Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on routine immunization of the population in the Republic of North Macedonia

Immunization is one of the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions, preventing about 2 to 3 million deaths each year. The SARS-COV-2 pandemic has spread all over the world and as a direct result of the virus, millions of lives were lost. The indirect effects of the pandemic are equally important. Routine childhood immunization systems were heavily influenced globally and in May 2020 the WHO announced that at least 80 million children under the age of one were put at risk of missing the important and scheduled life-saving vaccines. Data in this paper are from the submitted annual reports on conducted and completed mandatory immunization against infectious diseases in the Republic of North Macedonia, delivered by the Centres for Public Health and their regional units and/or health institutions that implement immunization in the country, as well as the processing and analysis of data obtained from the Institute of Public Health in Skopje, North Macedonia. Decrease in coverage with all types of vaccinations and revaccinations was present in 2020 and 2021, mainly due to current COVID-19 pandemic. There is no doubt that the pandemic had also a huge impact on other health services which are not related to the control and prevention of COVID-19, including mandatory routine immunization. Although the vaccination process was continuous and uninterrupted, the pandemic restriction measures and limitations had a strong impact on reducing the coverage percentage. The impact of restrictive measures in 2020 that included frequent restrictions on population movement and delays in vaccination due to fears of COVID-19 infection played a major role in reducing the coverage, while in 2021 there was an additional factor such as engagement of vaccination teams in COVID-19 vaccination, which resulted in a further reduction of mandatory routine vaccination coverage. Campaigns for public health awareness and educational interventions for healthcare workers and parents are more than necessary to ensure adequate catch-up of delayed or missed immunizations to prevent potential outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases

Carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter baumanii versus MRSA isolates in ICU in Clinical Center Skopje

Backgorund: Acinetobacter baumannii is often referred to as the “Gram-negative methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus”, because it is frequently resistant to antibiotics. Clonal outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant and OXA-23–producing A. baumannii have been reported worldwide. Aim: The goal of this study was to promote the phenomenon of disbalance in endemic hospital ECO system which included increase of carbapenemase-resistant Acinetobacter baumanii on account of reduction of MRSA rate in surgical ICU and it’s clonal relatedness as well as the specific precautions. Material nad Methods: Computer database from 1994 – 2012 from surgical ICU patients in the Clinical Center Skopje was used as basic material for this study. Comparative study indicated 2007/8 as a break point period in which almost a twofold decrease of MRSA rates (from over 80% to 45%) versus increased rates of Acinetobacter baumanii (from 29% to 40%) was observed. In 2011 the very first eight strains of carbapenem resistant (resistant to imipenem and meropenem) A. baumannii, were observed. Disc diffusion and VITEK were used for antibiotic susceptibility testing. Resultes: Three distinct strains were detected by PFEGE and were designated as UKIM01AC-1 (5 strains),UKIM01AC-2 (two strains) and 642/2 (one strain). UKIM01AC-1 representatives were PCR positive for bla (OXA-23-like), in addition to the bla (OXA- 51-like) gene which is intrinsic in Acinetobacter baumannii. All isolated strains belonged to European clone II lineage. Conclusion: This clone dispersed very fast in 2012 and achieved the rate of 61.9%. This implicated changes in infection control precautions. Keywords: Acinetobacter, Carbapenem Resistance, Clonal Distribution, Endemic ECO Syste

Strengthening of biotechnological education in Macedonia as an important development component

Biotechnology is a discipline which is applied in different areas such as: food production and processing, pharmaceutical industry, diagnostics etc. By strengthening of biotechnological education in Macedonia (SBEM) can be improved and modernized this field of education in order to meet the industry needs in the country. SBEM will be coordinated by the Faculty of Technological Sciences as a part of the “Mother Teresa” University in Skopje and it will include vocational high schools dealing with biotechnology in the Republic of Macedonia and appropriate clusters in the frame of Commercial Chambers. The main objective is to improve teachers’ and trainers’competences and their ability to provide eLearning in-service vocational training courses for biotechnology secondary school teachers. Putting together of all stakeholders in biotechnological education will be done by establishment of a National Data for Biotechnological Education of Macedonia (NDBEM). Different type of training (courses, workshops, seminars) will be held at each faculty in e-learning way using active teaching/learning (ATL) approach. The trainings will be given by International and domestic experts in biotechnological education. ATL is important for university staff and vocational teachers as they had no pedagogical training during their graduate courses. University teachers will develop and implement classical and online vocational courses targeting recent advances in biotechnology for biotechnology teachers in VET schools. Previously, the market survey should be done in order to analyze the need of a real technological sector in cooperation with Commercial Chambers. NDBEM will be formed using assistance from Graz university and it will be used as a repository for online courses and teaching resources developed during trainings of university and teachers in biotechnology vocational education and training (BVET). Project deliverables will be stored and available in the NDBEM for future users. Its sustainability need to be provided by its recognition from the Ministries of Education and Science. SBEM will have the following specific objectives: improvement of quality and availability of vocational education; strengthening of professional and pedagogical competences of educators and trainers; and creation of the “open source“ repository for educators in the area of biotechnological educatio