Josip Milas

Croatian National Institute of Public Health · Department of Epidemiology

Background Disruption in the defined daily work and life routine caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in the eating habits of the population. Home confinement during pandemics could change eating patterns, reduce diet quality, and promote overconsumption. This study aimed to evaluate the eating habits of the Croatian working populatio...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic as a worldwide public health issue is a traumatic event that has affected both the sleep and mental health of the general population. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of sleep in the Croatian adult population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted from F...

Background Research findings of the association and its pattern between obesity and psychiatric/psychological comorbidities are not consistent across the types of comorbidities or the study subgroups. Objectives We aimed to perform meta‐analysis of cross‐sectional studies and longitudinal studies analysing obesity as a risk factor for conduct diso...

Objectives: The objective was to identify a body mass index (BMI) trend as a new indicator and predictor of children's nutritional status, replacing absolute BMI, and to demonstrate that a local BMI trend is more appropriate for this purpose than a national (or international) BMI trend. Study design: An entire school year group of primary school...

World Health Organization's fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health was held in Parma, Italy in 2010. Declaration on Environment and Health was adopted at the conference. One of the obligations is to provide healthy indoor spaces to each child in child care facilities, kindergartens, schools and recreational facilities up to 2020. Fo...

As Decision Support Systems start to play a significant role in decision making, especially in the field of public-health policy making, we present an initial attempt to formulate such a system in the concept of public health policy making for hearing loss related problems. Justification for the system's conceptual architecture and its key function...

In September and October 2016, the Institute of Public Health for the Osijek-Baranja County conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the level of knowledge that the citizens of Osijek have when it comes to their understanding of the biology of mosquitos and diseases that they transmit. The citizens' knowledge was also determined with regard t...

Due to the availability of rapid modes of transport, millions of people travel from one part of the world to another each year, thus enabling the viruses to become world travellers as well. Croatia is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination, but viruses are travelling along with the tourists. Mosquitoes pose a great threat because, due...

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem. Globally, the prevalence of IPV among students has been estimated to range from 17 to 45% for physical assaults within last year and women are far more likely to experience sexual and physical violence than men are. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalenc...

Introduction Effective hygiene practices are essential in the prevention of infectious diseases. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region about 8.8 million cases of diarrhoea cases can be prevented by improved hygiene standards (Hutton and Haller, 2004). WHO Parma Declaration addressed special attention to hygiene and sanita...

Breast cancer (C50) and neoplasms of female genital organs (C51-C58) represent one of the most frequent cancer groups among females in economically developed countries. The Institute of Public Health of the Osijek-Baranja County in collaboration with different county institutes provide updated information on the cancer occurrence and trends in the...

Background: Residents of nursing homes (NHs) are often hospitalized and could present a potential reservoir for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence for MRSA carriage in residents and staff in Croatian NHs and to characterize MRSA strains using genotyping techniques. Methods: A...

Purpose: We investigated the trends of the malignant neoplasms of the urinary tract in the Osijek-Baranya County (Croatia) during the 2001-2009 period. Methods: Mandatory county hospitals data reports, County bureaus of statistics and the County Register of Deaths of 872 cohort patients (260 females and 612 males) were used in this analysis. Result...

Cancers of male genital organs (C60-C63) and in particular, prostate cancer, represent one of the most frequent cancer groups among males in economically developed countries and growing cancer group in developing countries. The Institute of Public Health of the Osijek-Baranja County in collaborate with different county institutes provide updated in...

The Institute of Public Health of the Osijek-Baranja County in collaborate with different county institutes provide updated information on the cancer occurrence and trends in the Osijek-Baranja County (OBC). The cancers were defined according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD...

During the August and September 2012, seven human cases of the West Nile neuro-invasive disease were reported in Croatia. Medical entomology research on a potential vectors during the outbreak was supported by the Ministry of Health. A mosquito survey has been done in 64 sites in three eastern Croatian counties (Osijek-Baranja County, Vukovar-Srije...

The purpose of this paper was to determine the number and trend of hospitalisations caused by carcinoma in the Osijek-Baranja County, to to determine the proportion of these hospitalizations compared to all other hospitalization, as well as to determine the burden put on the hospitals by external patients (those not residing in the Osijek-Baranja C...

The Institute of Public Health for the Osjek-Baranja County (OBC) has processed the data on cancer patients that were collected from mandatory county hospitals data reports, county bureaus of statistics and the County Register of Deaths. The cancers were defined according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Healt...

