Pabna Medical College

Objective:This study assessed the knowledge of the youth of Pakistan regarding HIV transmission, their misconceptions, and their stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS in an exploratory cross-sectional sample. Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted at Rawalpindi Medical University; the duration of the study was 6 months, from May to October (2025). Our sample size was 308. Data were collected using a questionnaire. The sampling technique was non-random convenience sampling, and data analysis was performed using SPSS version 28 with chi-square tests. Results:This study included 308 participants, with 62.3% females (n = 192) and 37% males (n = 114), divided into three age groups: 15-19 years (8.8%, n = 27), 20-24 years (57.5%, n = 177), and 25-29 years (31.2%, n = 96). Regarding HIV transmission knowledge, 91.9% (n = 283) correctly identified sexual intercourse as a mode, whereas misconceptions existed - 5.2% (n = 16) believed HIV could spread via a handshake, and 15.6% (n = 48) thought it could be transmitted through mosquito bites, indicating good overall awareness with some gaps. Stigmatization was notable: 22.1% (n = 68) felt uncomfortable around people with HIV/AIDS, 13.1% (n = 40) would quit their job rather than work with an HIV-positive person, 26% (n = 80) would not hug someone with HIV/AIDS, and 33.4% (n = 104) associated HIV/AIDS with declining moral values. A significant association was found between misconceptions and negative attitudes (P < 0.001), suggesting a lack of knowledge. Conclusion:Pakistani youth demonstrated strong knowledge of common HIV transmission routes but held critical misconceptions that contribute to stigmatizing attitudes. Enhancing education and open dialog on HIV prevention and treatment is essential to improving awareness and reducing stigma, thereby fostering public support for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Wrist fractures are a common problem in practice and emergency clinics, particularly in physically active individuals and the elderly. Current diagnostic approaches, dependent on trained radiologists and X-ray images, are slow and inhomogeneous. Motivated by advances in deep learning and the You Only Look Once (YOLO) family, our solution introduces FractureNet, a pruned and quantized YOLOv11-M version tailored for both accuracy and computational complexity in mobile fracture detection. We developed an Android app empowered with Artificial Intelligence for interpretable and accurate wrist fracture detection on the GRAZPEDWRI-DX dataset. Key innovations include high-performance detection scores with a mean average precision at 50 of 0.837, model compression reducing floating-point operations to 14.9

Background: This study was carried out to evaluate the utility of multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify the common bacterial agents of community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Methods: Sputum and blood samples were collected from 80 clinically suspected CAP patients in three tertiary-level hospitals in Dhaka city. Multiplex real-time PCR assay was carried out to simultaneously detect five common bacterial agents of CAP; Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, and Legionella pneumophila. Routine microbiological methods and serology were carried out. The results of PCR were compared with culture, Gram stain and serology. Results: Among the 80 patients, sputum samples of 35 (43.7%) patients were positive by PCR, of which the most commonly detected bacteria were S. pneumoniae (25/35, 71.4%), followed by H. influenzae (9/35, 25.7%) and L. pneumophila (1/35, 2.9%). All 80 sputum samples were negative for both M. pneumoniae and C. pneumoniae by PCR. Out of the 26 culture positive sputum samples, 8 (30.7%) were positive for S. pneumoniae and 1 (3.8%) was positive for H. influenzae. Among the 52 Gram stain valid sputum samples, 24 (46.1%) were S. pneumoniae and 7 (13.5%) were H. influenzae. By serology, out of the 80 cases, M. pneumoniae was detected in 32 (40%) and C. pneumoniae in 24 (30%) of cases. Mixed infections comprised of 38.8% (31/80) cases. Conclusion: Multiplex real-time PCR is useful for the rapid and simultaneous detection of bacterial pathogens of CAP in sputum and can help support traditional laboratory methods for the accurate diagnosis of CAP patients. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Journal 2023;16(1): 17-25

Due to the significant number and its effects on quality of life, depression is becoming a major concern worldwide. Though its prevalence among junior healthcare professionals is also increasing day by day, still very few data are available regarding this. So, we’ve conducted a study to find out the prevalence and associated factors of depression among this vulnerable population. A total of 218 participants were enrolled from two public teaching tertiary-level hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh from October 2018 to April 2019. Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire including the WHO-5 well-being index. Prevalence of major depression was found at 17.9% and poor-emotional well-being was 25.2%. Factors associated independently with major depression were those thinking to be a doctor as the wrong decision (aRRR: 6.85, 95% CI: 1.40-33.45, p=0.017) and taking sedative or anxiolytic drugs (aRRR: 4.54, 95% CI: 1.50-13.73, p=0.007). On the other hand, doing physical exercise (aRRR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12-0.89, p=0.028) and being satisfied in their current job position (aRRR: 0.07, 95% CI: 0.02-0.29, p<0.001) had significantly less chance of being suffering of major depression. Suicidal and self-hurting ideation was also found among 23.4% of participants. If these modifiable factors can be addressed properly and by taking necessary steps against these simply identifiable factors, unwanted incidences can be prevented especially in low- and middle-income countries.What is already known on this topic Depression is common among healthcare professionals but is still neglected especially in low- and middle-income countries.What this study adds Thinking of being a doctor as the wrong decision, taking sleeping pills, not doing physical exercise, and being not satisfied in their current job position are associated with depression among junior healthcare professionals. Suicidal and self-hurting ideation were also found high among the participants.How this study might affect research, practice or policy Early identification of major depression by simple factors may help to initiate prompt strategies that will reduce the burden of depression among junior healthcare professionals and may improve the healthcare services of low- and middle-income countries.### Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.### Funding StatementThis study did not receive any funding.### Author DeclarationsI confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.YesThe details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:Ethical clearance for this study was taken from the Ethical Review Committee of the State University of Bangladesh before starting the study.I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.YesI understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).YesI have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.YesAll data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.