Last Decade of Dengue – and the Next One

AbstractBackground: Before 1970, only 9 countries had dengue. Until 1998, there were 1.2 billion dengue infected cases in 56 different countries around the globe. To date it is prevalent in all of 6 WHO regions. Mortality rate is thought to be 2.5% as it varies from country to country. These figures are not surely depicting exact situation as many cases from most parts of the underdeveloped and developing countries go unreported due to number of reasons but one thing is sure that it is on accelerating note.Methodology: In this study, total number of dengue victims around the globe from year 2000-2009 was estimated. Data were collected from World Health Organization (WHO), different health and country specific emergency dealing agenciesand hospitals. We have shown dengue statistics in annotated maps of international regions where dengue has affected in certain.  In a country specific (Pakistan) study we have determined most vulnerable population group among society, their age, gender and immunological profile against dengue virus. Moreover, most prevalent serotype of dengue virus is determined by surveying the current data.Results: It is estimated that there were 24,956 lives lost world wide during 2000-2009 as a consequence of dengue infection (DF/DHF/DSS) with an average CFR of 0.24%. These figures are approximate as we have not included the unauthentic source figures from non-reporting (to WHO) countries or not having an official database. A total of 10,178,624 clinical cases had been reported during that period with highest share of Americas of 6,586,785 cases.Conclusion: Our estimate suggests that number of dengue cases got elevated in first decade of 21st century but death rate is not that higher as 2-2.5% which is estimated. Dengue is spreading and finding novel places as temperature and travelling is getting increased

Rabies molecular virology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment

Rabies is an avertable viral disease caused by the rabid animal to the warm blooded animals (zoonotic) especially human. Rabies occurs in more than 150 countries and territories. According to an estimation by WHO, almost 55,000 people die because of rabies every year. The Dogs are the major reason behind this, approximately 99% human deaths caused by dog's bites. Developing and under developing countries, both are the victims of rabies. With the post-exposure preventive regimes, 327,000 people can prevent this disease annually

Lueheia karachiensis, New Species (Acanthocephala: Plagiorhynchidae) from a Bird in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract.-Lueheia karachiensis, new species (Acanthocephala: Plagiorhynchidae) from the small intestine of a bird (Accipiter badius cenchroides (Serertzov) is being described. The new species possesses the following characters viz. Body elongated measuring 13.60 by 0.72-1.04. Broadest body width at the end of proboscis receptacle or at level of anterior testis. Proboscis short, sub-globular with 20-24 rows of 10-14 hooks. Lemnisci four, testes in the anterior half of the body, cement glands four and bursa well developed measuring 1.33-1.60 by 0.33-0.64. The genus Lueheia Travassos, 1919 is being reported for the first time from Pakistan

Toxic Effects of Chloroform and Aqueous Extracts of Peganum harmala on Hematological and Growth Parameters in Rabbits

Abstract.-The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the toxic effects of Peganum harmala extracts on hematological and growth parameters using rabbit model. Thirty five rabbits (1200-1700 g) of either sex were randomly divided into 3 groups D, E and F. The rabbits in group D were given P. harmala chloroform extract, while the members in group E were administered P. harmala water extract. The animals in group F were given normal saline. The groups D and E were further divided into three sub-groups of 5 each receiving 1, 5 and 10 mg/ml of extract. Blood samples from each rabbit were collected at day 0 (pre-medication), day 9 and day 30 (post-medication). Feed efficiency and daily weight gain in group D3 and E3 on day 30, was significantly lower (P<0.05) compared to control group F. Erythrocytes count in group D3 was significantly lower (P<0.05) than control group F on day 30. A non-significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in hemoglobin concentration and leukocyte count in rabbits of all treatments groups. It was concluded that parenteral administration of chloroform extract of P. harmala at 10mg/kg had more deleterious pronounced effect on growth rate and erythrocyte count in rabbits compared to aqueous extract of the plant

Ex Vivo Expansion of Functional Human UCB-HSCs/HPCs by Coculture with AFT024-hkirre Cells

Kiaa1867 (human Kirre, hKirre) has a critical role in brain development and/or maintenance of the glomerular slit diaphragm in kidneys. Murine homolog of this gene, mKirre expressed in OP9 and AFT024 cells could support hematopoietic stem cells/hematopoietic progenitor cells (HSC/HPC) expansion in vitro. HKirre is also expressed in human FBMOB-hTERT cell line and fetal liver fibroblast-like cells but its function has remained unclear. In this paper, we cloned a hKirre gene from human fetal liver fibroblast-like cells and established a stably overexpressing hKirre-AFT024 cell line. Resultant cells could promote self-renewal and ex vivo expansion of HSCs/HPCs significantly higher than AFT024-control cells transformed with mock plasmid. The Expanded human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) CD34+ cells retained the capacity of multipotent differentiation as long as 8 weeks and successfully repopulated the bone marrow of sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice, which demonstrated the expansion of long-term primitive transplantable HSCs/HPCs. Importantly, hkirre could upregulate the expressions of Wnt-5A, BMP4, and SDF-1 and downregulate TGF-β with other hematopoietic growth factors. By SDS-PAGE and Western Blot analysis, a ~89 kDa protein in total lysate of AFT024-hKirre was identified. Supernatants from AFT024-hkirre could also support CD34+CD38− cells expansion. These results demonstrated that the AFT024-hKirre cells have the ability to efficiently expand HSCs/HPCs