Objective:The present study aimed to evaluate the current trends of drug resistance patterns of Acinetobacter baumannii infection in blood transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients.Study Design:This study was a cross sectional study, conducted at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro/Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan from October 2014 to January 2016.Subjects and Methods:Of 921 blood samples, A. baumannii strains were isolated from 100 blood samples. Blood samples were processed for the isolation, identification, and drugs sensitivity as per the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. A. baumannii strains were identified by microbiological methods and Gram's staining. API 20 E kit (Biomeriuex, USA) was also used for identification. Data were analyzed on Statisti × 8.1 (USA).Results:Mean ± standard deviation age was 11.5 ± 2.8 years. Nearly 70% were male and 30% were female (P = 0.0001). Of 921 blood transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients, 100 (10.8%) patients showed growth of A. baumannii. Drug resistance was observed against the ceftazidime, cefixime, cefepime, imipenem, meropenem, amikacin, minocycline, tigecycline, and tazocin except for the colistin.Conclusion:The present study reports drug-resistant A. baumannii in blood transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients. National multicenter studies are recommended to estimate the size of the problem.

Objective:To find out the particulars regarding contraceptive practices in the postpartum period and to see its impact on prolonging interpregnancy interval (IPI).Methods:A cross sectional observational study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Unit 3, Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad from 1st July to 31st December 2018. Out of 2100 total deliveries, 398 postpartum women with second or higher order births were included. Pregnant women, primiparas and those who were not willing to participate were excluded. They were interviewed face to face by principal investigator and her team members and required information was collected on predesigned Performa. Outcome variable was interpregnancy interval in months. Chi-square test was used to see associationResults:Postpartum contraception utilization (PPC) was 24.6%(n=398). Most of the women choose condoms as contraceptive method (n=41, 10.3%) followed by oral contraceptive pills (n=18, 4.5%) and intra uterine contraceptive device (n=16,4%). Method related issues were the chief reasons for discontinuation while desire to have another child soon and spouse/family disapproval were among the reasons mentioned largely by non-utilizers of modern methods of family planning. The average interpregnancy interval was 16.4±1.45. Significant association was observed between interpregnancy interval and postpartum contraception use, particularly in the users of long acting reversible contraceptive methods (P-Value 0.0001).Conclusion:Uptake and continuation of modern methods of contraception was low after last birth culminating in short interpregnancy interval. Optimal IPI was observed in those utilizing modern methods of family planning, with marked effect in users of long acting reversible contraceptive methods.