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Background: Patients with thalassemia major are treated conventionally with multiple transfusions and areat a risk of developing Transfusion Transmitted Infections including Hepatitis B virus (HbsAg) and HCVhepatitis (Anti HCV). Strict criteria of safe donor selection have to be adopted in order to minimize the riskof infections. The present study was carried out to estimate the real frequency of hepatitis B virus (HBV) andhepatitis C virus (HCV) in (3 -Thalassemia patients of district Swat, and to determine the infectionassociated risk factors in these patients. A prospective study was conducted in a dedicated six beds chamberfor these patients in the department of Child Health Saidu Teaching Hospital Saidu Sharif Swat from June2010 to June 2012.Methods: This study was carried out on 250 multitransfused thalassemia major patients. They werescreened for hepatitis B surface antigen(HbsAg) and antihepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV antibodies)by Enzyme Linked immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The patient's age ranged from 2 years to 21 years.Majority of the patients included in the study had received more than 10 transfusions. The males were 162(64.8%) and the females were 88 (35.2%)Results: Out of the 250 patients 27(11%) were positive for HbsAg and 93(37%) were positive for anti HCVantibodies. Most of these patients have been transfused at home with unscreened blood during the days ofunrest in the area, during which it was not possible to take their children to hospital for blood transfusion.CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HCV and HBV infections are very high among (3-thalassemic patients,which calls for a critical look into the prevailing transfusion practices and Adoption of stricter donorselection criteria to decrease the prevalence of both HCV and HBV infections effectively. It should be madesure that no transfusion should be done at home to avoid the transmission of these infections due tounscreened blood. In order to achieve the goal of decreasing the prevalence of HBV it should also be madesure that no child is left unvaccinated against Hepatitis B.Keywords: HbsAg,Anti-HCV antibodies; Thalassemia major; Safe blood transfusion

Objective: To determine the frequency of IgM antibodies in clinically diagnosed cases of measles.Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive studyPlace and duration: Department of Pediatrics, Saidu Group of Teaching Hospital, Saidu Sharif, Swat(from 1st Jan 2010-31 Dec 2011).Patients and method: A total of 150 patients of measles clinically diagnosed were enrolled for the study.Detailed history, demographic profile and vaccination status were recorded. Blood samples were collectedfrom all subjects for measles serology by observing WHO protocol.Results: Out of 150 patients, 57% (86) were male and 43% (64) were female with mean age of 38.28±30.99months. Out of these 150 patients, 66% (99) were positive for measles IgM antibodies, while 34% (51) werenegative for measles IgM. Out of 51 measles negative patients 11.8% (6) were positive for rubella.Conclusion: Diagnosing measles on clinical features alone is reasonable but not specific and IgM may beused to confirm the diagnosisKey words: Measles, IgM antibodies, children, vaccination status