Stigmatisation in chronic hepatitis B and C infections-time to debunk the myth!

Background: Hepatitis B and C are chronic diseases with mental and social impacts which can result in poor quality of life. The routes of transmission and lack of education among the masses may cause stigmatisation of the affected patients.  The aim of the study was to document the stigmatisation among chronic hepatitis B and C positive patients. Methods: The 242 patients suffering from hepatitis B and C were included in the study. Stigma experienced from relatives, friends, spouse and health care providers was assessed using a semi structured questionnaire. Results: Majority of the patients were males 174 (72%). The 162 (67%) were hepatitis B infected and 76 (32%) were Hepatitis C infected and 4 were dual infected. Male patients were significantly more affected than females in term of changes in lifestyle (86% versus 61%) and changes in relationship with the spouse (89% versus 16%). Significantly more females than males reported feelings of loneliness and isolation (64% versus 30%). Stigma was marked in terms of disease transmission, with 170 (70%) of patients fearing that they could transmit the infection to others. Marital relationships were affected for 52% of married patients. Around 80% unmarried patients were experiencing delay in getting married. Conclusions: Patients comments showed a sense of family and societal discrimination resulting in feelings of disappointment which could be changed by educational interventions, effective patient and family centric awareness and scientific models of approach

HEALTH STATUS AND IMPRISONMENT PROFILE OF JAIL INMATES OF DISTRICT JAIL RAHIM YAR KHAN, PAKISTAN

Out of 850 total prisoners of district jail, Rahim Yar Khan, 100 were selected at random and examined for prevalence of HIV. Apart from HIV screening, data was collected about different diseases, narcotics use, occupations, reasons for imprisonment, ages and marital status of the prisoners through a questionnaire. None of these prisoners was suffering from HIV, the results regarding narcotics habits showed that 3% of the prisoners were used to bhang, 4% took heroin, 5% were using snuff, 34% cigarette smokers and 54% were not taking any narcotics. Nineteen percent of the prisoners suffered from various diseases like asthma, allergy, chest infection, hernia, heart problem, jaundice, lung infection, ulcer, weakness, typhoid and gastric problems whereas 81% were healthy

Ethnomedicinal and cultural practices of mammals and birds in the vicinity of river Chenab, Punjab-Pakistan

Abstract Background Although, use of animal species in disease treatment and culture practices is as ancient as that of plant species; however ethnomedicinal uses and cultural values of animal species have rarely been reported. Present study is the first report on the medicinal uses of mammals and bird species in Pakistan. Methods Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were applied to collect qualitative and quantitative data from local informants (N = 109). Relative frequency of mention (RFM), fidelity level (FL), relative popularity level (RPL), similarity index (SI) and rank order priority (ROP) indices were used to analyzed the data. Results One hundred and eight species of animals, which include: 83% birds and 17% mammals were documented. In total 30 mammalian and 28 birds’ species were used to treat various diseases such as rheumatic disorders, skin infections and sexual weakness among several others. Fats, flesh, blood, milk and eggs were the most commonly utilized body parts. Bos taurus, Bubalus bubalis, Capra aegagrus hircus, Felis domesticus, Lepus nigricollis dayanus and Ovis aries (mammals) and Anas platyrhynchos domesticus, Columba livia, Coturnix coturnix, Gallus gallus and Passer domesticus (birds) were the highly utilized species. Medicinal and cultural uses of 30% mammals and 46% birds were reported for the first time, whereas 33% mammals and 79% birds depicted zero similarity with previous reports. Conclusion Present study exhibits significant ethnozoological knowledge of local inhabitants and their strong association with animal species, which could be helpful in sustainable use of biodiversity of the region. Additionally, in vitro and in vivo evaluation of biological activities in the mammalian and birds’ species with maximum fidelity level and frequency of mention could be important to discover animal based novel drugs. Graphical Abstract Some commonly used mammals and birds species of the study are

Covid-19 attack, prevention, precaution and managemental strategies

Human population is increasing exponentially parallel to which serious public health issues are also progressing. During the last three decades a number of viral epidemics have caused huge human death throughout the globe. Corona viruses belong to family of single-stranded RNA viruses have widespread prevalence in humans. Currently new mutant corona virus disease (COVID-19) has led to a global pandemic affecting more than 215 countries worldwide. COVID-19 is closely related to SARS and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus) which were responsible for considerable deaths throughout the globe. The reported cases of COVID-19 have been crossed more than 3,759,967 worldwide out of which about 259,474 deaths are occurred up till now. This is novel mutant virus and human beings have not developed immunity against this until been infected and recovered. Thus this new devastating pathogen will prevail and affect the humanity in quite different way to common viruses. There is no any vaccine is present against this virus and only precautions and isolation can helpful to avoid the huge loss. Therefore, this article is aimed provide information for public awareness about the general overview and prevalence of COVID-19 and the effective management, precautionary measure to avoid this prevailing infection