The Interleukin-23 signalling pathway is important for the differentiation of TH17 lymphocytes and is involved in the pathogenesis of Inflammatory bowel disease. Polymorphisms in the IL-23 receptor gene were previously found to be associated with Inflammatory bowel disease in various populations. The aim of this study was to determine whether the s...

The Institute of Public Health of the Osijek-Baranja County has processed the data on cancer patients that were collected from mandatory county hospitals data reports, county bureaus of statistics and the County Register of Deaths. The cancers were defined according the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problem...

The primary goal of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of the Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in the Osijek-Baranja County. The screening method for early detection of colorectal cancer was the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood Test (gFOBT) and colonoscopy for gFOBT positive finding. The target population were asymptomatic subjects at average ri...

During August and September 2012, seven cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease were identified in three north-eastern counties of Croatia. Four cases were reported in Osijek-Baranja County, two in Brod-Posavina County and one in Vukovar-Srijem County. The median age of the patients was 62.7 years. All patients were hospitalized for 2-5 weeks. The...

The aim of the study was to establish the seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) among sexually active adults from East Croatia and to evaluate its correlates with demographic and behavioural risk factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted from the 1st June until the 30th September 2005 at the Department of Transfusion Medicin...

The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of alcohol abuse among university students in Osijek, Croatia and its possible interconnections with gender, year of study, repetition of year of study, faculty subject area, sources of financing and type of residence during study. A validated questionnaire was self-administered to cross-faculty re...

To determine differences in metal and metalloid exposure between residents of areas in eastern Croatia exposed to heavy fighting during the war in Croatia and residents of areas exposed to moderate fighting. Concentrations of aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), urani...

To determine the extent of condom usage as a method of protection from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among sexually active individuals obliged to present for periodical health examination at the Institute of Public Health for the Osijek-Baranya County, in Osijek, eastern Croatia. During February 2004, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey...

In the prospective study the susceptibility of 41 Escherichia coli strains and 55 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains to gentamicin, netilmicin and amikacin was tested at a 2-year interval (period I April 1998 to March 1999, and period II April to July 2001). Genotyping was performed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and a clone based on 80% or 90% s...

To test the hypothesis that phenotypic diversity in isolated human populations is decreased in comparison with general outbred population because of reduced genetic and environmental diversity. To demonstrate this in populations for which reduced genetic and environmental diversity had already been established, by studying the amount of variation i...

Newborns at risk for early renal impairment were selected after a screening of 1200 neonates. We investigated intrapartal transmission of uropathogenic bacteria from mother to a predisposed child. The most common pathogens of urinary tract infections (UTI) and significant asymptomatic bacteriuria (SAB) in the perinatal period, the origin (maternal...

Mechanical ventilation increases the survival of VLBW and other infants, but increases the complications in ventilated children too. This study aims to analyze survival, indications, complications and outcome in neonates requiring mechanical ventilation. Retrospective analysis was undertaken of 74 ventilated patients admitted to NICU in Osijek duri...

The aim of the study was to detect newborns at risk for developing renal impairment, and to point out the importance of significant asimptomatic bacteriuria in perinatal period and early infancy. Severe urinary tract anomalies are very often accompanied only by asimptomatic bacteriuria in perinatal period. Three urinalysis ware done after delivery....

To establish serologically a contact with causative agents of human monocytic and granulocytic ehrlichiosis, human babesiosis, recently detected rickettsioses, and Lyme disease in individuals with a history of tick bite from three counties in eastern Croatia. Seroepidemiologic testing was performed in 102 subjects with a history of tick bite, who e...

Background and Purpose: Immunogenicity studies of the plasma derived vaccine showed it to be highly effective. Due to the relatively high cost of immunization and need of large scale protection of the high risk groups, comparative studies of the vaccine effectiveness with intramuscular (IM) and intradermal (ID) administration were conducted, yieldi...

Background and Purpose: In the Republic of Croatia the use of active immunization against hepatitis B started in 1987, but many candidates for vaccination have not yet been immunized. Thus, the sera collected from medical professionals working at the general hospital in Zagreb before the introduction of active immunoprophylaxis may give the results...

During a 3-year period (1992-1995), 239 index cases of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and 459 members of their households from the Osijek-Baranja county were examined. The aim of the study was to determine the spread of HBV infection in the families with a member verified as a virus carrier, and to identify the family members with the highest ri...

The total number of Croatian Army soldiers killed in the period from the beginning of July 1991 until the end of March 1992 was 487. The number of severely wounded was 1,160, and 1,141 soldiers were slightly wounded. The ratio of the killed to wounded was 1:5, except in the municipality of Osijek, where it was 1:2.5. The number of casualties increa...