BACKGROUND This paper describes the changes in Human Immundodeficiency virus (HIV) testing rates in Autonomous Province (AP) Vojvodina, Serbia since 2000 and compares provider-initiated with client-initiated HIV testing. METHODOLOGY Between 2000 and 2008, 66,327 HIV screening tests were reported from AP Vojvodina. During this time HIV testing rates increased from 1.2 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2000, to 7.7 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2008. RESULTS The results showed an increase in testing as a consequence of increased mandatory testing of surgical patients as well as an upsurge in the use of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT).  Pregnant women that were tested represented less than 5% of the overall sample population. CONCLUSION Public health efforts in AP Vojvodina to increase HIV testing rates lead to a continuous increase in testing rates, but with different limitations. HIV testing in low prevalence middle income countries could be highly affected by procurement difficulties, low motivation of medical professionals to initiate testing, and opportunities for testing limited to large towns and cities.

Exposure to blood-borne infections (HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C) poses a serious risk to health care workers (HCWs). The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the level of knowledge and attitudes on occupational exposure in primary health care. In 2009, a total of 100 health care workers from the Primary Health Care Centre in Inđija, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia were included in the study. The results suggested that the health care workers who participated in the survey possess basic knowledge about blood-borne virus transmission routes. Most incorrect answers were related to the transmission of blood-borne viruses by tears, saliva, urine and stool. This study also demonstrated that health workers tend to unrealistically estimate the risk of HIV infections. As for the level of education about the prevention and control of blood-borne infections, 49 % of the participants had never had any education on this topic, while 22 % had been educated during the last five years. Around 75 % consider education on blood-borne infection and protective measures at work unnecessary.

The use of ammunition primed with depleted uranium is one of the hallmarks of modern combat operations, resulting in environmental contamination by particles of depleted uranium and uranium oxide, scattered around in the form of submicron-scale aerosols. This paper examined the protective effectiveness of the Serbian military's M3 protective face mask in relation to the presence of airborne depleted uranium and its by-products. Sodium chloride in solid aerosol form was used as a test substance and adequate physical simulator of such radioactive aerosols because its granulometric (particle) size distribution met the requirements of suitability as a simulator. Determination of aerosol concentration was carried out by flame photometry method, whilst granulometric distribution was determined by an electric particles analyzer. It was established that the total internal leakage of the M3 protective mask was as much a function of the penetration of particles through the combined M3 filter as of the leaks along the fitting line of the user's face mask and the inhalation valve. In terms of its protective effect against aerosols of depleted uranium and associated oxides, the Serbian M3 protective mask was determined to be of high efficiency and physiological suitability. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR34034]

The aim of the study was to analyse participation of primary care physicians in infectious disease surveillance and to find factors which influence the primary health physician’s participation in surveillance. Infectious disease reporting by 854 primary care physicians from 15 primary care institutions in South Backa district, AP Vojvodina, Serbia was monitored during a 6 month period. The number and structure of infectious disease reporting through the mandatory surveillance system was compared with the number and structure of infectious diseases reported through routine statistics and the number and structure of infectious diseases reported in the whole area, including reports from secondary and tertiary health care settings and laboratories. The youngest and oldest physicians reported the lowest average number of infectious diseases. Paediatricians and dermatologists had the highest and emergency specialists, occupational medicine specialists and other consultants the lowest average number of reported infectious diseases, with the ratio between paediatricians and emergency medicine specialists being 347:1. Lowest reporting rate was observed for infections routinely diagnosed in clinics such as hepatitis, or with ethical considerations such as sexually transmitted infections. The average weekly number of reported infectious diseases was from 0.0 per emergency medicine specialists to 1.4 per paediatrician. Completeness of infectious disease surveillance in primary health care is unsatisfactory. Changing currently insufficient undergraduate and postgraduate training in surveillance might be an important tool for establishing a more effective and sensitive surveillance system. Guidelines for laboratory confirmation and reporting could also increase quality of surveillance. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljid.v2i2.4325 Sri Lankan Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol.2(2) 2012: 37-46