ArticlePloS one2023
COVID-19 in Pakistan: A national analysis of five pandemic waves.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Post-COVID syndrome in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh: a systematic narrative review of epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and healthcare system responses.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Critical care trends across five waves of COVID-19 in Pakistan: A multi-center observational study from the Pakistan Registry of Intensive CarE (PRICE).BMC infectious diseases · 2026Observational
- Article
- Investigating factors influencing injury severity in crashes involving vulnerable road users in Pakistan.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Understanding the ability of households to cope with economic shocks: an empirical study of Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Clinical Comparison of COVID Waves 2-5. An Inpatient Retrospective Comparative Analysis From Karachi, Pakistan.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Evidence of rapid rise in population immunity from SARS-CoV-2 subclinical infections through pre-vaccination serial serosurveys in Pakistan.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Individuals with latent tuberculosis in a high TB endemic country show mild COVID-19.PloS one · 2025Article
- Disparities in age and gender-specific SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing trends: a retrospective study from Pakistan.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Risk factors for mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients across five waves in Pakistan.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- [Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 infection in patients undergoing hemodialysis].Beijing da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Peking University. Health sciences · 2024Article
- Evolution of COVID-19 infection in Punjab; trends during five waves of infection in the province of Punjab.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Genomic epidemiology and evolutionary dynamics of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 during the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Pakistan.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of an Urdu version of the Vaccine Attitudes Examination (VAX-U) scale.PloS one · 2024Article
- Pakistan's national COVID-19 response: lessons from an emergent response to the pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Navigating challenges in access to antenatal and intrapartum care: Afghan refugee women's experiences amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic showed distinct waves where cases ebbed and flowed. While each country had slight, nuanced differences, lessons from each wave with country-specific details provides important lessons for prevention, understanding medical outcomes and the role of vaccines. This paper compares key characteristics from the five different COVID-19 waves in Pakistan.
methodsData was sourced from daily national situation reports (Sitreps) prepared by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) in Islamabad. We use specific criteria to define COVID-19 waves. The start of each COVID-19 wave is marked by the day of the lowest number of daily cases preceding a sustained increase, while the end is the day with the lowest number of cases following a 7-days decline, which should be lower than the 7 days following it. Key variables such as COVID-19 tests, cases, and deaths with their rates of change to the peak and then to the trough are used to draw descriptive comparisons. Additionally, a linear regression model estimates daily new COVID-19 deaths in Pakistan.
resultsPakistan saw five distinct waves, each of which displayed the typical topology of a complete infectious disease epidemic. The time from wave-start to peak became progressively shorter, and from wave-peak to trough, progressively longer. Each wave appears to also be getting shorter, except for wave 4, which lasted longer than wave 3. A one percent increase in vaccinations decreased deaths by 0.38% (95% CI: -0.67, -0.08) in wave 5 and the association is statistically significant.
conclusionEach wave displayed distinct characteristics that must be interpreted in the context of the level of response and the variant driving the epidemic. Key indicators suggest that COVID-19 preventive measures kept pace with the disease. Waves 1 and 2 were mainly about prevention and learning how to clinically manage patients. Vaccination started late during wave 3 and its impact on hospitalizations and deaths became visible in wave 5. The impact of highly virulent strains Alpha/B.1.1.7 and Delta/B.1.617.2 variants during wave 3 and milder but more infectious Omicron/B.1.1.529 during wave 5 are apparent.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.