The study involved 286 individuals from different regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose sera were tested in the Laboratory for specific diagnosis of human brucellosis in Microbiology Department of Medical Faculty of University in Sarajevo, during the period from 2000. to 2003. Sera were tested using Brucelloslide Test, qualitative agglutination test Rose Bengal. Using the agglutination test, we serologically confirmed a diagnosis of human brucellosis in 59 (20.62%) seropositive individuals, whereof 38 (64.40%) men and 21 (35.60%) women. Individuals with human brucellosis were the most present in the age group of 31-40 (22.03%) and 41-50 (22.03%). One serologically confirmed death case was registered. The most seropositive individuals were from Zenica-Doboj Canton (32.20%), Sarajevo Canton (28.82%), Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (23.73%), Central Bosnia Canton (13.55%) and Una-Sana Canton (1.70%). During our four-year study, it was serologically confirmed that human brucellosis is present in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, through seropositive testing, we revealed the level of general exposition to Brucella spp. on wider area of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Respiratory, gastrointestinal and skin diseases represent the most common diseases in infants and young children. Causal factors of these diseases are important infectious agents and causes of pathological conditions in children, but they are also very important for their parents, as well as for people in their close environment. Greater incidence of infections in infants and young children can be explained in different ways. A cause can be insufficient maturity of their immune system, but also their exposure to infections within collective accommodations (cribs, nurseries, pre-school institutions), where they are, at the same time, exposed to a number of unknown agents. Today, a great emphasis is devoted to the ways and kinds of children's nutrition. The problem of relation between infected young organism and infectious agent itself, is also reflected in a long resistance and excretion of microorganisms in their exterior environment. It is well-known that microorganisms resist and excrete much longer in younger organisms, compared to adults, where their resistance and excretion is much shorter or very rare. Actually, adults have already formed protective immunity against particular infectious agents. It doesn't prevent infections in adults, colonization of pathogens, nor eventual development of disease. Established immunity can shorten the time necessary for excretion of microorganisms in their exterior environment and, if disease gets developed, it is of shorter duration and slower progress.

Appearance of an acute disease by Coxiella burnetii in humans in Bosnia and Herzegovina is very big epidemiological problem because incidence rate is among the highest incidence rates in Europe. Incidence rate of Q fever in Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina was very high during 1998. year 5.68% and the highest in 2000, with 115 diseases with acute clinical form of the disease and incidence rate of 6.95%. The incubation period varied from 9 to 28 days. Real incidence rate because of asymptomatic appearance of the disease is very much higher, at least 40-50 times higher. Chronic infection with Coxiella burnetii has been the most common developed as infectious endocarditis, which is the hardest complication. The researches of mode of transmission Q fever in humans showed that this disease spreads in epidemic and sporadic form in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the period 1998-2003 year, there were 373 cases of Q fever, among them 265 or 71,05% cases epidemic transmission, and 108 or 28,95% cases sporadic. The research of outbreaks of Q fever showed that appearance of Q fever is statistical significant with risk factors at 266 cases of disease. The mode of transmission in 107 cases was the most probably across inhalation of infected aerosols.

OBJECTIVE Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is gram-positive bacteria linear shaped which grows good also at refrigerator temperature (4 degrees C). The bacteria is resistant on high and low temperatures. This bacteria can be found in the dirt, rotted vegetation, vegetables and fruit, milk and dairy products, and also in the meat and processed meat. This bacteria cause disease called Listeriosis. This bacteria attacks at first people with weak immune system like infants, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, people with HIV and people who are 60 and over. Pregnant women can transfer Listeria through the placenta, from mother to child and that can cause premature delivery, premature birth, early rupture of placenta or still born. GOAL Find out if there is serological respond by female patients in the reproductive age who had spontaneous abortion and female patients in the reproductive age who never had the spontaneous abortion. By agglutination serologic method it had been researched if there is any antibody on Listeria monocytogenes. RESULTS Two groups were included in testing: experimental and control group with a total of 60 patients. In experimental group there were 18 (60%) positive samples. In control group there were 8 (26.70%) positive samples. CONCLUSION The results investigations have shown that there is serological respond to Listeria monocytogenes in the women of reproductive age. The number of positive patients was greater in women who had spontaneous abortion compared to women who never had the spontaneous abortion.

