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The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted immunization programs around the globe, potentially increasing life-threatening vaccine-preventable diseases. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries, which are still struggling to eradicate wild poliovirus. All vaccination campaigns in Pakistan were suspended in April due to the COVID-19 outbreak, leading 40 million children to miss out on polio vaccination. Like the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic could be regarded as a child-rights crisis because it could have life-threatening impact over children, who need immunization, now and in the long-term. Delays in polio vaccination programs might not have immediate impact but, in the long-term, the increase in polio cases in Pakistan could result in the global export of infections. Therefore, healthcare authorities must intensify their efforts to track and vaccinate unvaccinated children in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Polio vaccination campaigns need to resume immediately, so we suggest applying social distancing measures along with standard operating procedure to flatten the transmission curve of COVID-19. Furthermore, the concurrent emergence of cVDPV2 means that tOPV should temporarily be used for primary immunization. In the current review, we have discussed delays in polio vaccination, surveillance of polio viruses, reported cases in Pakistan along with recommendations to overcome interrupted immunization.

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Measles is a contagious disease caused by an RNA virus. Resurgence of measles after Covid-19 and its severity among children has led to many speculations about the Measles vaccination coverage and its efficacy. In this study, the clinical data of children <9 years (n=19) admitted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in the measles ward was analyzed. The blood samples were processed for hematology and routine biochemistry tests. The results obtained were statistically analyzed on SPSS-21 software by using One-Way ANOVA for Complete Parameters (CP), Kruskal Wallis, and Mann-Whitney test for Differential leucocyte count (DLC) and Biochemical parameters. A p<0.05 was considered significant. The results suggest no significant difference in Complete blood parameters (CP) among non-vaccinated, partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated patients. Among DLC Basophils level was significantly different (p=0.024), being lower in partially vaccinated than non-vaccinated patients. Biochemical parameters showed that serum urea level was significantly different (p=0.013), showing a decline in fully vaccinated patients as compared to non-vaccinated patients. Moreover, a significantly higher level of Alkaline phosphatase as compared to the normal range was observed in fully vaccinated patients. However, lower levels of MCH, MCV, MCHC, RBC, Hb, eosinophils, and a higher level of RDW-CV were observed overall as compared to the normal range (healthy individuals). The results suggest improvements are needed in vaccination strategies for effectively controlling the disease. Anemic conditions in overall measles patients indicate poor health conditions. This study contains a limited sample size, further research on measles virus (MeV) mutations, and vaccine optimization could be helpful for the complete eradication of measles from Pakistan.

Cosmetics products are the most essential and frequently used components in our daily life. Besides improving human health, they provide healthy lifestyles and boost our self-esteem. Globally cosmetics market is projected to be 287 billion USD in 2021 to 415 billion USD in 2022. This research study aims at the isolation, identification, and characterization of bacterial strains isolated from cosmetics. Six bacterial colonies were isolated by inoculating different cosmetics products on tryptic soya agar media. All the strains showed optimum growth at 37 °C. All strains were assessed through biochemical tests by using different media such as MacConkey agar, SIM, and Simmons citrate agar and were further proceeded for nucleotide sequencing through Sanger sequencing. Different bacterial strains were revealed in cosmetics products including Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Cytobacillus oceanisediminis, Robertmurraya andreesnii, Cytobacillus firmus, Falsibacillus pallidus, and Acinetobacter junii. Most of these strains were found to be pathogenic however, Sphingomonas has the potential for bioremediation and can be utilized for degrading toxic compounds to make the environment better. Similarly, Cytobacillus is found to be involved in biomineralization and also aids in fermentation. Our results have shown that there is a dire need to assure strict safety regulations regarding cosmetics. Improper manufacturing practices can lead to the contamination of cosmetics which could lead to severe consequences of deteriorating the quality of health. Further studies are needed to explore the potential of these isolates so that they can be utilized to improve our health as well as the environment.