RESUMO
Objective: To determine the association of different blood groups in patients with Dengue fever and their relationship with the severity of the illness. Methods: A hospital-based descriptive study was conducted in the Dengue Isolation Ward of Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar from March 2020 to September 2020. Patients with Dengue fever were included in the study. The severity of the illness was categorized as "Dengue fever (DF)", "Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)", and "Dengue shock syndrome (DSS)". The patients' blood groups were determined as A, B, AB, and O groups. All the data were recorded and analyzed using SPSS® version 23. Chi-square (χ2) and student t-test were applied, and a p-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: Out of 160 patients, 119(74.4%) were males; the patient's mean age was 38.09±15.68 SD, IQR=25 years. Greater proportion (28%) of the young men (up to 40 years) was affected compared to 9% young women. Fever (99%) and body aches (96%) were the most common presentation of DF, complicated by bleeding in 30.6% and shock in 9.4% of the patients. The majority (63.1%) of the patients had DF; 27.5% had DHF, and 9.4% had DSS. Sixty three (39.4%) patients had blood Group-B and 5.6% had Group-AB (p=0.97). The proportion of patients with different blood groups and the type/severity of the DF were almost identical except the fact that none of the patient with group AB had DSS. There was significant gender difference of hemoglobin (p=0.008, 95%CI=0.439, 2.844), hematocrit (p=0.012, 95%CI=0.00974, 0.07946); and Alanine Aminotransferase levels (p=0.002, 95%CI=-332.032, -72.233). Conclusion: Patients with blood Group-B were more frequent and AB was least commonly affected by the Dengue-virus infections. However, no association was found between a particular blood group and disease severity. Greater proportions of the younger men had Dengue infections.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To compare Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) with Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) in highly suspected COVID-19 patients and to determine its diagnostic parameters. STUDY DESIGN: Hospital-based, descriptive/observational study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Medicine/COVID Complex, Medical Teaching Institution/Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, from October 2021 to April 2022. METHODOLOGY: A total of 300 highly suspected cases of COVID-19 of either gender admitted in the COVID Complex of the hospital, were included. Data from the patients, including RAT and RT-PCR for COVID-19, were collected retrospectively. RT-PCR was used as the reference test and compared with RAT. Diagnostic statistics of RAT, with their respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated for RAT in diagnosing COVID-19, with significance at p ≤0.05. RESULTS: Among the 300 patients, 137 (45.7%) were males and 163 (54.3%) were females. The mean age was 56.80 ± 13.72 years. On screening, 138 (46%) patients tested positive and 162 (54%) were negative by RAT; whereas 213 (71%) tested positive and 87 (29%) were negative on RT-PCR. The sensitivity and specificity of RAT were 54.5% (95% CI: 47.52%-61.28%) and 74.7% (95% CI: 64.25%-83.42%), respectively. Positive predicted value was 84.1% (95% CI: 78.26%-88.53%) and negative predictive value was 40.1% (95% CI: 35.63%-44.79%). The positive likelihood ratio was 2.15 (95% CI: 1.47-3.15). The negative likelihood-ratio was 0.61(95% CI: 0.50-0.74). The overall accuracy was 60.33% (95% CI: 54.55%-65.91%). CONCLUSION: There was a low sensitivity and specificity of the RAT for COVID-19, with an overall accuracy of 60.33%, compared with RT-PCR. KEY WORDS: COVID-19, Rapid Antigen Test, Sensitivity, Specificity, RT-PCR.