Dengue in Fiji: epidemiology of the 2014 DENV-3 outbreak

Introduction@#Dengue virus serotype-3 caused a large community-level outbreak in Fiji in 2013 and 2014. We aimed to characterize the demographic features of affected individuals and to determine dengue mortality during the outbreak.@*Methods@#All laboratory-confirmed dengue cases and deaths were included in this study. Incidence and mortality were calculated according to demographic variables.@*Results@#A total of 5221 laboratory-confirmed cases of dengue were included in this analysis. The majority of patients were male (54.5%) and indigenous Fijians (iTaukei) (53.5%). The median age was 25 years old. The overall incidence was 603 per 100 000 population. The age-specific incidence was highest among people between 20 and 24 years of age (1057 per 100 000) for both sexes. The major urban and peri-urban areas of Suva and Rewa subdivisions reported the highest incidence of >1000 cases per 100 000 population. A total of 48 deaths were included in this analysis. The majority of dengue-related deaths occurred in males (62.5%) and in the iTaukei (60.4%) population. The median age at death was 35 years old. The overall dengue-related deaths was estimated to be 5.5 deaths per 100 000 population. Dengue mortality was higher for males (6.8 per 100 000) than females. The highest age- and sex-specific mortality of 18 per 100 000 population was among males aged 65 years and older.@*Discussion@#Dengue morbidity and mortality were highest among males, indigenous people and residents of urban and peri-urban locations. Effective and integrated public health strategies are needed to ensure early detection and appropriate outbreak control measures.

Assessment of antibacterial activity of herbal formulations used in typhoid fever, available in local markets of twin cities of pakistan

Herbal formulations are used for so many years in various countries including Pakistan for the treatment of different diseases. Thus six herbal formulations were purchased from local market of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in order to assess antibacterial activity like minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] and zone of inhibition [ZOI] on Salmonella typhi ATCC [14028]. The results revealed that only two formulations showed activity against S. typhi. Two herbal formulations failed to show any antibacterial activity. While remaining formulations had weak activity. To promote the role of alternative medicines, appropriate measures should be taken by Regulatory authorities to promote standard and good quality herbal products?