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.

THE AIM OF WORK To evaluate the incidence of human Q-fever in individual regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to determine the prevalence and areas at risk of Q-fever incidence, to assess Q-fever seroprevalence and to demonstrate seroprevalence ratings in regard to relevant criteria (sex, age, location of residence). METHODS The research has involved 708 individuals from different cantons, whose sera were tested in Laboratory for Specific Diagnosis of Human Q-fever on the Microbiology Desk of Medical Faculty of University in Sarajevo, during the period from July 2000-December 2003. Sera were tested by Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA), using commercial test kit, reagents for Q-fever IFA IgM and IFA IgG for in vitro diagnostic use (Focus technologies). THE RESULTS Specific anti-C. burnetii antibodies were detected in 249 (35.2%) individuals, whereof 75 (30.12%) female individuals, and 174 (69.9%) male individuals. Individuals suffering from Q-fever were mostly included in 31-40 aged group (26.8%). Most seropositive individuals were from Zenica-Doboj Canton (35.4%), then from Herzegovinian-Neretvian Canton (22.9%), from Sarajevo Canton (14.5%), from Una-Sana Canton (11.6%), and from Middle-Bosnian Canton (11.6%). CONCLUSIONS In our four-year study, it is serologically demonstrated that Q-fever is imminent in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that it is going to be the actual concern of public health. The number and distribution of seropositive individuals suggest that Q-fever is endemic phenomenon in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Interferons belong to the group of the regulatory glycoproteins, of low molecular mass. They are the products of infected cell-genome, but not virus, as a consequence of the cause answer by different inductors. Human IFN are divided on the sequence of amino-acids into three groups: Alpha, Beta and Gamma interferons. Recently are discovered new types of IFNs: Omega and Tau, but bigger than alpha molecules. Also, has been performed the division into two types: I and II. Besides the antiviral and antiproliferative effects, they have also the effect in the treatment of malignant diseases, and act protectively against the radiation.

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.

Microscopic demonstration of chlamydial inclusions within cells offered the first laboratory procedure supporting the clinical diagnosis of chlamydial infection. Our aim is to evaluate the usefulness of different endocervical staining methods in diagnosis of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection within exfoliated cells of the endocervix. The cytological test for the detection of chlamydial inclusions in genital tract infection, though not as sensitive and specific as isolation in the cell culture monolayers, is still of the diagnostic value. The present study discusses the collection of clinical smears for microscopic examination, their preparation; fixation and staining of slides by a variety of staining methods that have been used to detect Chlamydia in clinical smears and biopsies. Most of these methods such as Giemsa stain, Papanicolaou, iodine, and immunofluorescence (IF) using monoclonal antibodies, are based on the combination of dyes designed to obtain optimum differentiation of the various structures. The utilization of different endocervical smear stains together with the clinical information can be used to identify women at high risk for CT infection.

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.

OBJECTIVE Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) causes infertility, ectopyc pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and conjunctivitis. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a virus with broad spectrum effects. This particularly refers to HPV of high oncogenic potential (HPV - HR) because of its participation in cervical oncogenesis. The authors wanted to determine correlation between cervical HPV infection and detection of CT taken from female patient's smear of different levels of cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (CIN I - III) and ASCUS (Atypical Squamous Cells of Uncertain Significance) modifications. METHODS Cytological analysis was used for 94 cervical samples--Papanicolaou method. The samples were presented in accordance with valid Bethesda Classification. The samples were treated by HPV DNA assay (Digene Hybrid Capture II). RESULTS Out of 64 HPV positive samples, detected CT was found in 24 (37.5%) samples. Out of 50 HPV positive group samples with high degree risk ( HPV - HR), 18 (36%) contained CT. Frequency of CT was registered in ASCUS modifications in 55.6%, CIN I 16.7%, CIN II 16.7% and CIN III 11.0% samples. We found 3 (10.0%) of detected CT in HPV negative control group. CONCLUSION Research results showed correlation between HPV cervical infection and CT. The higher the level of cell dedifferentiation (ASCUS CIN I - III) is, the higher number of cervical infections with CT is.

