RESUMO
Purpose@#The delay in acceptance or refusal to get vaccinated despite the availability of services is called vaccine hesitancy. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative in Pakistan faced consistent barriers preventing the eradication of the disease in the country. Similarly with the advent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic mass vaccination drives were initiated to a vaccine hesitant population. The aim of this study is to explore the prevalence and reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Pakistani population. @*Materials and Methods@#Cross-sectional study conducted during July to September 2021 using a snowball sampling technique targeting the adult population of Pakistan. The modified version of the vaccine hesitancy questionnaire related to the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization Vaccine Hesitancy matrix was distributed online. @*Results@#Out of 973 participants, 52.4% were immediately willing to take the vaccine and constituted the acceptance group whereas the remaining 47.6% who were still not sure formed the hesitant group. Support from leaders was found to be statistically significant for the difference between the hesitant and acceptance groups (p-value=0.027). Hesitant people were concerned about the effectiveness of the vaccine (60.9%) and potential side effects (57.9%) as it was not sufficiently tested prior to launch (44.7%). Age and education were significant factors affecting the acceptance of vaccination. The most trusted source of information regarding vaccination was health care workers (43.8%). @*Conclusion@#A moderately high prevalence of vaccine hesitancy was reported in Pakistan.To overcome it, policymakers need to address the reasons for it. Leaders, celebrities, and healthcare workers can play an instrumental role in dispelling conspiracy theories regarding vaccines and making the vaccination drive a success.
RESUMO
To get a better understanding of the baseline computer skills of the target group, see how dental informatics is helping health professionals and how far behind Pakistan is from the rest of the world in this field. We use the term information technology or IT to refer to an entire industry. In actuality, information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information. In some companies, this is referred to as Management Information Services [MIS] or simply as Information Services [IS]. The term Dental informatics is defined as the application of computer and information sciences to improve dental practice, research, education and management. A questionnaire based survey was conducted consisting of 19 questions relating to dental informatics and randomly distributed amongst dentists of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Results showed that computer usage and access was only limited to storing patient information or email. Practice management systems were a very uncommon feature, in fact nonexistent in dental practices. Only a handful of the target group dentist had ever taken a computer course however the general attitude of young Pakistani dentists towards the adoption of dental informatics in their practice, institutes or hospitals was very positive. A lot of issues have to be addressed before an integrated system can be implemented in to every practice and hospital in our country. Dentists' attitudes are a decisive factor to implementing dental computerization for an ever growing need for advancement in dentistry. The government should try and implement a dental health information system country wide and train dentists in this field of dental education.
RESUMO
The purpose of this prospective study was to assess the effects of anterior maxillary expansion screw [RAGNO] on anteriorly narrow maxilla cases. [V-shaped arches]. The study involved 11 patients with average age 17.5 years. All patients had permanent dentition with anteriorly constricted maxilla; normal intermolar width and no cross bite in the posterior region with mild to moderate crowding in the anterior region of the maxillary arch. The angular and linear changes related to maxilla were analyzed by Welcoxon signed rank test. Postro anterior [PA] cephalometric radiograph [T1] were taken before, [T2] immediately after and [T3] 3 months after expansion. Intercanine distant [ICD] showed significant increase. The comparison of the differences between the retention and the total periods showed significant difference. MIMD did not show any significant change in the different stages of expansion but there is slight increase in distance. There was significant expansion in the intercanine and intermolar width