On May 13, 2024, a joint study was launched in Belgrade (Republic of Serbia) by the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute and the the Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Sera "Torlak" to assess the population immunity to vaccine-preventable and other socially significant infections among Belgrade residents. The study is carried out by the initiative of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing of the Russian Federation (Rospotrebnadzor) within the frames of providing assistance to the countries of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia in conducting seroepidemiological population studies in accordance with the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 18, 2023 No. 972-r.
The heads of the Torlak Institute and Dr. Mirsad Derlek, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, expressed gratitude the Russian Federation, Rospotrebnadzor and St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute for their cooperation and assistance in the implementation of large-scale projects aimed at preserving public health. Experts of St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute trained Serbian specialists in methods of conducting seroepidemiological population studies and helped organize points for collecting biomaterial from children and adults. Currently, an ELISA study has begun on samples taken from Belgrade residents for the presence of antibodies to measles, rubella, mumps viruses, the causative agent of diphtheria, coronavirus, and hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D, E.