Enfuvirtide is a new class of antiviral drug, fusion inhibitors, which interferate with penetration of HIV-1 in the cells. Enfuvirtide exhibits potent and selective inhibition of membrane of viral and cells. It specifically inhibits the function of the gp41 transmembrane glycoprotein of HIV-1. Enfurvitide showed significantly efficacy in the combination with other antiviral drugs in early stadium of HIV infection and in patients with antiretroviral resistention. Local injection site reactions are the most common adverse events associated with enfurvitide. However, the need for subcutaneous application of enfurvitide is a distinct disadvantage, especially in patients who are already burdened by complex oral therapy.

Rotaviruses are the major causes of viral gastroenteritis in infant and the young children. There are a wide spectrum of clinical signs and symptoms of rotavirosis. Rotavirus infection is fecal-oral infection. Rotaviruses prove with Latex agglutination test and electron microscopy. In a four year period 943 stool samples out of 527 hospitalized patients had been analyzed. A presence of rotavirus is proved with a LA and EM tests at 170 (32,2%) patients age 0-7 years, in their stool samples. Analyzing age groups of these patients, it was found that the rotaviruses infection the most frequently occurred at age group from 7-24 months. From 170 positive patients, 122 or 71,8% were in this age group. At all patients was found diarrhea, vomiting in a 90,5% cases. Mild fever had 65,5% patients, signs of a respiratory infection appeared at 60,7% patients, abdominal pain at 13,3% patients. Severe dehydration had 49,9% patients and metabolic acidosis had 79,2% cases. Macroscopically blood in stool had 6,4% patients, slime in a stool 46,0% patients was found, and aholic stool had 8,4% patients. In all hospitalized patients disease lasted in average 12,6 days, and the hospitalization in average 10,2 days. None of the patient had any kind of complication, all of them very successfully cured. These results confirm that rotaviruses are important health problem among infant and the young children in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In this paper it is been described method of electronic microscopy applied for discovering characteristic morphology of rotaviruses in samples of stools of infected and hospitalized patients. To have electronic microscopy as standard method it is necessary to know morphology or structure of the researched microorganism. In the second part of the paper we have made clinical epidemiological analysis of the rotavirus infection on the examined samples, and made comparison with result of other researches. Out of 78 patients with diarrhea, in 15 or 19.2% have been proofed presents of rotaviruses in the stool samples. All hospitalized patients had diarrhea (100%), vomiting was present in 90.9%, high temperature to 39C in 63.6% and over 39C in 36.4% patients. Stomachache was registered in 36.3% and blood in stool has not been found. Majority of the hospitalized had some respiratory syndromes. Time of hospitalization was between 6 to 13 days with average of 9.5 days. Death of hospitalized was not registered.

: In this paper it is been described method of electronic microscopy applied for discovering characteristic morphology of rotaviruses in samples of stools of infected and hospitalized patients. To have electronic microscopy as standard method it is necessary to know morphology or structure of the researched microorganism. In the second part of the paper we have made clinical epidemiological analysis of the rotavirus infection on the examined samples, and made comparison with result of other researches. Out of 78 patients with diarrhea, in 15 or 19.2% have been proofed presents of rotaviruses in the stool samples. All hospitalized patients had diarrhea (100%), vomiting was present in 90.9%, high temperature to 39C in 63.6% and over 39C in 36.4% patients. Stomachache was registered in 36.3% and blood in stool has not been found. Majority of the hospitalized had some respiratory syndromes. Time of hospitalization was between 6 to 13 days with average of 9.5 days. Death of hospitalized was not registered.

Infections by Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C viruses, as well as infections caused by microorganisms transmitted through blood, blood products or in any other way, are now reality for all medical workers. This danger is stilll becoming increased for those medial workers who are more exposed in their everyday work to contaminated human blood or other biological materials. Therefore, the health institutions must introduce prevention measures against possible infection, but also the protection procedures to be applied immediately before and after incidental exposition to infectious material. They are especially essential at the occasion of incidental injuries of the persons by medical instruments which had been in the contact with blood. That is why it is obligatory for the employees of the health care institutions to be vaccinated against possible infection by Hepatitis B.

