Surveillance of childhood vaccinepreventable diseases at health facilities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

A cross-sectional study was conducted at 33 randomly selected health facilities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to assess health facilities' performance and health workers' knowledge of surveillance activities for childhood vaccine-preventable diseases. The WHO surveillance assessment questionnaire and a specially designed knowledge questionnaire were used. There were deficiencies in some surveillance items. The percentages of health facilities that had the surveillance manual and correctly filled clinical registers were 57.6% and 60.6% respectively. In the 6 months preceding the study, 36.4% of facilities lacked the appropriate surveillance forms while only 18.2% had received supervision reviews. Only one-quarter of health workers had a satisfactory knowledge score

Induced labour with prostaglandin E2 in different parity groups after premature rupture of membranes

The study compared the outcome of induction of labour with prostagl and in E2 vaginal tablets in patients with premature rupture of membranes [PROM] at term in different parity groups. A retrospective review was made of the hospital records of 169 women attending the maternity unit of King Faisal Military Hospital, Saudi Arabia. There were no statistically significant differences between the 3 groups [parity 0, parity 1-4 and parity 5+] in rates of labour augmentation, caesarean sections, neonatal intensive care admissions or low Apgar scores. There were no serious complications of induction of labour such as infection or uterine hyperstimulation or rupture. Prostagl and in E2 may be used with care for labour induction in women with PROM at term, even gr and ultiparas, unless there is history of previous caesarean delivery

Outcome of induced labour in pregnancies at 41 weeks gestation and over in Saudi Arabia

A retrospective, descriptive cohort study was conducted at King Faisal Military Hospital, Saudi Arabia, to compare pregnancy outcomes in patients induced with prostagl and in E2 from 41 weeks gestation. A total of 450 women whose antenatal care and delivery were conducted at the hospital during 1995-99 were studied. The main outcome measures used were caesarean section rate and perinatal morbidity and mortality. In otherwise normal pregnancies, the caesarean section rate was not significantly increased when induction of labour was carried out at 41 weeks gestation compared with >/=42 weeks. Although more perinatal complications occurred when induction was carried out at 42 weeks, the results were not statistically significant. A large prospective clinical trial is indicated