The authors analyzed the epizootological and epidemiological situation of anthrax in the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia over 52 years and mapped stationary high anthrax incidence areas located in these republics.

The investigation was undertaken to assess whether serodiagnosis of infection caused by human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6) could be made in children, by determining IgG antibodies over time. One hundred and seven patients aged 1 month to 5 years who had been admitted to the infectious hospital for complaints of fever without apparent catarrhal symptoms were examined. HHV-6 IgG antibodies were found in 50% of the patients. The presence of the antibodies directly correlated with age - more than 80% of the examinees aged above 2 years had IgG antibodies. Its laboratory diagnosis was verified in 18 patients (among them, there were 14 children with roseola, 3 with rash-free fever, and 1 with recurrent febrile convulsions). Thus, serodiagnosis of HHV-6 infection in children, by determining IgG antibodies over time, is an accessible and informative tool to diagnose exanthema subitum (roseola) or rash-free fever and allows the activity of HHV-6 infection to be followed over time.

One hundred and twenty infants with rotavirus infection were followed up. The signs of gastroenteritis and enteritis were prevalent in the clinical picture of the disease. Carbohydrate malabsorption was found in most patients. Different types of carbohydrate malabsorption were first identified. The degree and type of carbohydrate malabsorption were shown to be associated with the severity and magnitude of the underlying syndrome determining the severity.

The paper describes a sporadic case of enteroviris exanthema of the mouth and limb, caused by Coxsackie A6 virus, in a young woman aged 28 years. The disease ran without complications and ended in complete recovery.

The paper gives the results of an investigation of the time course of changes in the level of nitric oxide (NO) in patients with the hemorrhagic forms of erysipelas. NO was ascertained to be involved in the pathogenesis of these clinical forms.

Analysis of the spread of natural plague foci with the involvement of Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandti Radde) in Russia, Mongolia, and China, the specific features of the course of epizooties, the systematic affiliation of plague microbe strains in different parts of vole areas, the ecological characteristics of the background type of dry steppes and Brandt's voles, and its relationships with other carriers of plague in the foci leads to the conclusion that Brandt's vole is an additional host in the marmot (souslik) foci of plague in the South-Eastern Transbaikalia and in the Mongolian pika (Ochotona pallasi) foci typical of Khangai (Mongolia) and probably of Internal Mongolia (China).

The ecological area in epidemiology comprises three main tasks: 1) to study the ecology of a causative agent; 2) to explore the influence of the environment on an epidemic process; 3) to examine the impact of associations between the microorganisms on the development of the epidemic process. The concept of integration-competitive development of the epidemic process is presented on a model for examining the relationship between group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus and respiratory viruses.

The general regularities of the occurrence and development of the influenza pandemic declared by the WHO in June 2009 are considered from the epidemiological and clinical points of view. The authors analyze the official data characterizing intensity, trends, and morbidity structure by disease risk groups and poor outcomes, as well as other indicators of damage by influenza, virological and molecular biological data on its causative agent and trends in its etiological restructure by the periods of the pandemic and its results in Russia and worldwide. It is concluded that this pandemic differs greatly from its indicators of those prior ones towards its mildness and a less total damage to the population, but no absence of an antigenic shift and the considerable similarity of the structure of swine virus with a related anthroponotic agent that has been circulating for many years throw doubt on its pandemicity and high pathogenicity. In this connection, a package of disputable theoretical and practical issues whose solution can give more insight into the epidemiology of influenza, as well as the ways to improve epidemiological surveillance and epidemic and pandemic control tactics are brought up for discussion.

The paper presents the results of analyzing the use of traditional methods for training specialists to work with Groups I-II pathogenicity biological agents. It proposes a way to improve their education through self-study, by applying the developed standard operating procedures.

To detect pertussis antigens, the authors used a rapid and easy-to-use coagglutination (COAG) test with diagnostic reagents (COA reagents) based on affine purified antibodies. Model experiments using collection strains studied the specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility of the test using the antibody COA reagents. The specificity of the COAG test was confirmed by the examination of a group of children with diseases of non-pertussis etiology. The results of a comprehensive examination of children for pertussis, by applying COAG, bacteriological, and serological tests, are given in the paper. Comparative studies established the consistency between the results of the COAG test and the data of polymerase chain reaction and indirect immunofluorescence test. The COAG test that is a simple and convenient analytical technique may be used as a rapid method in the complex diagnosis of pertussis.

The paper describes a case of pulmonary dirofilariasis as a solitary nummular tumor likely caused by D. (Nochtiella) repens in a woman residing in Russia. It discusses the etiological role of D. (Nochtiella) repens in all cases of human dirofilariasis, including pulmonary dirofilariasis in Russia's residents. The role of D. immitis as a veterinary problem and prospects for studying endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria are considered. The topicality of dirofilariasis as imminent infection and problems in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this invasion are shown.

The paper describes a rare case of gastrointestinal salmonellosis with the development of diffuse serous peritonitis in a young girl.