Molecular identification of genus Duttaphrynus from Punjab, Pakistan

The Indus valley toad and common Asian toad are widely distributed toads in Pakistan. There is doubt in the taxonomic position of species within the genus Duttaphrynus in Pakistan as most of the species identified on morphology. Previously, Bufo melanostictus hazarensis identified on morphology but during the present study, it is confirmed as Duttaphrynus melanostictus-based COI sequences (MK941836). The interspecific divergence between Duttaphrynus stomaticus and D. melanostictus was 16%. The intraspecific divergence of D. stomaticus (MK947909.1) was ranging from 0% to 1% while the intraspecific divergence of D. melanostictus (MK941836) was high ranging from 10% to 11%. Overall, genetic variation between the species of genus Duttaphrynus based on p-distance was 14%. In our recommendation, a large-scale molecular identification of amphibians should take into consideration for exact species identification to report any new species from Pakistan

Anthropogenic impact on the distribution of the birds in the tropical thorn forest, Punjab, Pakistan

The present research was conducted to assess the anthropogenic impacts on avian diversity around the river Chenab, Pakistan. The avian diversity was recorded on different landscapes along the river Chenab, that is, forest, agricultural, rural, and urban habitats. The data on diversity and distribution of various avian species were collected through linear count along with direct count methods viz. personal observations and sound records and indirect count methods viz. presences of carcasses and meeting with local communities. The habitat preferences of birds varied significantly. A decline in avian diversity was observed from forest habitat to urban landscapes. One year of bird surveys compiled a total of 150 species from all habitats along the river Chenab. Computed statistical data show that Shannon's index provides a quantitative report of diversity which was highest at forest habitat (4.261) followed by rural forest habitat (3.746), agri–rural habitat (3.746), agriculture habitat (3.623), WLH (2.723), urban vegetative habitat (3.215), and very least at urban nonvegetative habitat (2.247). It can be concluded from the present study that many of the avian species have specific habitats and also noted that corridors and connections among different landscapes are important for the conservation of avian diversity

Machine vision-based Statistical texture analysis techniques for characterization of liver tissues using CT images

Objective: To characterize human liver tissues by demonstrating the ability of machine vision, and to propose a new auto-generated report based on texture analysis that may work with co-occurrence matrix statistics. Method: The retrospective study was conducted at Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur, Pakistan, and comprised clinically verified computed tomography imaging data between October 2018 and September 2020. The image samples and related data were used to segregate classes 1-4. Appropriate image classes belonging to the same disease were trained to confirm the abnormalities in liver tissues using supervised learning methods, principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis, and non-linear discriminant analysis. Robust and reliable texture features were investigated by generating testing classes. Overall performance of the presented machine vision approach was analyzed using four parameters; precision, recall/sensitivity, F1-score, and accuracy. Statistical analysis was done using B11 software. Results: There were 312 image samples from 71 patients; 51(71.8%) males and 20(28.2%) females. Among the patients, 19(26.7%) had abscess, 15(21.1%) had metastatic disease, 23(32.4%) had tumour necrosis, 6(8.5%) had vascular disorder, and 8(11.3%) were normal. Principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis, and non-linear discriminant analysis showed high >97.86% values, but the discrimination rate was 100% for class 4. Conclusion: Abnormalities in the human liver could be discriminated and diagnosed by texture analysis techniques using second-order statistics that may assist the radiologist and medical physicists in predicting the severity and proliferation of abnormalities in liver diseases. Key Words: Liver abscess, Computed tomography imaging, Liver diseases, Image processing

Lernaea Susceptibility, Infestation and its Treatment in Indigenous Major and Exotic Chinese Carps Under Polyculture System

Abstract.-Present study was aimed to find out the Lernaea susceptibility, infestation and its treatment in indigenous major and exotic Chinese carps under polyculture system. 450 fishes were reared in the 0.5 acre ponds at Fish Pond Complex, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Ravi Campus Pattoki and parasitic load was checked for the month of June, July and August. Five specimens of each species were caught on fortnightly basis and examined for the presence of Lernaea cyprinacea species on different body parts. The parasites were removed, preserved in 5% formalin and identified. Intensity of Lernaea was highest in the Catla catla followed by Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Ctenopharyngodon idella in the month of June. Highest number of Lernaea (100) were counted in Catla catla and lowest in the Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala after the Cyprinus carpio which did not showed any parasite and behave as most resistant species among the Chinese and Indian major carps. Treatment with Thunder however, reduce the parasitic infection to a large extend and at the end of experiment all fishes were became free of parasite. Abdomen was the most prevalent site for the parasite attachment followed by the gills and caudal fins whereas head was the least