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History of the Department

1minút, 54sekúnd

Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology (1948-1994)

http://www.upjs.sk/lekarska-fakulta/ustav/verejne-zdravotnictvo-a-hygiena/historia/

Department of Epidemiology (1994 – 2008)

After the division of the original joint Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, a separate department of Epidemiology was established on 1 July 1994, which existed until September 2008. The department’s scientific and research activities were based on current epidemiological needs. The issues of leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, tularemia, ornithosis-psittacosis and mammalian chlamydia, microsporidiosis, Lyme disease and Q-fever in relation to human and animal diseases in Slovakia were addressed. During this period, the heads of the department were Doc. RNDr. Helena Prokopčáková, CSc. (1994 – 1999) and Prof. MVDr. Lýdia Čisláková, CSc. (1999–2008).

Department of Public Health (2008 – 2015)

http://www.upjs.sk/lekarska-fakulta/ustav/verejne-zdravotnictvo-a-hygiena/historia/

Department of Epidemiology (since 2015)

Since April 2015, when the Department of Public Health was divided into 4 separate units, the Department of Epidemiology once again became an independent workplace.

The employees of the department provide teaching of epidemiological subjects for bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and doctoral students in Slovak and English in the fields of general medicine, nursing, public health and physiotherapy.

The department’s scientific research activities are focused on the study of selected intracellular pathogens (chlamydia, microsporidia, ehrlichia, bartonel) in relation to human and animal diseases. With the help of molecular diagnostics using PCR and RT PCR methods, their prevalence is detected, and by genotyping individual species, their mutual transmission and the qualitative level of risk in their occurrence in risk groups of the population are monitored. Another area of research is parasitic infections with a focus on the epidemiology of parasitozoonoses. The subject of research is also a group of parasitic infections in chronically ill and immunocompromised patients with an underlying disease of infectious as well as non-infectious etiology.

Since 1970, the department has established a Reference laboratory for ornithosis – psittacosis and mammalian chlamydiosis with a nationwide scope.

The department cooperates very closely with the department of Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Comenius University in Bratislava, the department of Public Health of the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, with several departments of the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, the Department of Parasitology of the Academy of Sciences in Košice, the Department of Virology of the Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, as well as other workplaces at in Slovakia and abroad.


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