Background: Respiratory tract infections are a major cause of   morbidity and mortality in children. Therefore, it is imperative that research studies be conducted to determine the pattern of respiratory diseases in the pediatric age group. Present study was done to determine the outcome, frequency and pattern of respiratory infections in children admitted in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2014 to February 2016. Data was analyzed on SPSS 20.0. P value of <0.05 was observed noteworthy.Results: A total of 286 children were admitted with respiratory diseases. Out of these there were 180 cases of Pneumonia. Peak occurrence of Pneumonia was observed in first trimester of the year.Conclusions: Efforts are required to devise strategies to decrease the burden of respiratory diseases in children.

Recently the use of radiography is growing significantly due to technology advancements and overdependence for diagnosis that's the reason everyone is exposed to radiation and there is a linear relationship exists between radiation exposure and adverse effects on the body. Objectives: To compare the radiation hazards and protection protocols knowledge among the final year medical and dental students of private university. Methods: It was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted on final year students of Medical and Dental College of private university at Karachi Pakistan in year 2022. All students in final year MBBS and BDS irrespective of age and gender were the source population. The study populations (n=85) were those students who were randomly chosen to fill the questionnaire. The study tool in this research included a structured questionnaire. Each correct answer was scored as 1 point. Percentages and frequencies will be recorded for qualitative variables. The total knowledge scores between medical and dental students were compared using the independent t-test. Results: The data were analyzed on a total of (n=85) students. The mean ages were 22.91±0.71 and 59 (69%) were girls and 26 (31) % were boys. There were (n=45) students from the final year MBBS and (n=40) students from BDS referred as group I and II respectively. There was significant difference (t (83) = -3.052, P=0.003) in the knowledge scores group I (8.95±3.30) and group II (11.40±4.07). Conclusion: Majority of Dental students have high knowledge scores as compare to medical students

Asthma is a serious medical condition in the pediatric age group and can have a high mortality, therefore it should be managed effectively. Patients not responding adequately to first line therapy need additional treatment. A few research studies have evaluated the use of intravenous magnesium sulfate in improving respiratory scores in severe acute pediatric asthma but the results have been conflicting. Objectives: To determine the benefit of intravenous magnesium sulfate in treating children presenting with worsening of asthma symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study carried out at the Pediatrics Unit of Zia Uddin University Hospital, Karachi from 1st March 2021 to 1st March 2022. On the whole, 280 children in the age group 2-12 years with acute worsening of asthma of were selected by non-probability purposive sampling technique, however, children in need of invasive ventilation and those having asthma related complications on radiological investigations were omitted. Chi-square was applied for categorical variables and a p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of 280 patients who came to the Pediatric Emergency Department with acute severe asthma, 236 (84.3%) patients responded to a single dose of intravenous magnesium sulfate manifested by an improvement in clinical asthma score, while 44 patients (15.7%) did not show improvement. The admission rate to the pediatric intensive care unit was only 12.8%. Conclusion: Magnesium sulfate infusion helps improve respiratory symptoms in acute worsening of pediatric asthma.

Dengue is a viral infection that is transmitted generally among humans through mosquito bite. This article reports a less known mode of transmission i.e., vertical transmission of dengue virus. A male newborn with normal Apgar score developed fever on the 8th day of life. The fever progressed along with an erythematous rash. There was no evidence of mosquito exposure to the baby. However, the mother had mosquito bites two days prior to her delivery. The mother also developed fever on seventh day of delivery and a maculopapular rash during her ninth postpartum day. Baseline investigations of both the mother and the neonate showed thrombocytopenia, anemia, raised liver function tests and positive Dengue NS1 antigen test. The diagnosis of dengue fever was established. This case report demonstrates the possibility of congenital transmission of dengue virus. The health care providers should be aware of and adequately trained for handling such cases. Keywords: Dengue; Blood Platelets; Infections; Thrombocytopenia; Antigens.

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of asthma and allergic diseases and to identify the associated risk factors in school-aged children of Karachi.Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2019 to January 2020 on school-aged children (4-15 years) of Karachi. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used, data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: The prevalence of allergic rhinitis and eczema in the study population was 22.1%, asthma 14% and 34% had a history of wheezing in the last 12 months. Food allergy was present in 15.5% of the study population. The predisposing factors were exposure to dust in 32.6%, passive smoking in 30.8%, perfume smell in 27.3% and the presence of pets in the house in 23.2%. Male gender and maternal asthma were significantly associated with the development of these allergic disorders in children (p=0.033).Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of allergic disorders and asthma amongst the school children of Karachi. Environmental factors such as exposure to dust and passive smoking are significant predisposing factors. There is an urgent need to conduct further epidemiological studies to identify high-risk groups and key modifiable factors.