BackgroundThe influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic highlighted the need for reliable disease burden estimation from low‐ and middle‐income countries like Pakistan. We designed retrospective age‐stratified estimation of influenza‐related severe... more
BackgroundThe influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic highlighted the need for reliable disease burden estimation from low‐ and middle‐income countries like Pakistan. We designed retrospective age‐stratified estimation of influenza‐related severe acute respiratory infections (SARIs) incidence in Islamabad Pakistan 2017–2019.Materials and MethodsThe catchment area was mapped on SARI data from one designated influenza sentinel site and other healthcare facilities in the Islamabad region. The incidence rate was calculated as per 100,000 for each age group with 95% confidence interval.ResultsThe catchment population for the sentinel site was 0.7 million against the total denominator of 1.015 million, and incidence rates were adjusted. During January 2017 to December 2019, among 13,905 hospitalizations, 6715 (48%) patients were enrolled; 1208 of these (18%) were positive for influenza. During 2017, influenza A/H3 dominated with 52% detections followed by A(H1N1)pdm09 (35%) and influenza B (13%)....
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In Pakistan, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported on 26 February 2020, having the travel history from Iran. Islamabad and Rawalpindi have also been affected by COVID-19 epidemic. On 23 March 2020, the Government of Pakistan... more
In Pakistan, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported on 26 February 2020, having the travel history from Iran. Islamabad and Rawalpindi have also been affected by COVID-19 epidemic. On 23 March 2020, the Government of Pakistan has declared smart lockdown all over the country including Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The aim of the study was to identify the status of the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19 among the general population of the twin cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi) in Pakistan during the COVID-19 outbreak. A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted from 5 to 19 May 2020, the week during smart lockdown in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Demographic characteristics were compared with independent-samples t-test, one-way, or Chi-square test. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with low knowledge score. Data analyses were conducted with SPSS version 21.0. A total of 1,282 participants completed the questionn...
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COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected Pakistan with 1,557,134 cases as of August 4, 2022. However, the data regarding breakthrough infections in Pakistan is scant. Hence, the objective was to analyze SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections... more
COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected Pakistan with 1,557,134 cases as of August 4, 2022. However, the data regarding breakthrough infections in Pakistan is scant. Hence, the objective was to analyze SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections with respect to vaccines and variants during the fifth wave in Pakistan. Therefore, the Department of Virology (NIH, Pakistan) genotyped 2,467 randomly selected individuals between November 2021 and February 2022 using the SNPsig® SARS-CoV-2 (EscapePLEX) kit (PrimerDesign, UK). P681R and K417N mutations were used to distinguish delta and omicron. Data on the patient's age, gender, date of collection, variant, and vaccination status were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Among 2,467 genotyped samples, Omicron was detected in 58.6% (n = 1445), Delta in 40.4% (n = 998) and undetermined/wildtype variant in 24 samples. The vaccination status of omicron-positive patients showed (49.7%; n = 718/1445) and Delta-posit...
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Background: Research culture includes the way we support and reward research. An important element in developing it is the organization’s approach towards prioritizing research and providing an environment for enabling and facilitating... more
Background: Research culture includes the way we support and reward research. An important element in developing it is the organization’s approach towards prioritizing research and providing an environment for enabling and facilitating researchers. Methods: This study is based on the findings of a pilot project initiated for developing research culture at Heavy Industries Taxila Education City Institute of Medical Sciences (HITEC IMS). A multidisciplinary team was assembled consisting of focal persons from all departments for collaboration with research cell. This team was trained and given goals for leading research projects in their departments. At the end of first quarter, the idea of this program was projected in form of a model for developing and evaluating research culture. Results A model was derived on the basis of experience and refined by the use of theories of change process, that was helpful in identifying input and process elements of the program. This was named as HITE...
