COVID-19 remains a deadly disease that poses a serious threat to humanity. COVID-19 vaccines protect the public and limit viral spread. However, public acceptance is significantly dependent on the efficacy and side effects (SEs) of the vaccinations being produced. Four important mechanisms have been examined for COVID-19 vaccines: DNA-based, mRNA-based, protein-based, and inactivated viruses. Vaccination safety research was formerly limited to manufacturer-sponsored studies, but numerous additional cross-sectional survey-based studies conducted globally have contributed to the generation of vaccine-related safety data reports. Twenty-seven studies and twenty-four case reports published-up till 2021 were overviewed for the presentation of SEs and their severity. Injection site pain remained the most dominant localized SE, while headache and fatigue were the most prevalent systemic SEs. Most studies reported that all vaccinations were safe, with very little or no adverse effects, but the nature of SEs was reported to be more persistent in DNA- and mRNA-based vaccines, while inactivated viral vaccines were associated with longer-duration SEs. Overall, SEs were found to be more dominant in women and youngsters. Case reports of adverse reactions have also been documented, but there is still a need to find out their pathological linkage with the COVID-19 vaccination.

Introduction: Eating disorders have frequently been reported among young adults including university students. Detailed information on the prevalence and associated gender-specific determinants of eating disorders are lacking, particularly among students in the north western region of Pakistan. The current cross-sectional study was designed to fill this gap in the literature. Methods: Total of 672 students (female: 56%, age range: 18-26 years) were enrolled and data collected between October 2016 and December 2017. The 26 items Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), Diet quality Index-International (DQI-I), 10 items Rosenberg's self-esteem scale (SES), Stunkard Figure Rating Scale, 19-items Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) were used. Body composition and anthropometry were determined using standardized tools. A cutoff of ≥20 EAT-26 score was used to assess the tendency towards eating disorders (EDT). Data was analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: Mean (SD) age of the respondents was 21.7±2 years. Total of 103 (15.3%) students showed EDT with no statistical difference between sexes. Students with EDT had a much lower diet quality than normal students (p<0.001). Risk factors for EDT, in female students included young age (<20 years), on-campus residency, discordant body image and poor sleep quality, while those for males were vigorous lifestyle, insufficient monthly allowance, poor sleep quality and peer pressure. Conclusions: A significant number of students showed a tendency towards an unhealthy eating attitude with some sex-specific risk factors. These students had poorer diet quality than normal students. Support to encourage healthy attitudes to eating and better diet quality could help to avert the development of clinical eating disorders.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2. It emerged in Wuhan, China and spread all over the world. Therapeutic effectiveness of different drugs and vaccines used to control the disease has been tested globally. Physicians in Pakistan have also used readily available drugs and antibiotics to combat COVID-19 infection. This study aims to examine the association between the various states of patients (recovered or dead) and different variables including age, gender, and the treatment provided. Lastly, it assesses the odds of recovery of patients corresponding to various treatment groups. The study was conducted retrospectively on patients admitted to major hospitals in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan from February 2020 to August 2020. The patients were categorized based on the treatment provided and the medicines prescribed. The sensitivity analysis of the data revealed that the outliers were distorting the results. Therefore, further evaluations were made using non-parametric tests to handle the outliers. Pearson’s chi-square test was employed to find the association between the state of patients’ recovery corresponding to their age and sex. The results showed no association between the gender of patients and their state of recovery, while the age of patients was found to be related to their state of recovery. Also, a significant association was found between the state of recovery of patients and their prescribed treatment.

Objectives: Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune condition with underlying pathology in the connective tissue and can affect almost any organ system mainly skin, joints, lungs, heart and the abdomen. It usually follows a chronic course of disease. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship of cardiac involvement with the severity of disease course in patients with systemic sclerosis. Methodology: Two hundred patients with a diagnosis of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) were evaluated for cardiac involvement via history, examination, electrocardiogram and echocardiography. Cardiac involvement was compared across genders, age, duration of disease, and relationship with American College of Rheumatology (ACR) scores. Results: Cardiac abnormalities were detected in 16% of these patients. Mean age of the study population was 38.67 ± 12.73 years including 55.5% males and 44.5% females. The mean ACR score of the study population was 12.8 ± 3. A significant relationship was observed between the degree of cardiac involvement and ACR scores (p=0.001) while that between cardiac abnormality and other confounding factors was non-significant i.e., gender (p=0.630), age groups (p=0.287) and duration since diagnosis (p=0.801). Conclusion: There is a potential association of cardiac dysfunction with how severe the systemic sclerosis is, without a noteworthy impact of age, gender and disease duration.

Objective: To study the diagnostic utility of lactate dehydrogenase levels in differentiating megaloblastic anemia from myelodysplastic anemia in Pakistan. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Hematology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from Feb, 2019 to Aug, 2019. Methodology: In this study, total 240 patients (18-75 years of age) males and females were selected by consecutive sampling technique and were equally divided into 3 groups; patients with megaloblastic anemia, patients with myelodysplastic syndromes and healthy control group. The clinical history and duration of anemia were recorded on special designed proforma. The laboratory investigations including lactate dehydrogenase levels were also noted. Both types of anemia were compared on basis of Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels. Results: The lactate dehydrogenase levels in megaloblastic group were more than 3000 IU/L in 58 out of 80 patients (72.5%). On other hand, myelodysplastic group had 79 out of 80 patients with lactic acid dehydrogenase levels below 450 IU/L (98.75%). The difference in lactic acid dehydrogenase levels between both groups was found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Serum lactate dehydrogenase levels can be used to differentiate megaloblastic anemia from other anemia especially myelodysplastic syndromes before doing a bone marrow examination. High lactate dehydrogenase levels above 3000 IU/L in megaloblastic anemia can differentiate it from other anemia.