Seroprevalence of dengue fever [IgG] in adults of rawalpindi district

Objective: The objectives of current study were to find out the prevalence of Dengue viral infection [DVI] IgG amongst the adult population residing in urban/ rural areas of Rawalpindi in order to assess that in which specific population it is more prevalent. The hypothesis of the study was that DVI is more prevalent in urban areas of Rawalpindi district

Study Design: Descriptive Cross Sectional Comparative Study

Place And Duration: It was carried out at Microbiology Department of Benazir Bhutto Hospital Affiliated with Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi. It was carried out from March to September 2010

Methodology: Stratified random sampling procedure was adopted for 240 healthy adults, 144 urban residents and 96 rural residents of Rawalpindi. The clotted blood samples were used for the detection of anti-dengue Ab [IgG] by 3[rd] generation ELISAmethod

Results: The results were in favor of the hypothesis showing 34.7 % prevalence of DF in urban areas when compared to 19.7% prevalence in rural areas of Rawalpindi

Conclusion: Dengue fever is more prevalent in urban areas of Rawalpindi

Errors in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis

The objective of this study was to evaluate the causes of treatment failures in patients diagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis and started on ATT by general practitioners and general physicians. This was a descriptive observational study conducted at CMH Multan from 1st August 2004 till 31st July 2006. It included patients of all ages and both sexes. All of these patients received ATT for more than 2 months but failed to respond. All relevant investigations including sputum microscopy/culture sensitivity, bronchoscopy and CT scan chest were carried out. Total numbers of patients registered were 48. There were 27 males and 21 females and the mean age of patients was 42.75 years. Of these, 58.33% [n=28] were wrongly diagnosed. 25.02% [n=12] did not show proper compliance. 10.41% [n=5] were prescribed inadequate dosage. While 6.25 [3] were suffering from MDR-tuberculosis. Chronic bronchitis/ COPD, bronchiestasis and bronchogenic carcinoma were the commonest disease found in this series. All TB suspects should have a sputum microscopy done at the earlier stage. AFB culture/ sensitivity should be carried out whenever considered necessary. In Sputum smear negative patients high index of suspicion for non tubercular pulmonary diseases should be maintained. DOTS needs to be employed in all patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is an intermediate grade malignant neoplasm of vascular origin. The tumor involves the liver and lungs, but other organs are affected too. The key to the diagnosis is identification of cells of endothelial origin containing Factor VIII R antigen. Surgical resection of isolated lesions is the treatment of choice; with unpredictable results reported for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and resection of multiple lesions. The prognosis is very variable, and ranges from few months to more than 25 years