Data from records on population affected by contagious diseases in the period
from 1991 to 1996 are entered in the computer data base and are managed by
the Epidemiology corps of the City Public Health Institute. These data are
used to serve the operative needs of the epidemiological corps in order to
control contagious diseases within the district. They are analysed to obtain
an insight into the problem of contagious diseases in general, and each
individual disease in particular, while monitoring the distribution of
diseases by gender, age and commune. In the period from 1991 to 1996 no
person in Belgrade was down with a particularly dangerous contagious
disease. The lowest number of the diseased was registered in 1991 (14788)
and the highest in 1994 (27368). In 1996, the number of the diseased was
higher by 33% than in 1991. Among the most widely spread contagious diseases
was chicken pox (its share ranging from 22.5% to 54.6%), contagious diarrhea
(from 7.4% to 17.3%), salmonellosis (from 2.9% to 6.1%), angina (from 2.6%
to 5.6%). In the period reviewed, the above four diseases were among the ten
most frequently incurred contagious diseases. In the course of 1993, measles
fell within the group of ten and acquired epidemic proportions. The disease
affected 3524 inhabitants of Belgrade (44. 7% children below 14 years of age
and 32% young people from 15 to 19 years of age). The epidemic was caused by
the discontinuation of regular vaccination of children against measles
caused by the shortage of imported vaccination and by population migration.
In the same year, the epidemic of rubella also broke out. The epidemic
extended to 1994 and 1995. A breakdown of the diseased by gender ranged from
51.0% to 52.9% for males and from 47.1 % to 49.0% for females. Majority of
the diseased were in the age groups 5-9 and 0-4 years while the least number
of the diseased were among the aged. The youngest population was most
frequently affected by chicken pox (from 35.6% to 69.4% of the overall
number of those stricken by the disease), contagious diarrhea (from 4.5% to
17.5%), salmonellosis (from 3.1% to 7.4% ), angina (from 3.4% to 9.7%) and
scarlet fever (from 3.1% to 7.3%). During the period reviewed, 69 people
died from contagious diseases. Mortality from contagious diseases was lowest
in 1992 and 1993 (3.1 and 3.4 per 1,000,000). It gradually rose to reach the
highest value in 1996 (12.6% per 1,000,000). The largest number of people
affected was reported in the communes of Novi Beograd, Zemun and Cukarica.
Computerized tracking of mammography patients: value of a radiology information system integrated with a personal-computer data base.
