Dengue Fever;

Abstract

Introduction: Dengue fever is arboviral infection transmitted from infected personto non-infected one by mosquitoes Aedes Aegypti or Aedes albopectis. All four serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 & DEN-4) can cause the clinical manifestations of disease. Dengue infectioncan cause acute febrile illness, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome(DSS). About 50-100 million cases of dengue fever reported annually worldwide in which 0.5million may need admission. Overall mortality of dengue fever is 3%. The diagnosis of dengueis established by classical clinical features along with specific investigations like PCR, detectionof dengue NS1 antigen or IgM or IgG antibodies in the blood of infected person. Dengue isendemic in most part of our country and can become epidemics on and off. Objectives: Tostudy the pattern and mortality of Dengue fever during epidemic and post epidemic years inSwat. Setting: This study was conducted in Medical Department of Saidu Group of TeachingHospital, Swat. Period: Aug 2013 to November, 2016. Patients and method: Patients sufferingfrom acute febrile illness with features suggestive of Dengue fever were included in the study.Clinical criteria for initial diagnosis directed the subsequent diagnostic work up. Dengue wasconfirmed in these patients by either Dengue NS1 or Ig M antibodies in their blood. Writtenconsent for participation in study was taken from all the included patients. Formal permissionwas taken from Institutional Review Board of the institution to perform this study. The clinical andlaboratory data were recorded on a proforma and analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: Among5569 patients, 3834 (68.85 %) were male and 1735 (31.15%) were female. The mean age ofthe patients was 30 years SD 15.20. The most common age group that suffered with Denguefever was the adult age group (13-30 years). Dengue Hemorrhegic Fever was diagnosed in2543 (45.6%) patients and 50 (0.89 %) had features of DSS. A total 5018 (90.1 %) patients werecompletely cured while 37 (0.66 %) patients died. The overall mortality was 0.66%. Patientswith Dengue fever presented to the hospital though out the year but more than 50% of caseswere reported in the month of September. Conclusion: Adult age group and male gender ismost commonly affected by Dengue fever. Dengue fever was endemic in Swat valley and it canbecome cyclic epidemic in post epidemic years. Dengue fever can claim so many preciouslives if proper preventive measures were not taken in future.

Response of soybean and tomato plants under dual inoculation with Glomus sp. and root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita

“…Mycorrhizal plants often have better growth and development because mycorrhizae can enhance plant nutrient uptake, especially P, and leads to better plant height and shoot weight [11,13,24]. In this study the inoculation of Glomus sp.…”

“…was more successful in controlling M. javanica in tobacco at lower application doses, while at higher doses enhanced leaf production [31]. Several studies found that a period of 10 days to 4 weeks is required for Glomus to colonize the roots and establish in the root cortex before generating a positive impact on the growth and nutritional status of host plant and a negative impact on plant parasitic nematodes [11,13]. On the other hand, mycorrhizal establishment, and the degree of bioprotection against nematodes can both be affected by the level of nematodes invasion on the cortical tissue [14].…”

“…In contrast to nematode, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi form beneficial interaction with plant roots to complete their life cycle [11]. These fungi improve plant's water and nutrient uptake, especially phosphorus (P), while the plant provides 10-20% of the photosyntates to the fungi [12,13].…”

“…Glomus, which is the most diverse and commonly found mycorrhiza in soil, are potential bioprotector against soil-borne pathogens including root knot nematodes, and therefore they can contribute significantly to sustainable crop management for root knot nematodes [14]. As an example, G. mosseae decreased the number of tomato root galls and M. incognita reproductive index while increasing root growth, shoot weight, and length [11]. Glomus was reported to survive in the field and continue protecting tomatoes against RKN for up to two cycles [15].…”