Social marketing and awareness about routine immunization among the parents of children under 5 years coming to a private hospital in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Introduction: Social marketing is a key strategy to influence the health seeking behavior of human beings on a large scale. Although social marking approach is applied to address a variety of social concerns, it also has a vital role in the health promotion and disease prevention.

Objectives: 1-To elaborate the source of social marketing for the promotion of routine immunization among children under-5 years. 2-To assess the determinants of social marketing in term of promotion of routine immunization

Material and Methods: The survey was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics of the Rehman Medical Institute [RMI] Peshawar KPK over a period of two months. Self-administered questionnaire-based survey was used to address the objectives. The questionnaire catered to the four Ps [Promotion, Personnel, Partnership, and Proof] that are the basic themes of social marketing applicable for promotion of immunization. Parents of children under-5 years of age were included as subjects. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 15.0

Results: A total of 63 parents were surveyed during two months of data collection period. About 54% of them were unaware about National immunization days. However 84% had got information about immunization, where 63% had got information from print media and perceived that the information was sufficient to convince them

Conclusion: Social marketing is an effective tool in ensuring health seeking behavior especially in immunization of under-5 year children; however health promotion activities by vaccinators, others health care professionals and governmental and non-governmental organization linked with low immunization are lacking in the region

Frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility of gram negative rods in high vaginal swabs

Background: The normal vaginal flora contains a variety of microorganisms. Vaginal discharge is a common gynaecologic problem especially among sexually active females. Pathological vaginal discharges are usually due to infection or inflammation of vagina and/or cervix

Objective: To find out the frequency of aerobic gram negative rods in high vaginal swabs and to determine their antimicrobial susceptibility profile

Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in Microbiology laboratory, Pathology Department, SZMC/H, Rahim Yar Khan from 1[st] January, 2012 to 30[th] June, 2012. High vaginal swabs were collected from 100 females visiting antenatal clinics and gynae OPD of Sheikh Zayed Medical College/Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Samples were cultured on blood and Mac Conkey agar plates. Plates were incubated aerobically at 35-37°C. All positive cultures were identified by gram staining, cultural characteristics and biochemical reactions. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing of all isolates was done by standard disc diffusion method

Results: Majority of culture positive females were between 25 to 30 years of age. Escherichia coli [72%] was the predominant organism, followed by Klebsiella spp [16%], Enterobacter [6%], Proteus spp [2%], Morganella [2%], Pseudomonas spp [2%]. All these isolates showed good sensitivity towards imepenem and cefoperazone-Sulbactam

Conclusion: In this study, E.coli were the predominant organism, followed by Klebsiella spp. Imepenem and cefoperazone-sulbactam were the most effective antimicrobials against all isolates

Tooth loss prevalence among cardiac males and females

Objective: Objective of study was to observe differences of tooth loss prevalence in males and females with cardiac diseases

Introduction: Poor oral health, tooth loss and periodontal diseases have been reported to be associated with coronary heart diseases. Studies report gender differences in prevalence of cardiac diseases and tooth loss. This paper presents gender differences of tooth loss in cardiac patients of a cardiac hospital of Lahore, Pakistan

Methodology: Age matched Cardiac males and females attending OPD of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology [PIC], Lahore were included in the study. Personal and health-related information were questioned and noted. Oral examination was performed for recording of missing teeth

Results: 1200 CHD study subjects with age-range of 30 to 80 years were enrolled for study. 1045 age matched, 766 [73.30%] males and 279 [26.70%] females were examined for tooth loss. 852 [81.53%] genders had at least one tooth missing. 599 [78.19] males and 253 [90.68%] females were observed with mean tooth loss of 7.5 [SD 8.720] and 11.15 [SD 10.375] respectively. Statistical association among them was also significant [P= 0.000] with OR of 2.339. More subjects [76.29%] showed a loss of 1-15 teeth that was also significant among males and females. Tooth loss was significant in age groups of 41-50 years [P=0.001] and 51-60 years [P=0.000]

Conclusion: Gender differences of tooth loss prevalence among CHD subjects were significant with more risk for males as compared to females

Characteristics of recurrent pericardial effusions

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>There are various aetiologies for recurrent pericardial effusions. Malignancy is the commonest cause in the West, but in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, tuberculosis is common and contributes towards a high prevalence of tuberculous recurrent pericardial effusions.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In our hospital-based descriptive study of 32 patients, we looked into various characteristics of recurrent pericardial effusions using the hospital data.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>We found tuberculosis to be the commonest cause of recurrent effusions, occurring in 50 percent (n = 16) of our patients, followed by malignancy (n = 9). The clinical features at presentation in patients who eventually developed recurrent pericardial effusions were more severe, compared to uncomplicated pericardial effusions.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Knowledge of the presenting features of patients with recurrent pericardial effusions is crucial, so that they can be placed under increased surveillance and considered for early institution of pericardial fluid drainage procedures.</p>

Epithelial ovarian cancer at a cancer hospital in a developing country.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze records of patients seen with malignant epithelial ovarian cancer at a tertiary care cancer hospital in Pakistan and obtain information on factors as laterality, histology, CA-125 levels, and stage of the disease, determine age at presentation and, assess menopausal status of the patients. Also, to review results obtained in light of data published in indexed journals. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analyzed 544 cases of malignant ovarian epithelial tumors registered at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center from December 1994-December 2003. RESULTS: Mean age at presentation: 48.1 years (SD 13, range 4-82 years); commonest histological sub-type: serous cystadenocarcinoma (28.6%); most frequently seen stage: 3 (43.5%), followed by stage 4 (22.4%); post-menopausal: 56.8% of the women; bilateral disease: 41.2% of the women; and Cancer Antigen-125 (CA-125) level: elevated in 70% of the females. CONCLUSIONS: Stage at presentation in majority of the cases was advanced as compared to that seen in the west. With only minor variations, our findings seem consistent with those reported in other local studies. However, it is imperative to conduct an extensive population-based study to understand the impact of, and develop strategies for the management of ovarian cancer in Pakistan.