Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused over seven million deaths globally as of July 2024. In an attempt to bring the pandemic under control, immunization was implemented as the main preventive strategy. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of hospitalized patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) regarding COVID-19 vaccination, as well as the factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccination rates. Methods: This cross-sectional, survey-based KAP study was conducted between November 2024 and February 2025 in five hospitals across five cities of the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Results: There were 571 respondents, 68% of whom were female, with an average age of 39.17 ± 14.74 years; one-third held a university degree. The study sample consisted of patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) (59% vs. 41%). During the pandemic period, 46.6% of respondents were diagnosed with COVID-19, with a higher prevalence among healthcare workers compared to patients (54.2% vs. 41.2%). Among the 55.2% of respondents who were vaccinated, HCWs were more often vaccinated than patients (70.9% vs. 44.2%) and more likely to know that vaccines protect against severe forms of disease and death (80.8% vs. 68.5%). Patients more often believed that vaccination against COVID-19 may lead to sterility in young patients (11.3% vs. 6%) and were more often afraid of vaccination compared to the occurrence of COVID-19 (35.6% vs. 24.8%). Regression analyses showed that independent predictors of COVID-19 vaccination were older age (p < 0.001), higher education level (p = 0.039), knowledge of vaccine production technology, and the belief that vaccinated individuals have milder symptoms of the disease (p = 0.002). Conversely, the belief that the COVID-19 situation was overblown was negatively associated with vaccination (p = 0.004). Conclusions: HCWs had better knowledge, more positive attitudes, and better vaccination practices against COVID-19 in comparison to patients. However, there are still certain dilemmas and hesitations among HCWs toward COVID-19 vaccination.

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Kidney replacement therapy (KRT) practices in Europe are heterogeneous, with apparent differences between Western and Central/Eastern Europe. However, time trends in KRT incidence and prevalence in Central and Eastern Europe are not previously reported. Therefore, we aimed to describe trends in incidence and prevalence of KRT in Central and Eastern Europe from 2010 to 2021. METHODS Data on incident and prevalent KRT patients from 19 Central and Eastern European countries between the years 2010 and 2021 were derived from the European Renal Association (ERA) Registry. Time trends were calculated using JoinPoint regression. RESULTS Overall, KRT incidence increased with 1.5% (95% confidence interval (CI): +0.7 to + 2.6%) per year from 106.3 per million population (pmp) in 2010 to 119.6 pmp in 2019. However, trends differed within the region. While in Bosnia and Herzegovina KRT incidence significantly decreased from 2010 to 2019, it remained stable in nine and increased in eight countries. The overall KRT prevalence increased with 5.1% (95% CI: +4.5 to + 5.7%) per year from 426.2 pmp in 2010 to 651.2 pmp in 2019. KRT prevalence increased in all countries, except for Belarus where it remained stable, and was mainly attributable to increases in the prevalence of kidney transplantation. The COVID-19 pandemic did not have a major impact on KRT incidence and prevalence in the region, as most trends remained until 2021. CONCLUSIONS Although we found an overall increase in KRT incidence and prevalence in the region, large country variations remain, much larger than observed in Western Europe. The results of this study can help to define country-specific priorities for the optimization of KRT care in Central and Eastern Europe.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative disorder that typically affects young adults and is primarily characterized by demyelinating lesions in the central nervous system (CNS). According to the Revised McDonald Criteria, the clinical diagnosis of MS can be established based on a combination of clinical observations, the presence of focal lesions in at least two distinct CNS areas on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the detection of specific oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid. Conventional MRI remains a cornerstone of MS diagnosis and disease monitoring, providing high-resolution assessments of lesion burden and brain atrophy. In addition, advanced MRI methods are increasingly applied in research settings to probe myelin integrity, iron deposition, and biochemical changes, with the potential to complement established diagnostic workflows in the future. Despite remarkable advances in the management of MS over the past two decades, complex differential diagnoses and the lack of effective imaging tools for therapy monitoring remain major obstacles, thus channeling the development of innovative molecular imaging probes that can be harnessed in clinical practice. Indeed, positron emission tomography (PET) has a significant potential to advance the contemporary diagnosis and management of MS. Given the solid body of evidence implicating myelin dysfunction in the pathophysiology of MS, myelin-targeted imaging probes have been developed, and are currently under clinical evaluation for MS diagnosis and therapy monitoring. In parallel, ligands for the 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) and the cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2R) have been employed to capture neuroinflammatory processes by visualizing microglial activation, while other tracers allow the assessment of synaptic integrity across various disease stages of MS. Further, PET probes have been employed to delineate the role of activated microglia and facilitate the assessment of synaptic dysfunction across all disease stages of MS. This review discusses the challenges and opportunities of translational molecular imaging by highlighting key molecular concepts that are currently leveraged for diagnostic imaging, patient stratification, therapy monitoring and drug development in MS. Moreover, we shed light on potential future developments that hold promise to advance our understanding of MS pathophysiology, with the ultimate goal to provide the best possible patient care for every individual MS patient.