The emergence of a pathogen responsible for a mysterious respiratory disease was identified in China and later called a novel coronavirus. This disease was named COVID-19. The present study seeks to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in Pakistan. This report will exhibit a linkage between epidemiology and clinical aspects which in turn can be helpful to prevent the transmission of the virus in Pakistan. A retrospective, multiple center study was performed by collecting the data from patients' with their demographics, epidemiological status, history of co-morbid conditions, and clinical manifestations of the disease. The data was collected from 31 public-sector and 2 private hospitals across Pakistan by on-field healthcare workers. A Chi-square test was applied to assess the relationship between categorical data entries. A total of 194 medical records were examined. The median age of these patients was found to be 34 years. A total of 53.6% active cases were present including 41.2% males and 12.4% females till the end of the study. Adults accounted for most of the cases (94.3%) of COVID-19. Fever (86.60%), cough (85.05%), fatigue (36.60%), dyspnea (24.74%), and gastrointestinal discomfort (10.31%) were among the most frequently reported signs and symptoms by the patients. However, 4.12% of the total patient population remained asymptomatic. The median duration of hospital stay was found to be 14 (0–19) days. The earliest source of the spread of the virus may be linked to the foreigners traveling to Pakistan. Spread among men was more as compared to women. A few cases were found to be positive, due to the direct contact with pets or livestock. Hypertension (7.73%), diabetes (4.64%), cardiovascular conditions (2.58%) were the most common co-morbidities. The percentage mortality was 2.50% with the highest mortality among elders.

Background The coronavirus disease has become a global pandemic, and it continues to wreak havoc on global health and the economy. The development of vaccines may offer a potential eradication of COVID-19. This study evaluated the general knowledge, attitude, and perception of COVID-19 vaccines in the Pakistani population. Methods A self-reporting e-survey and questionnaire-based survey from vaccination centers of different cities of Pakistan among 502 participants were conducted. The questionnaire comprised four sections inquiring demographics, vaccination status, and perception or attitude towards the vaccine. Univariate logistic regression was applied to predict the knowledge, attitude and behavior of participants. Results The mean age of participants was 50.8±20.3 years. 53% of the participants have both doses of vaccine administered. Pain on the site of injection (49.8%) was the most common symptom, followed by asthenia (43.0%), muscle pain (29.5%), and swelling (24.5%) on the site of vaccine administration. Females complain of more symptoms than males. More severe symptoms were reported after the first dose of vaccine administration; these symptoms subsided within a week for most participants. Overall, the respondents have a positive attitude towards the vaccine. 47.4% are sure about the vaccine’s efficacy, 48.6% said getting vaccinated was their own decision, and 79.9% also recommended others to get vaccinated. Conclusion The study concluded that the Pakistani population has a positive attitude but inadequate knowledge towards COVID-19 vaccines. Immediate awareness and vaccination education programs should be conducted by the authorities to complete the mass vaccination schedule.

No abstract

Purpose: To determine the in vitro genotoxicity and mutagenicity of sitagliptin alone and in combination with three commonly used artificial sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame and acesulfame-k

Background: Micronutrients are essential for the body to produce enzymes, hormones and other substances essential for proper growth and development. Iodine, potassium iodide and ascorbic acid are ones of the most important in global public health terms. However, their lack represents a major threat to the human and animal health.Methodology: Antiviral, cytotoxic and mutagenic activity of commercially available micronutrient combination consisting of iodine, ascorbic acid, potassium iodide and excipients was evaluated. Commercial preparation of micronutrient combination was compared with self-prepared micronutrient preparation. MTT assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of all the preparation.Confluent monolayer of Chicken Embryo Fibroblasts grown in 96-well cell culture plates were treated with ten concentrations of each preparation in triplicate manner and was used to determine the viability of the cells and cell survival percentage. Antiviral efficacy was determined against influenza virus H9N1 strain by virus infection and subsequent cell viability assay. Furthermore, mutagenicity was measured by bacterial reverse mutation analysis by Ames test using two strains of Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA 98 with and without S9. After appropriate incubation, number of revertant colonies per plate were counted in triplicate manner and MF was calculated.Results: Our combination showed cytotoxicity at doses higher than 11.71ug/ml while showed significant antiviral efficacy at concentrations of 11.71ug/ml, 5.86ug/ml, 2.93ug/ml and 1.4ug/ml which faded away at lower dilutions. Commercially available preparation was found to be nonmutagenic in our experiment. Conclusions:Combination consisting of iodine, ascorbic acid, potassium iodide is effective in the treatment of viral infections.