Prevalence of dengue virus serotypes in the 2017 outbreak in Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Dengue is a viral disease, transmitted by infected Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus female mosquitoes. Worldwide, 96 million infections were estimated in 2010. The dengue virus comprises four distinct serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4) which belong to the genus Flavivirus. Determining the serotypes during dengue outbreaks is crucial for its effective management in terms of diagnostics improvement and polyvalent vaccine development. The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence rate of dengue virus serotypes in the samples collected from patients during the 2017 outbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. METHODS: A total of 800 ELISA-positive samples were collected, of which 513 (290 males, 223 females) samples were confirmed positive by PCR. RESULTS: Out of 513, 25 were found serotype 1 (5%), 196 were serotype 2 (38%), 192 were serotype 3 (37%), 56 were serotype 4 (11%), and 44 (8%) were found to have mix serotypes. CONCLUSION: We can conclude that serotypes 2 and 3 of dengue virus were the predominated serotypes of dengue virus in the 2017 outbreak in Peshawar, capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Planning for Sustainable Green Urbanism: An Empirical Bottom-Up (Community-Led) Perspective on Green Infrastructure (GI) Indicators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan.

Rising vulnerability of the urban green infrastructure (UGI) is grabbing global attention, for which inclusive urban landscape and greening policies (ULGP) and frameworks are crucial to support green growth. As such, this research intends to explore the local community's perspective to assemble sustainable UGI indicators for vital taxonomy of the urban green space (UGS) elements, aiming to develop a multi-functional and sustainable UGI-indicator-based framework that is eco-friendly and supports green-resilient cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan. An in-depth household survey was executed in three KP districts: Charsadda, Peshawar, and Mardan, placing self-administered 192 questionnaires while covering themes around climate change adaptation, urban resilience, and UGI. Relative importance index (RII) and the interquartile range (IQR) methods were set up for data analysis that revealed excellent reliability (α > 0.88) and internal consistency. The results confirmed community-based UGI indicators with a focus on promoting green-energy-saving strategies as e-imp (level 9, RII = 0.915), while other (ten) UGI indicators as important (RII = 0.811-0.894) and (eleven) as moderately important (RII = 0.738-0.792). These UGI indicators were found to be enhanced by UGS elements (RII ≥ 0.70). These findings provide a foundation for urban policy change and the development of a sustainable UGI framework to build an eco-regional paradigm for greener growth.