Prevalence and Risk Factors for Trichomonas Vaginalis Infection Among Women: a Population-Based Controlled Study in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Information on Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) infection in Saudi Arabia is scarce. The aim of study was to assess the burden and risk factors of T. vaginalis infection for a cohort of women living in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: Women aged ≥ 18 years who were seeking medical care at the King Faisal Medical Complex Gynecology Clinic in Taif city, Western Saudi Arabia, were enrolled in a non-randomized case-control study between June 2018 and May 2019. Participants were interviewed using a standard questionnaire for a number of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Vaginal swabs obtained from each participant were screened for T. vaginalis infection with direct wet mount smear microscopy, the OSOM Trichomonas rapid test 'OSOM Trich' (Genzyme Diagnostics, Cambridge, MA, USA) and a published nested PCR. RESULTS: Over the study period, 155 women were recruited: 79 with symptoms of vaginitis (i.e. cases) and 76 with no symptoms (i.e. controls). The T. vaginalis infection was detected in ~20% (16/79) of cases and ~9% (7/76) of the controls by the nested PCR. Using the PCR test results as a gold standard, the wet mount microscopy's sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value were 69.5%, 100%, 94.9%, and 100%, respectively, whereas the OSOM Trich's were 86.9%, 100%, 97.7%, and 100%, respectively. The main high-risk factors included age between 30 and 39 years (~35%), marriage for 10 - 30 years (~62%), non-education (~41%), urban residence (~29%), and employment (~36%). Highly significant differences were observed concerning infection distribution among cases for the presence of lower abdominal pain (~64%) and abnormal vaginal discharge (38%) as presenting symptoms (χ2 = 20.42; p < 0.001 and χ2 = 5.63; p = 0.017, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The burden of infection with T. vaginalis is unexpectedly high in the population studied. Regular screening for T. vaginalis infection, particularly in high-risk women, is required.

Exploration of Community Care Awareness about COVID-19 Sterilization.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 affects millions of people worldwide so WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic on 11 March 2020. Since the vaccine is in the early trial phase and until it proves its efficacy, the need of finding alternative methods, which can help to curb this pandemic is urgent, so its prevention depends on standard infection control measures. This study's aim is to assess the knowledge, awareness, and practice level of Taif population towards Corona Virus disease - 2019 (COVID-19) sterilization. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted on 504 participants by administering a well-structured questionnaire comprising three sections including demographics, knowledge, attitude, and practice among the general population in Taif governorate KSA, over a duration of three months from July until September 2020. The descriptive analysis was carried out for demographics and dependent variables using the statistical program for social sciences. The t-test was used to detect any relationship between knowledge and practice score percentage of the general population response with respect to their gender and level of education. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 504 respondents willingly participated in the survey, there is a highly significant difference in the knowledge score percentage in respondents aged between 41 - 60 years old in comparison to the age group < 20 - 40 years old also between urban residence in comparison to rural residence, and a highly significant difference in the knowledge and practice score percentage in post graduate respondents in comparison to undergraduate. In addition, there was a significant difference in the practice score percentage in respondents aged between 41 - 60 years old in comparison to age group < 20 - 40, and a highly significant difference was seen in the practice score percentage in respondents living in urban areas in comparison to rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: The suggestion of this study was that knowledge and practice gaps among population, especially in the young age group, had to be covered by holding training programs through workshops or to include courses in the curriculum of ministry of health.

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Neonatal Sepsis.

BACKGROUND: There is a sudden rise in infectious diseases, with special concern to the most recent SARS-CoV 2 outbreak. A retrospective study was conducted to study the effect of this outbreak on neonatal sepsis as a global issue that poses a challenge for pediatric management and to identify its risk factors, microbial profile, and mortality rate at King Faisal Medical Complex, Taif, KSA, a COVID-19-tertiary care segregation hospital. METHODS: This research included 111 neonates with a culture-proven diagnosis of neonatal sepsis (4 and 62 cases during 2019 and 2020, respectively). RESULTS: During 2019 early onset sepsis (EOS) occurred in 6/49 (12.2%) while in 2020 22/62 (35.5%), and during 2019 late onset sepsis (LOS) occurred in 43/49 (87.7%) while in 2020 40/62 (64.5%). Premature rupture of membrane was the major neonatal risk factor for EOS during 2019 and 2020 with proportions of 4 (66.7%), 20 (90.9%); respectively. As regards LOS, the peripherally inserted central catheters and peripheral lines were the top neonatal risk factors. In the two-year outbreak, the most prevalent causative organism for EOS neonates was Escherichia coli and for LOS neonates it was Klebsiella. There was non-significant change in the mortality rate of neonatal sepsis between 2019 and 2020. However, the mortality rate was higher in EOS 9/22 (40.9%) in 2020 in comparison to 2/6 (33.3%) in 2019. CONCLUSIONS: Neonatal sepsis remains a major health problem causing serious morbidity and mortality, and health care policy makers have to implement EOS preventive measures.