (24.62%) of those who declared themselves to be active smokers. All subjects were considered in relation to four age groups. The average age of the subjects was 42.14 years, and the average age of the subjects who were smokers was 43.61 years. Of the total number of smokers (n=211), the number of those who believed that the consumption of cigarettes by staff members encourages pupils to smoke was 76 (36.01%). The largest number of subjects (746, 87%) believed that during their time in school or the school yard, pupils are in a situation where they are able to see educational workers smoking. The degree of nicotine dependence in education workers in the CBC was mostly mild (53.55%, N=113) and then moderate (44.54%, N=94) and severe (1.89%, N=4). CONCLUSION There is a significant number of smokers (24.62%) amongst education workers in schools in the CBC. The level of nicotine dependence in education workers is most often mild (53.55%) then moderate (44.54%) and severe (1.89%).

Objective ? The aim of the research was to show the occurrence and persistence of measles morbidity over a twenty year period in the area of the Central Bosnia Canton (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Materials and methods ? The research was retrospective and related to the period from 1997 to 2017. The sample comprised a total of 35,199 children. The subjects were considered in relation to their age, gender, place of residence, vaccination status and time of morbidity. Results ? In the period from 1997 to 2017, on average 36 cases of morbidity  caused by measles occurred each year. Most years in this period (13) did not have any registered cases of measles, and in five years the disease occurred sporadically: 1999 (three cases); 2000 (one); 2003 (one); 2005 (two); 2009 (one), and two epidemics occurred: in 1997, with 77 affected children and with an incidence rate in the population under consideration of 218/100,000; and in 2014 with an explosion of measles morbidity, when 639 affected children were registered (1815/100,000). The average coverage with the first dose of MMR vaccine over the last twenty years was 87%, and the poorest results were achieved in 2004, with 64%. Conclusion ? The epidemiological occurrence of measles in the area of four municipalities in central Bosnia is the result of omissions in the routine immunization programme.

Uvod: Pravilna prehrana je važan faktor za unapređenje i očuvanje zdravlja. Savremen način života koji karakteriše dug radni dan, neredovan unos hrane, unos bar jednog obroka u toku dana van kuće i promjena navika u prehrani u pogledu izbora, vrste, načina pripreme i količine namirnica u svakodnevnoj prehrani, uz smanjenu fizičku aktivnost, doveli su do porasta broja zdravstvenih problema u čijoj osnovi je nepravilna prehrana. Cilj rada: Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati općenito prehrambene navike i status uhranjenosti srednjoškolaca na području općine Travnik, te postoje li određene razlike u navedenim karakteristikama s obzirom na spol. Metodologija: U istraživanje je uključeno 229 učenika uzrasta 15-18 godina, 90 učenika muškog spola i 139 ženskog spola. Kao instrumenti mjerenja korišteni su anketni upitnik koji je izrađen u svrhu ovog istraživanja (22 pitanja o prehrambenim i životnim navikama) i antropometrijska mjerenja (visina i težina). Procjena stepena uhranjenosti provedena je na osnovu percentilnih krivulja, tj. na osnovu izračunatih vrijednosti za visinu i masu u odnosu na godine. Rezultati: Istraživanjem je utvrđeno da prema percentilnim krivuljama 196 (85,59 %) učenika uzrasta od 15-18 godina ima poželjnu tjelesnu težinu, 29 (12,67 %) ima prekomjernu tjelesnu težinu, dok pretilih učenika nema. Kada je u pitanju konzumiranje kuhanog ručka na osnovu dobivenih rezultata postoji statistički značajna razlika (X 2 =10.400; df=3; Sig.=0.015 (p=0.05)), veći je postotak djevojaka 62 (44,60 %) koje svakodnevno konzumiraju isti u odnosu na mladiće 23 (25,56 %). Zaključak: Rezultati dobiveni ovim istraživanjem pokazali su da je najveći postotak ispitanika muškog 74 (82.22 %) i ženskog spola 122 (87,77 %) normalno uhranjeno, prekomjernu tjelesnu težinu ima 15 (16,67 %) mladića i 14 (10,07 %) djevojaka. Pravilna prehrana je veoma značajna za očuvanje zdravlja i za dug, kvalitetan život. Djeci i mladima je potrebna raznovrsna i uravnotežena prehrana, kako bi povoljno utjecala na rast i razvoj, dobru funkciju imunološkog sistema te mentalnu i radnu sposobnost.

Between January 2014 and the beginning of February 2015, the Federal Institute of Public Health in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has reported 3,804 measles cases. Notable transmission has been observed in three Central Bosnia Canton municipalities: Bugojno, Fojnica and Travnik. Most cases were unvaccinated 2,680 (70%) or of unknown vaccination status 755 (20%). Health authorities have been checking vaccination records and performing necessary prevention measures. The epidemic is still ongoing.