Objective: To determine Vitamin-D status in children with urinary tract infection. Methods: A Cross-sectional study was done at Pediatric Department, Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad, from July 2019 to March 2020. A total of 172 children of either gender from 2 to 60 months of age with confirmed urinary tract infection (UTI) (having positive urine C/S report) were included in the study. The child who received antibiotics 48 hours prior or already on immunosuppressive drugs and steroids from previous health record or by taking clinically relevant history), children with CKD on vitamin-D supplementation, and known case of Vitamin-D deficiency were also excluded from the study. All study participants were evaluated for vitamin-D level by high performance liquid chromatography. Urine sample was collected for C/S and 1 cc venous blood was taken for Vitamin D status (ng/ml). The mean ± standard deviation (SD) and stratification was calculated for age, duration of urinary tract infection and vitamin-D level. Post stratification chi-square test was applied for all categorical variables at 95% confidence interval (CI) and P-value ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: The average age of the patients was 41.51±18.34 months. There were 130 (75.58%) females and 40 (23.25%) males. Most common complaint of the children was fever 150 (87.21%). Vomiting was present in 31 (18.02%), abdominal pain 22 (12.79%) and dysuria in 15 (8.72%) children. A total of 129 (75%) children had pyelonephritis and 15 (25%) had cystitis. (Frequency of vitamin-D deficiency in children with diagnosed UTI was 45.93% (79/172). Mild vitamin D deficiency was present in 42 (53.16%) children, while moderate deficiency in 55 (69.62%) children. E. Coli was the most common pathogen in both mild and moderate vitamin D deficiency i.e., 20 (47.61) and 31 (56.36%) respectively. Conclusion: The frequency of urinary tract infection is more common in children having vitamin D deficiency. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3896 How to cite this:Qadir S, Memon S, Chohan MN, Memon Y. Frequency of Vitamin-D deficiency in children with Urinary tract infection: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(4):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3896 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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English and Punjabi are languages which do not belong to the same families of languages. English is one of the West Germanic languages whereas; Punjabi is a part of the Indo-Aryan family. Punjabi is spoken by various nations on the globe, especially Pakistan and its province Punjab as well as in Indian Panjab. Both English and Punjabi manifest themselves through various dialects on the basis of diversified geographical areas. English is used as the first language by 379,007,140 speakers and further 753,359,540 speakers use it as a second language in more than 104 nations. So, the total speakers of English around the globe are 1,132,366,680 (Ethnologue, 2019). The importance of Punjabi cannot be denied being the 10th most widely used language on the globe (Ghai & Singh, 2013). According to Ethnologue (2019), the total number of Punjabi speakers is 125,326,840. In Pakistan, it is the language of the majority of the people residing in the most populous province of Pakistan, Punjab. It is among twenty-two languages that have obtained official status. Unfortunately, no considerable work has been done on its phonology. This study is an attempt to describe the phonemic differences between English and Punjabi by using the theoretical framework of the Levenshtein algorithm. The index of differences and similarities is determined through the inventories of both languages. The inventories are used as data in this research paper. The Levenshtein algorithm (Levenshtein, 1965) is used to analyse the inventories to calculate the ratio of differences and similarities. The outcome of the current research shows that both English and Punjabi have a phonemic similarity level of 56.25% whereas the index of difference is 43.75%.

Aim: To assess the efficacy of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) among low birth weight neonates at a tertiary care hospital Study Design: A cross-sectional study Place and Duration. The Kangaroo mother care ward, CMC Children Hospital, Larkana from August 2019 to February 2020. Methodology: Total 345 low birth weight patients were included. Newborns were kept in KMC position. Axillary temperature was measured during KMC position. Stratification of study variables was done while post-stratification chi-square test or independent sample student t-test was employed to see the impact of effect modifiers on the outcome (efficacy) considering p-value ≤0.05 as significant. Results: Out of a total of 345 LBW neonates, there were 198 (57.4%) boys and 147 (42.6%) girls. The mean age of neonates was 12.01\(\pm\)7.68 days while majority 177 (51.3%) were aged less than or equal to 10 days. The mean body weight was 1997.22\(\pm\)243.48 grams. The mean gestational age was noted to be 35.35\(\pm\)1.37 weeks. There were 104 (30.1%) neonates who belonged to rural areas while 241 (69.9%) were from urban areas. The mean mother’s temperature was 37.58\(\pm\)0.98 C. The mean room temperature was 33.11\(\pm\)2.59 C. The mean initial temperature was 35.40\(\pm\)0.48 C. The efficacy of KMC was observed to be in 242 (70.1%) cases. Conclusion: The KMC was found to be effective and useful in caring LBW neonates.  Further advantages of KMC are low cost, promotion of exclusive breast-feeding and increased mother’s confidence in handling LBW babies.

