Background: Dengue is a widely spread mosquito-borne infection in humans, which in recent decades declared is public health problem globally. The dengue virus contains 4 different serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4) which belong to the genus Flavivirus. Aims: A descriptive experimental study was conducted to determine the epidemiology, types of Dengue serotypes, clinical features, laboratory probe, and markers for primary diagnosis of dengue virus infection in hospitalized patients. Methodology: A total of 691 suspects were diagnosed from August to October 2019 in district Shangla KP, Pakistan. Serological tests were used for nonstructural protein-1 antigen (NS1), and antibodies (immunoglobulin-M (IgM) & Immunoglobulin-G (IgG)) while real-time PCR was used to confirm the cases. The data was statistically analyzed using IBM-SPSS Statistics 20 version. Results: The dengue virus infection was more prevalent in the male group (68.09%) than the female group (31.1%). A large number of patients were from rural areas (63.5%) while from urban areas were (36.4%), whereas Besham tehsil was found the most affected compared to other regions. The most prevalent serotype observed in our study was DENV-3 (56.60%) while DENV-4 was the least prevalent serotype (1.88%). Among the age-wise analysis of dengue-virus-infected individuals, the age group of 19–37 years (64.07%) was found the most affected group. The month-wise analysis revealed that the highest number of infections (49.8%) were recorded in September. Significant differences were noticed among blood parameters. Conclusion: The possible reasons for the dengue overwhelming in the study area could be less or lack of awareness particularly regarding the transmission of viral infections, improper sewage management, and no effective vector control strategies that lead the dengue outbreaks in the study population. Keywords: Dengue; Outbreak; DENV; real-time PCR; RNA Virus; Pakistan.

Background: Hepatitis C is a noteworthy public health issue around the globe, resulting in liver-related problems. The disease is caused Hepatitis C virus a positive sense RNA virus belongs to Flaviviridae family. Approximately 6% population of Pakistan is infected with HCV. Due to genetic variation, HCV is categorized into 7 genotypes and 67 subtypes. Methodology: In this study total 1100 ICT positive samples were collected from December 2016 to May 2017 from Tehsil Dagger District Buner. RNA was extracted from ICT positive serum samples of 1100 patients and, were screened for HCV-RNA by using Reverse Transcriptase-Nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR) and, then the positive samples were subjected for HCV genotyping. Statistical analysis was carried on SPSS version 10.0. Results: Out of 1100 ICT positive samples, HCV RNA was detected in 375 individuals, of which 14.9% were males and, 19.2% females. The frequency of HCV genotypes Untypable was 43.5%), followed by 3a (29.6%), 3 b was 9.6%, 2a was 5.9%, 1a was 5.3%, 1 b (4.0%) and, 2 b was 1.9% in these patients. Both genotypes untypable and 3a were the most prevalent genotypes in patients of all age groups and its prevalence was found high among patients with increasing age (>30years). The prevalence rate of HCV in age of 21-30 years (30.1%), of 31-40 years the percentage of positive cases are 24.85% and 11-20 years of age group is (11.4%). Furthermore, genotypes untypable, 3a and 3 b were found to be the most common genotypes in patients with history of barber shops, dental surgery, and receiving multiple injections. Conclusion:The current study reveals HCV untypable variants as the most frequent genotypes in the HCV patients of district Buner KP, Pakistan, with most patients in the age group 21-30 years. HCV various isolates were associated with different routes of transmission. The predominant factors of HCV included shaving in barber shops and intra-venous drugs use. These findings may suggest anti-HCV therapy and monitoring HCV infections.

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Aim: To analyze and quantify the 2018 dengue outbreak which occurred in district Shangla, Pakistan. Materials & methods: 964 suspected dengue samples were collected and examined for clinical manifestation and laboratory markers. Results: In all, 375 suspected cases were confirmed with dengue virus infection using nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) antigen, immunoglobulin M (IgM) & Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and real-time PCR whereas PCR was 92.2% sensitive. The most prevalent serotype was dengue virus 3 (60.26%). The male/female ratio was 1.84 and the most highly affected tehsil was Alpuri. The most affected age group was 16–40 years (70.4%). A significant number of cases were reported in September (48.54%). Conclusion: Recurrence of the dengue outbreaks in the study area could alarmingly increase the mortality rate, therefore, proper measures are essential to control dengue epidemics in the future.