Abstract: Q fever is caused by C. burnetii, an intracellular obligate bacterium. For clinical confirmation of Q fever, diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia is of significance. The acute disease varies in severity from minor to fatal, with the possibility of serious complications. Chronic endocarditis is a well‐known outcome. Symptoms of Q fever can vary; fixing diagnosis is done by serology with the phase I and the phase II antibody. We tested 44 sera of 31 clinically suspect patients. From these, 22 patients were taken to the infection clinic, 8 to the pulmonary clinic, and one to the general hospital. From the 31 patients, 21 patients had one serum, 7 patients, 2 sera, and 3 patients, 3 sera. Blood samples were collected by vein puncture, and serum samples were kept at −20°C until testing. All sera were processed by indirect imunofluorescent assay (IFA) Q fever IgM and IgG. Of 44 processed sera, 21 were seropositive. Specific IgM antibody was found in sera of 6 patients (19.4%), and specific IgG antibody in sera of 16 patients (51.2%). In sera of 15 clinically suspect patients (48.3%), no specific anticoxiella antibody was found. From these results we can confirm the importance of serology in laboratory diagnosis and clinical affirmation of suspect Q fever. Indirect imunofluorescent assay (IFA) is reliable and appropriate for daily, routine diagnosis of human Q fever.

AIM Results of the serologic confirmation of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in patients with clinical picture and overt symptoms of the disease from particular areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 2002 are presented. METHODS A total of 146 sera from 100 clinically suspected patients were tested. The sera were tested for the presence of specific IgM antibodies to Hantaan and Puumala antigens by Elisa IgM "capture" test, and for the presence of specific antibodies to Hantaan, Puumala and Dobrava antigens by Elisa IgG test. DISCUSSION Most of the positive IgM reactions were recorded as cross reactions to Hantaan and Puumala antigens, and most of the positive IgG reactions as cross reactions to Hantaan and Dobrava antigens. The finding of antibodies in the sera of patients from Europe that react with Hantaan antigen are not associated with the infection with Hantaan, but with the infection with viruses that are genetically related with Hantaan. To date, HFRS caused by Puumala and Dobrava viruses has been verified in Bosnia and Herzegovina. CONCLUSION Using Elisa IgM "capture" test, acute hantavirus infection was serologically confirmed in 38% of clinically suspected patients with manifested symptoms from different areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002. The distribution of human hantavirus infection in Bosnia and Herzegovina was confirmed by the presence of specific hantavirus antibodies in patient sera.

Q-Fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetti. C. burnetti is an obligate intracellular parasite. It lives in phagolysosome of the host cell. By its infection of the sensitive persons develops the acute noncharacteristic disease, which passes noncharacteristically, with the appearance of higher temperature, headache, fever, weakness of the organism or by the appearance of symptoms of the undifferentiated infection of the upper parties of the respiratory system. In the course of the infection is being developed the intersticial pneumonia, what is the reason of the infected hospitalization. Most often get sick the sheep, cows and goats, what showed also on our examined sample. In most animals the symptoms of this bacterial infection are not present, pass unobviously, and get turned out during their gravidity. The most important carriers of the causes of this disease on the domestic or wild animals are artropodes, in which within the kind is possible also the transvatial and transstadial transfer. The wild animals transfer the disease at the domestic ones, and people most often are infected by contact with these animals, their consuming of meat or milk or by contact with their secretions. Though, the most important way of getting infected of people is aerosol contaminated by the carrier as these bacteria for a long get kept in the contaminated dust, wool, animal skin, fur, straw and the excretions of the infected animals. In the illusorilly healthy and pregnant animals the bacteria are to be found in the fertile water, chorions, and placenta, that is C. burnetti becomes the cause of the premature birth or abortion in these animals. In this way comes to the bacterial contamination of the environment of the animal itself. The diagnosis of Q.-Fever is complement fixation test, indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFT) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA).

Q-Fever nowadays presents the most diffuse disease in the world, caused by the microorganisms from the family Risckettiacae. This disease is Coxiellae burnetii. The laboratory diagnosis of the Q-Fever can be stated either by the isolation of the causer from the patient material, either by the proving of the specifically antibodies. The serologic diagnostics presents the choile method in Q-Fever. The aim of this work is to illustrate the results of the detection of the serum in patients with the clinical symptoms at the infeçtion Coxiellom burnetii. We tested the sera of the patient from the region of the Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina, which arrived in our laboratory in the period of November 2000 till May 2001. From the total 174 prepared sera specific IgM of the antibodies we found in cases, and the specific IgG of the antibodies in 54 sera.

Human Cytomegalovirus are a ubiquitous herpesvirus establishing virus-infections which are usually asymptomatic in immunocompetent individuals. In patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and immunocompromised hosts, the virus causes primary, latent or chronic persistent infection. Primary CMV infection is very severe in immunocompromised patients as well as among healthy population. Among patients with AIDS Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is usually isolated from patients specimen in association with other pathogens (Pneumocystis carinii, Candida albicans). The prevalence of serious CMV (chorioretinitis, gastrointestinal disease, interstitial pneumonia and central nervous system disease), in AIDS population are respectable.