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Province wise, annual patient incidence of dengue fever cases during 2009â 2014 in Pakistan. (DOCX 19 kb)
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Multilingual abstracts in the six official working languages of the United Nations. (PDF 388 kb)
Background: Health literacy refers to the ability to access, understand and use health related information to promote good health. It is required to achieve good health of an individual. Good health literacy has been shown to improve... more
Background: Health literacy refers to the ability to access, understand and use health related information to promote good health. It is required to achieve good health of an individual. Good health literacy has been shown to improve health outcomes of a person and is now the focus of many researches internationally. The objective of the study was to assess health literacy levels and its determinants in patients visiting tertiary care hospital in Rawalpindi Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in three public sector tertiary care hospitals in duration of four months. 450 adults of either gender with age > 18 years capable of providing informed consent and able to communicate in any of the local languages were selected from outpatient and emergency departments. The data entry and statistical analysis were done using SPSS version 23. Results: 26.2% of people had poor health literacy, 56.4% had satisfactory health literacy whereas only 17.3% had good health literacy. H...
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BACKGROUND For control of childhood TB in Pakistan, NTP developed Pakistan pediatric scoring chart to aid in childhood TB diagnosis. This study compared the documented case management practices of private health care providers (PP) for... more
BACKGROUND For control of childhood TB in Pakistan, NTP developed Pakistan pediatric scoring chart to aid in childhood TB diagnosis. This study compared the documented case management practices of private health care providers (PP) for diagnosis of child TB with NTP guidelines. METHODS This cross-sectional study on the diagnosis of the PP involved in diagnosis of children under 15 years were compared with Pakistan pediatric scoring chart recommended by NTP. Generalized linear model was used to determine difference of adherence national guidelines for the diagnosis of childhood TB by associated factors. RESULTS A total of 5193 (79.7%) were diagnosed with TB by the PP. Strong clinical suspicion of TB was present in 17.3%, chest x-ray was suggestive of TB in 34.3%. The Kappa score between private providers and PPA chart in diagnosing TB was 0.152, only 47.8% diagnosed in line with the NTP guidelines. The boys and children <5 years with history of TB contact had higher chance of being diagnosed according to the national guidelines. CONCLUSION This study indicates the low adherence of NTP guideline by non-NTP private providers for diagnosis of childhood TB in Pakistan.
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In Pakistan, the burden of influenza was largely unknown, as no formal surveillance system was in place. In 2008, an influenza surveillance system was set up in eight sentinel sites. This study describes the epidemiology of influenza... more
In Pakistan, the burden of influenza was largely unknown, as no formal surveillance system was in place. In 2008, an influenza surveillance system was set up in eight sentinel sites. This study describes the epidemiology of influenza virus using a 10‐year surveillance data from 2008 to 2017. Nasopharyngeal/throat swabs were collected from patients with influenza‐like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) along with relevant epidemiological information. The samples were tested using real‐time reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction for the detection and characterization of influenza viruses. A total of 17 209 samples were tested for influenza, out of which 3552 (20.6%) were positive; 2151/11 239 (19.1%) were patients with ILI, whereas 1401/5970 (23.5%) were patients with SARI. Influenza A/H1N1pdm09 was the predominant strain with 40.6% (n = 1442) followed by influenza B (936, 26.4%). Influenza A/H1N1pdm09 was predominant among the children (5‐14 years) and...
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Research Interests: Biology, Virology, Population, Genotype, Genotyping, and 3 moreHepatitis B virus, Open, and Amplicon
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Despite substantial interventions in the understanding and case management of acute gastroenteritis, diarrheal diseases are still responsible for a notable amount of childhood deaths. Although the rotavirus is known to cause a... more
Despite substantial interventions in the understanding and case management of acute gastroenteritis, diarrheal diseases are still responsible for a notable amount of childhood deaths. Although the rotavirus is known to cause a considerable burden of pediatric diarrheal cases, the roles of other viruses remain undefined for the Pakistani population. This study was based on tertiary care hospital surveillance, from January 2009 to December 2010, including the detection of rotavirus, norovirus, astrovirus, and human parechovirus in children under the age of five using serological or molecular assays. Rotavirus, human parechovirus, norovirus, and astrovirus were detected in 66%, 21%, 19.5%, and 8.5% subjects, respectively. Human parechovirus genotypes, determined through analysis of VP1 gene sequences, showed a great diversity among co-circulating strains. Eighty percent of hospitalized children had dual or multiple viral infections, while 98% parechovirus positive cases were co-infecte...
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Objective: To document overall performance and improvement, if any, gained through participation in an International External Quality Assessment Scheme (IEQAS). Study Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: The Haematology... more
Objective: To document overall performance and improvement, if any, gained through participation in an International External Quality Assessment Scheme (IEQAS). Study Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: The Haematology Department, Public Health ...