The rising tide of tuberculosis in Pakistan: Factors, impact, and multi-faceted approaches for prevention and control.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health concern in Pakistan, which is ranked fifth among high-burden TB nations worldwide. The growing frequency of drug-resistant TB strains, particularly multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), creates new obstacles. Socioeconomic factors, a lack of awareness, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure all contribute to the spread of the disease.

Infant and child mortality in Afghanistan: A scoping review.

Background And Aims: Since 1990, global child and infant mortality rates have typically stabilized or decreased due to improved healthcare, vaccination rollouts, and international funding. However, Afghanistan continues to face the highest child and infant mortality rates globally, with 43 deaths per 1000 live births. This study aims to examine the factors contributing to this high mortality rate and propose interventions to address the issue.

Structure and evaluation of preventive medicine residency programs' websites: A cross sectional analysis.

The goal of this study was to analyze the content availability and accessibility of preventive medicine residency program websites. In COVID-related travel restrictions, the information provided on program websites has become increasingly crucial for residency applicants. A cross-sectional study was conducted by extracting the list of preventive medicine residency programs on the Fellowship and Residency Electronic and Interactive Database (FRIEDA).

Fluoroquinolones and the risk of aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis including 53,651,283 patients.

Introduction: The association between fluoroquinolone use and the risk of aortic aneurysm as well as the risk of aortic dissections remains uncertain, primarily due to conflicting findings from observational studies. We sought to conduct a double-systematic review and meta-analysis of all observational studies to assess the existence and extent of both these associations. The aim of our study is to assess the role of Fluoroquinolone on aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection in comparison to other antibiotics.

Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric surgical services.

Inevitably, along with other healthcare specializations, pediatric surgery was affected by the Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Children were reported to manifest mild to moderate symptoms and mortality was primarily observed in patients aged <1 year and having underlying comorbidities. Most of the cases were asymptomatic in children, hence, posing a challenge for pediatric surgery centers to take drastic measures to reduce the virus transmission.