Benazeer Bhatti

Background: Malaria is an arthropod-borne disease caused by Plasmodium. Malaria is a significant public health challenge with about 3.3 billion human lives at risk in 97 countries with two hundred million estimated malaria cases and 600,000 fatalities. Timely diagnosis can prevent disease spread, loss of human lives, and its harmful impact on the economy therefore malaria diagnosis by automated hematology analyzer is of great value. Objective: To assess identification of scattergram abnormalities in malaria samples and to compare its performance with Microscopy, RDTs & PCR. Study Design: Descriptive and cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pathology, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Jamshoro, 06 months from May 2020 to October 2020. Methodology: Eighty seven malaria suspected samples were included. CBC performed on Sysmex XN1000i followed by Microscopy of thin blood film, RDTs by using STANDARDTM Q Malaria P.f/Pan Ag Test, DNA extracted by QIAamp DNA mini kit, PCR performed by GenoAmp Real-time qPCR Malaria. Results: The median age of patients was 24+13.93 years. WDF Scattergram abnormalities were observed in 95.4 %of samples with sensitivity of 97.6% and specificity of 100% respectively. PPV was 100% and NPV was 99.8%. 96.4% of patients were malaria positive by microscopy. ICT was positive in 96.6% of samples while PCR confirmed plasmodium presence in 97.7% samples. Conclusion: Automated hematology analyzer provides high sensitivity and specificity for malaria diagnosis. The Sysmex XN-1000i can detect certain abnormalities in WDF scattergrams in malaria patients. As a result, the appearance of an abnormal WDF scattergram in a patient with a history of febrile illness, aids the pathologist in confirming a malaria diagnosis. Keywords: Malaria, Plasmodium Vivax, Plasmodium Falciparum, WDF scattergram, ICT, RT qPCR

Objective: To assess the prevalence rate of Hepatitis B and C among those patients who had tuberculosis in local community of Sindh, Pakistan. Study Design:Survey-based study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pathology, Liaquat University of Medical & health Sciences Jamshoro from 1stJanuary 2020 to 31stDecember 2020. Methodology: Five hundred and eighty nine confirmed cases of tuberculosis patients were enrolled. The patients were further analyzed to assess either HBV, HCV or both are present or absent. Results: Three hundred and forty one (57.8%) were males and 248 (42.1%) were females. The majority of participants were in the age group of 45-54 years 147 (24.9%).The residence detail showed that 167 (28.3%) belonged to urban areas. Further 143 (24.2%) had sickness history of 2-6 months, 239 (40.5%) had history of 6-12 months, The prevalence of hepatitis B and C among tuberculosis patients showed, 17.8% (n=105) with Hepatitis B, 26.3% (n=155) were diagnosed with hepatitis C, 15.7% (n=93) had Both Hepatitis B and C, however 236 (40.0%) had no history with hepatitis. Hepatitis C was most frequently found age of above 54 years, 55 (9.3%). Conclusion:The control of tuberculosis has remained one of the greatest goals globally till date, the higher risk of liver complications, along with the Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. Although the complications of Tuberculosis patients remain unsolved yet the possible efforts can be made to identify the earlier problems for the clinical prospective and a complete follow up of the records can optimize the management of Tuberculosis in co-existing conditions of hepatitis B and C. Key Words: Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis, Liver diseases