Epidemiological risks and capacities of the infectious disease prevention system in the municipality of Tutin

Infectious diseases represent a significant public health challenge in local communities, with pronounced infrastructural and organisational limitations. Efficient outbreak prevention and control depend on functional epidemiological surveillance, stable immunisation coverage, and a safe water supply system. The purpose of this article was to perform a descriptive analysis of epidemiological risks and to assess the capacities of the infectious disease prevention system in the municipality of Tutin, with particular emphasis on organisational, infrastructural and preventive aspects of the local public health system. A descriptive approach was used, encompassing quantitative indicators and qualitative analysis of the relevant archives and documentation in the municipality of Tutin in 2013. Data sources included the report of the Institute of Public Health Kraljevo for 2013, as well as the internal expert document of the Primary Healthcare Facility Tutin for the same year. The number of registered infectious disease cases, incidence per 100,000 population, and the share of individual diagnoses in the overall number of registered cases were used as quantitative indicators. In 2013, 585 cases of infectious disease cases were registered in the Municipality of Tutin, with an overall incidence rate of 1832.0 per 100,000 population. The most common infections included streptococcal tonsillitis (229, 39.1%), influenza without virus identification (137, 23.4%), streptococcal pharyngitis (119, 20.3%) and chickenpox (36, 6.2%); these four diagnoses made up 89.1% of all registered cases. Qualitative analysis emphasized population mobility, infrastructural issues in water supply, the need for continual immunization coverage monitoring, and organisational implementation limitations in epidemiological surveillance at the local level. The analysed documents did not contain any numerical data on registered outbreaks. The analysis indicated three key findings: infrastructural risks in the water supply system, the significance of maintaining a stable vaccination coverage, and organisational limitations in epidemiological surveillance at the local level. Improvement of the infectious disease prevention system should be directed at strengthening the epidemiological surveillance, maintaining stable vaccination coverage, improving water supply safety and defining institutional competences more clearly.