Aim: To assess the Safety of weekly Primaquine in Glucose 6 Phosphatase Dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient children, for radical treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria Study Design: cross sectional study Place and Duration: Pediatrics Out Patient Department, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Hyderabad from 11 January 2018 to 31st August 2019 (total 20 months’ duration) Methodology: A sample of 40 patients was studied during study period. Male children between 4 years to 12 years of age having confirmed vivax malaria were included in the study. If G6PD result showed decreased level of G6PD level then, they were enrolled for study. MP was checked by thick and thin slide method. 5 ml blood was taken in anticoagulant bottle for G6PD, liver function test, creatinine, complete blood count, and reticulocyte count tests.  Haemoglobin  < 7 g/dL, reticulocyte count > 4, SGPT > 80, G6PD Level < 60% of normal and creatinine > 1.2 was considered significant. Treatment was given with Artemether and Lumefantrine for 3 days while Primaquine, 0 .75 mg base/kg body weights once a week was given for 8 weeks. Patients were followed at OPD initially on 3rd day of therapy then every week for 8 weeks for any hemolysis.  Results: There was no hemolysis during the first week and 8 weeks after therapy. Most common side effect was abdominal pain 4 (10%). Mean hemoglobin was 11.8mg/dl. Plasmodium vivax was negative on 3rd day of therapy, it was also negative on 8 week of therapy. Reticulocyte count, Liver function test, creatinine were also normal on 8 weeks of therapy. Conclusion: Primaquine 0.75mg//kg/week for total eight weeks is highly effective for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax in G6PD deficient children. There is no recurrence of Plasmodium vivax after 8 weeks of therapy. We found this regimen safe as there was no hemolysis demonstrated in children.

Objectives: To assess the Nutritional Status by measuring Body Mass Index and screening of School going children of Khairpur Mirus Sindh. Study Design: Cross Sectional Descriptive Study. Setting: Department of Pediatrics, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro. Period: From 1st May to 31st May 2015. Material & Methods: Over 2400 children (age 5 to 18 years) studying at schools of Taluka Khairpur Mirus, Sindh. We conducted this study at 40 schools, both from government and private sector. Schools included Primary, Secondary, High and Higher Secondary Schools. Medical History was taken and detailed physical examination done, including Cardiovascular Examination, Eye and Abdominal Examination. History of presence of worms in stool was taken from children. Anemia was checked by palmer inspection. Weight and height was taken by well-trained doctors and paramedical staffs with the help of weight machine and stadiometer. Results: Out of total 2400 children 43.4% were male and 56.6% were female. Mean BMI was 15.97, while mean weight was 30.93 kg and mean height was 136.92 cm. Among 730 children, who were underweight, 54.5% children were mild underweight, while 29.7% children were moderate underweight and 15.7% children were severe underweight. 6% children were overweight, while 4% children were obese. Anemia was present in 63.04% children, Eye Squint was present in 3.1% children, worms infestations were present in 0.2% children and murmur was detected in 0.1% children. Conclusion: We found significant number of children having low BMI (30.4%) and the Mean BMI was 15.97. We also found significant number of children having underweight that is 54.5% children were mild underweight, while 29.7% children were moderate underweight and 15.7% children were severe underweight. On the other hand, overweight and obesity was less common, 6% children were overweight, while 4% children were obese. During Screening, Anemia was (63.04%) and Eye Squint (3.1%) was the most common clinical findings.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of severity of Chronic asthma (never taken controller therapy) in children 2 to 12 years, presenting to Pediatric Out Door Department. Liaquat National Hospital Karachi. Study Design: Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study. Setting: Department of Pediatrics Medicine, Liaquat National Hospital Karachi. Period: From June 2016 to December 2016. Material & Methods: A total of 106 children with symptoms of airflow obstruction characterized by recurrent cough, difficulty in breathing and wheeze were included in this study. All the study subjects were asked about clinical symptoms and on the basis of that severity of asthma were classified as mild, moderate or severe asthma. Results: The average age of the children was 6.38± 6.0 years. In this study, intermittent asthma was observed in 24(22.64%) cases. There were 30(28.6%) children with mild persistant asthma, 40(37.74%) children with moderate persistant asthma and severe persistant asthma was found in 12(11.32%) children. Conclusion: We found moderate persistent asthma, as the most frequent category, while severe persistent asthma was the least frequent category. Age had the significant effect on the asthma frequency; it was most common in less than 10 years old children. Duration of asthma and gender had no effect on asthma severity, while weight and height had a significant effect on asthma severity.

Aim: To determine the frequency of thrombocytopenia and its severity in relation to level of indirect hyperbilirubinemia in neonates following phototherapy at tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Descriptive study Place and duration:  This study was conducted at Paediatric department (neonatal ward), Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, from 1st August 2020 till 31st Jan 2021 Methodology: All neonates who fulfilled the inclusion criteria presented at pediatric department (neonatal ward), Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad were included in the study. After written consent, brief history was taken from the mother or family member and complete blood count (CBC) was sent to check the baseline platelet count along with total serum bilirubin, it was repeated after 48 hours of phototherapy. Results: Out of 231 neonates 70 (30.3%) developed thrombocytopenia after phototherapy. In our study 117 neonates (50.6%) were males & 114 neonates (49.4%) were females with the mean age of 5.9307+1.6640 days. The thrombocytopenia was seen in 70 neonates (30.3%) and type of severity was mild, moderate & severe in 52(22.5%), 13(5.6%) & 5(2.2%) respectively. Conclusion: There was a decline in mean platelet count after phototherapy but it was not statistically significant. The treating doctor should also keep in mind, other causes of thrombocytopenia when the patient is receiving phototherapy.