Over a 9-day period in February 1995, 16 newborn babies (age range 2-11 days) and 3 infants (24, 47 and 180 days of age) in a neonatal nursery ward developed diarrhoea accompanied by pyrexia and weight loss. Known enteropathogens were not detected in their stools but Escherichia coli displaying aggregative adherence to HEp-2 cells (enteroaggregative E. coli) were found in 12 (63%) ill infants and in none of 5 well neonates (P = 0.02). The illness lasted 3-9 days (mean 5.2) in 16 babies, whereas in 3 neonates it showed a protracted course of 18-20 days. The source of infection and the mode of transmission remained unclear. The outbreak isolates manifested properties common in this new group of diarrhoeagenic E. coli: mannose-resistant haemagglutination, haemolysis on blood agar, and clump formation in liquid culture medium. They belonged to the O4 E. coli serogroup and expressed multiple antibiotic resistance.

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Hepatitis A is still a great problem in developing countries, especially those in which vaccination is not obligatory. It is well known that hepatitis A is associated with risk factors such as poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene. However, some investigations (e.g. in Spain and Greece) showed that the seroprevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus (HAV) in recent decades has decreased, especially in the younger adults, most likely due to improvements in living standards and hygienic conditions.

These findings indicate that stressful life events are associated with AMI and that they are very important for further epidemiological investigation of the triggering mechanisms and should improve preventive strategies of this serious disorder.

Tularaemia, as a rare disease, surprised medical workers in 1999 and 2000 when it was detected and diagnosed in 31 patients. In 1999 patients were registered in villages of the Sokobanja community, and in 2000 also in other communities in the district of Nish. Patients were peasants, mostly housewives. Glandular form of the disease was dominant. The main clinical symptoms were: tonsillitis, pain in the region of enlarged lymphatic glands and temperature, Biohumoral syndrome presented accelerated sedimentation of erythrocytes and elevated fibrinogen values. Antibody titer of Francisella tularensis was extremely high in the majority of patients. The disease was cured in all patients: in 27 patients after the first therapy, in 4 subjects after recidivation and 5 patients were surgically treated.