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Background and Objective: Increasingly happening disasters around the globe are one of the major threats to human health and life. Nurses being largest group in the healthcare team, play a vital role in disaster preparedness and response. Nurses must be equipped with proper knowledge and skills in order to prepare them for their effective role during large-scale disasters and mass casualty events. This study was designed to explore the disaster preparedness knowledge among nurses at two tertiary care hospitals in Lahore and to assess nurses' education and training needs in preparation for disasters. Methodology: A descriptive survey approach was adopted; using a questionnaire distributed to a convenient sample of 200 registered nurses working in two tertiary care hospitals in Lahore. Results: The research findings demonstrated that 48 percent of nurses had inadequate knowledge, 42 percent of them had moderately adequate knowledge and only ten percent of them had adequate knowledge on disaster preparedness. Statistically significant differences in the knowledge scores were observed based on the respondents' level of professional education. The Four Year BScN graduates scored significantly better than diploma and Post-RNBScN graduates. Majority (91%) of nurses acknowledged that they were inadequately prepared for disasters but were aware of the need for such preparation. Disaster training and education was considered extremely important by 73% of nurses. They recognized that disaster specific courses (69%) and disaster drills (44%) are useful tools for disaster preparedness. Conclusion: Nurses in two tertiary care hospitals in Lahore have inadequate knowledge regarding disaster preparedness and are inadequately prepared for disasters but are aware of the need for such preparation. Nurses in Pakistan, should be provided with knowledge and skills necessary to improve their ability to perform effectively in the event of a disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Blood transfusion is a life saving procedure but always caries a potential risk of infections. By proper screening techniques the risk can be reduced. The present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of infectious disease markers and frequency in males and females of various age groups among healthy blood donors at the blood bank of a tertiary care hospital in Lahore. This was an observational study, conducted at Ittefaq Hospital, Lahore from Jan. 2011 to Dec. 2013. Methods: A total of 29522 (26688 males, 2834 females) apparently healthy blood donors were screened for Anti HCV, HBs Ag, HIV and syphilis by Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CMIA) technology on Architect Ci4100 (Abbott Diagnostic, USA). Results: Our study population mostly constitute directed donors as compared with voluntary donors. Individually, HBsAg and Anti HCV were positive in 368 (1.24%) and 743 (2.51%) subjects respectively whereas co-infection of HbsAg and anti HCV was found in 9 (0.03%) cases. HIV was detected in 20 (0.07%), and syphilis was positive in 531 (1.79%) subjects referred to donate blood. The prevalence of TTIs was higher among male donors than females. HIV was only detected in male donors and frequency of syphilis was also higher in male donors as compared with female donors. Transfusion transmitted infections were mostly seen in age group between 20 - 30 years. Conclusion: In HCV and HBV endemic countries like Pakistan, critical screening of blood donors is of prime importance because they serve as an asymptomatic reservoir and a potential source of transmission of these infections. Syphilis is detected in significantly high number among healthy donors. So most sensitive methods should be adopted to screen syphilis. More studies are needed to find the prevalence of syphilis in public sector hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emotional Quotient (EQ) is a measure of a person's level of Emotional Intelligence (EI) which refers to a person's ability to perceive, control, evaluate, and express emotions. Emotional intelligence is one of the best proven predictors of success in leadership which makes it crit ical to assess it in medical undergraduates as who expected to develop these leadership qualities as they advance from preclinical to clinical years. Objective: We aimed to measure and compare the EQ score and the leadership (LS) score of preclinical and clinical students and to find any correlation between the EQ score and the LS score within each class. Material and Methods: Current cross - sectional study was designed for comparison of 12 leadership traits among 83 preclinical (1st year) and clinical (4th year) medical undergraduates at CMH Lahore Medical and Dental College on 5 point likert scale. Their EQ was measured quantitatively as well as qualitatively by using free online test by INSPIR3 based on 10 multiple - choice questions. Qualitative questionnaires were measured on likert scale and compared the EQ and the LS score between the two classes. Results: Median LS score was generally higher in first year whereas median EQ score was equal in both classes but there was no statistically significant difference in average LS and average EQ score between both classes. A significantly positive correlation was observed between the LS and the EQ scores within each class. Conclusion: The results indicate that there is no improvement in EQ while advancing from preclinical to clinical years owing to stress on mainly IQ assessments and lack of awareness about significance of EQ. The deterioration of LS highlights lack of EQ development skills. The positive correlation between LS and EQ scores reinforces that students with higher EQ are better leaders and thus reiterates the need to incorporate EQ development programs in the medical training curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aplastic Anemia (AA) is rare haemopoietic stem cell disorder characterized by pancytopenia in peripheral blood and hypocellular marrow in which normal haemopoietic marrow is replaced by fat cells. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of cure with cyclosporin therapy in patients with aplastic anemia. Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive case series study carried in the Department of Haematology, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore. The study was completed in six months from January 2010 to July 2010. It was a hospital based case series of 45 patients suffering from aplastic anemia who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The patients were given cyclosporin for six months and cure was assessed after 3 and 6 months by haematological parameters. Standard procedures were followed for all laboratory tests. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 10. Results: After six months of cyclosporin therapy, 6 (21.4%) patients were cured .Seven (25%) were partial responders and 15(54%) were non responders. Conclusion: In developing countries like Pakistan majority of patients cannot afford bone marrow transplant and antithymocyte globulin (as these are expensive options) hence cyclosporin which is a relatively inexpensive drug is a valuable therapeutic option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current randomized controlled experimental study was carried out to investigate the beneficial effects of leaf extract of Ficus carica L. (Anjir) leaf extract in gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity. Thirty mice were divided into three groups of 10 mice each. Group A served as control and was given distilled water orally for 8 days. Group B and C were experimental and were treated with gentamicin 200 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally and gentamicin 200 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally with Ficus carica L. (Anjir) leaf extract 400 mg/kg/day orally respectively for a period of 8 days. After 24 hours of experimental period, kidneys of each mouse were dissected and processed for microscopic examination. The histological examination of group A showed normal renal architecture whereas histopathalogical examination of group B showed fragmented tubular basement membrane, tubular degeneration, tubular cast with interstitial inflammation and congestion. Histological examination of group C showed minimal change in renal histology as compared to group B. Gentamicin is a nephrotoxic drug and Ficus carica L. leaf extract has nephroprotective effects against gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity due to its antioxidant properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]