The epidemiologic model for the estimation of the incidence growth step of the acutely diseased from the hepatotroic virus with the emphasize on HBV and HCV infections, as well as worryingly high step of carriers of these viruses requires sure and the official methods by which will be over common of the infections, to prevent the development of the chronic phase and will lead to its recovery. The timely detection of HBV and HCV by serologic-virusologic techniques enable the safe etiologic diagnosis, the immunologic patients status, the prognosis of the disease and the rate of the contamination.

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.

AIMS In recent year's percutaneous drainage has been used successfully to treat the hydatid cysts. We performed a controlled trial to present the successful appliance of this method in the treatment of abdominal and retroperitoneal hydatid diseases. METHODS In a prospective study, we have assigned 84 patients (51 women and 33 men, average age 45.7 +/- 16.7 with hydatidosis to treatment with percutaneous drainage. Of these, 72 patients had hepatic cysts, seven had renal hydatid cysts and five patients had hydatid cyst in the spleen. Albendasole (10 mg per kilogram of body weight per day for eight weeks) was administered to the patients. Serial assessments included clinical and biochemical examinations, ultrasonography and serologic tests of echinococcal-antibody titers. RESULTS The mean hospital stay was 5.8 (+/- 3.1) days. Over a mean follow-up period of 24 months, the mean cyst diameter decreased from 81.4 (+/- 32.6) mm to 11.8 (+/- 14.5) mm. After 24 months follow-up period 62 cysts (74 percent) disappeared. After an initial rise, the echinococcal-antibody titers fell progressively and at the last follow-up were negative (< 1:160) in 73 patients (87 percent). There were procedure related complications in 29 patients (four patients had abscessus, six hypotension, seven urticaria, ten fever and two strong abdominal pain in the first hour after intervention). CONCLUSIONS Percutaneous drainage, combined with albendasole therapy, is an effective and safe method for the treatment of the abdominal and retroperitoneal hydatid cysts and requires a shorter hospital stay then surgery treatment.

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.

OBJECTIVES In this paper we evaluated the difference of analytic sensitivity, specificity and predictive values using immunoassays based on antigen detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) in endocervical swab specimens. PATIENTS AND METHODS 120 fertile female patients were tested for the presence of Ct in the endocervix during two years. The patients represented two risk groups: moderate risk, and low risk group. Three endocervical swab specimens per each patient were collected and each of specimens was analyzed with: DFA-Direct Fluorescence Assay; RIA-Rapid Immunoassay, EIA-Enzyme Immunoassay RESULTS Total 8 (6.67%) patients were positive on Ct. Out of that 5 (8.33%) were from moderate risk (DFA and EIA), and 3 (5%) from low risk group (DFA and EIA, RIA). 4 (6.67%) out of 5 patients were found positive from moderate risk group by RIA, and 3 (5%) from low risk group (DFA and EIA, RIA). DFA has some results as EIA: sensitivity and specificity are 100%. RIA has sensitivity 87.5% and specificity 100%. Predictive values (PPV, NPV): PPV is the same for the three test assays, and it is 100%. NPV for RIA is 99.1% and for DFA and EIA is 100%. Total prevalence for RIA is 5.83% and for DFA and EIA is 6.66%. CONCLUSION It was proved that there was some significant difference in validity of applicable immunoassays (DFA and EIA, and RIA), particularly in analytic sensitivity (100% DFA versus 87.5% RIA). With difference to RIA and EIA, DFA does not request confirmation using another method (WHO), which is of great importance for us. Therefore we consider DFA as a method of choice for our conditions.

Q-fever is widely spread antropoozosis caused by Coxiellae burnetti, an intracellular compulsory microbe parasite. Two characteristics of Coxiellae burnetti are of crucial importance for appearance of Q-fever, especially in the circumstances when the cause of infection remains unclear. The first one is a high resistance of Coxiellae burnetti to environment changes and the second one is a small size of the infectious dose. The clinical manifestations of Q-fever can vary, so the making of diagnosis is still based on serology, with Phase I and Phase II antibodies and the difference between the acute and the chronic form of the disease. Serologic diagnostics presents the method of choice with Q-fever (IFT) in serums of patients with clinical suspicion to Coxiellae burnetti infection. We have tested the serums of patients from Canton of Sarajevo which were coming to our laboratory from January 2001-December 2001. Out of 58 processed serums the specific IgM antibodies were found in 10 serums and specific IgG antibodies in 27 serums.