The first phase of the SARS-COV-2 Seroprevalence Study in the population of Republika Srpska has so far shown that 30 percent of citizens tested in this entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina have antibodies to coronavirus.
The study involved 2,000 citizens, and the study was conducted by the Medical Faculties in Banja Luka and Foca, in cooperation with the RS Institute of Public Health, with the support of the World Health Organization Office in Sarajevo, and 90 percent of the study was completed.
The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Ranko Škrbić, said today at the press conference in Banja Luka that 1,370 samples were processed in the area under the jurisdiction of this faculty.
“The response of the citizens was good, but due to technical reasons, we still receive samples from several health centers,” said Skrbic. According to him, the data so far show that in Banja Luka about 30 percent of the respondents had antibodies, in Prijedor 40, in Prnjavor 37, in Srbac 35, in Laktasi 17 percent…
Dejan Bokonjić, dean of the Medical Faculty in Foča, said that based on 500 samples, it was concluded that the infection rate in the Trebinje and Foča region was 30 percent, in East Sarajevo and surrounding municipalities 50 percent, and in the Zvornik region between 40 and 50 percent.
“We will have a lot of data related to the way of infection, symptoms, we are submitting all the results to the Institute of Public Health,” he said.
Branislav Zeljkovic, director of the RS Institute of Public Health, said that the final results would be presented before the start of vaccination against coronavirus, and that the study would be continued after the start of vaccination, when the effectiveness of vaccines would be monitored.
He pointed out that this study will facilitate the planning and implementation of vaccination.
