The Relationship Between Blood Culture, C-reactive Protein, and Neonatal Sepsis: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background Sepsis is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in newborns. Diagnosis of neonatal sepsis may be difficult because the clinical presentations are often nonspecific. Neonatal sepsis may have an early onset (zero to three days) or a late onset (four days or later). Onset is most rapid in premature neonates. In this study, we aimed to assess the correlation between positive cultures, high C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Methodology This descriptive, prospective, cross-sectional study was undertaken over four months starting from December 15, 2019, to April 15, 2020, in Atbara Teaching Hospital, Sudan. Data were collected from 71 patients. CRP levels were measured, and blood cultures were performed. Results High CRP level >10 mg/L was seen in patients having positive blood culture (55.3%), mainly in preterm babies (CRP >10 mg/dL (61.1%), positive culture (55.6%)) and very low birth weight babies (CRP >10 mg/dL (83.3%) and positive culture (67%)). Conclusions Our findings suggest that Klebsiella is an important cause of neonatal sepsis. CRP was positive in babies mainly with proven sepsis. There is a high correlation between CRP and blood culture in patients with neonatal sepsis which may give access to remodeling the prioritization of the management options in the clinical setting.

Infection transmission via mobile phones in a mass gathering setting: Public knowledge, attitudes and practices in Makkah city, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Mobile phones have become part of everyday life with a potential risk for microbial transmission. Makkah is a mass gathering city that may act as hotspots of disease transmission. The contact between public and both visitors and pilgrims to Makkah can't be overlooked, and any small outbreak within the public can be transmitted rapidly to them. Aim: We aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of general population towards infection transmission via mobile phones in Makkah and different characteristics relevant to KAP scores. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted on general population in Makkah city using a snowballing sampling method. Participants answered questions about their KAP towards infection transmission via mobile phone. The overall KAP scores were graded as good, fair, and poor and explored against different population characteristics using suitable statistical methods. Results: The study included 385 participants aged 15-64 years. About 88.8% owned personal mobile phone, 3.9% encountering a patient with infections transmitted via mobile phones, and 60.5% know nothing about potential role of mobile phones in infection transmission. Only 16.6% had good knowledge, 64.1% with positive attitudes, and 55.3% reported poor practices. The mean knowledge score was significantly higher among young adults (p = 0.002) and those with higher education (p = 0.005). Their mean attitude and practice scores were significantly higher among older adults (p < 0.001 and p = 0.015), female (p = 0.001 and p = 0.022), and those with higher education (p = 0.036 and p = 0.041) respectively. Conclusion: The overall public knowledge and practices towards the role of mobile phones in infection transmission in Makkah was below average though they have positive attitudes. Raising public awareness is important to decrease the possibility of cross-contamination via mobile phones and to develop adequate preventive strategies in a mass gathering setting like Makkah city.

COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and trust among adults in Makkah, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Public acceptance, trust, and actual uptake of COVID-19 vaccines are crucial to stem the pandemic. Although roll out of vaccines was high in KSA, the public response was not sufficiently studied. We aimed to investigate knowledge level, acceptance, and trust in COVID-19 vaccination and related predictors among adults in Makkah, KSA. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional survey using a snowballing sample was carried on 507 adult Saudi population living in Makkah city. The survey was developed based on literature search. In the logistic analysis, the dependent variables included acceptance rate and trust in effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, while the independent variables (predictors) were sociodemographics and level of knowledge. RESULTS: The survey included 507 participants, aged 18-78 years, 55.8% were females, and 36.7% had (or one of their family members) previously been exposed to COVID-19 infection. Their knowledge about COVID-19 vaccination was satisfactory (86.2%) with 71.2% intended to receive COVID-19 vaccination, and 56.4% was confident of the vaccine effectiveness. Vaccine efficacy, duration of protection, schedule of vaccination, and recommendation by authorities may favor their decision to accept or decline COVID-19 vaccines. Good knowledge about vaccines (OR = 2.07; CI: 1.24-3.48 for acceptance and OR = 2.67; CI: 1.58-4.51 for trust), higher educational level (OR = 1.80; CI: 1.07-3.40 for acceptance and OR = 3.59; CI: 2.08-6.21 for trust), previous seasonal flu vaccination (OR = 1.66; CI: 1.09-2.53 for acceptance and OR = 1.91; CI: 1.31-2.79 for trust), female sex (OR = 1.62; CI: 1.1-2.39 for acceptance and OR = 4.15; CI: 2.86-6.04 for trust), and history of COVID-19 infection (OR = 1.57; CI: 1.04-2.37 for acceptance and OR = 1.69; CI: 1.17-2.46 for trust) were among significant predictors for both vaccine acceptance and trust in vaccine effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Adult Saudi population in Makkah city showed satisfactory knowledge about COVID-19 vaccination with moderate rate of vaccine acceptance and a relatively low rate of confidence in vaccine effectiveness. Better understanding of public acceptance and trust in COVID-19 vaccines and addressing barriers to vaccination are recommended to improve vaccine coverage and to reinforce some communication characteristics of the current vaccination campaign.

Identification and Quantification of Quercetin, A Major Constituent of Artocarpus altilis by Targeting Related Genes of Apoptosis and Cell Cycle: In Vitro Cytotoxic Activity Against Human Lung Carcinoma Cell Lines.

Nine phenolic compounds were identified and quantified in Artocarpus altilia fruit. One of the main compounds was quercetin, which is the major class of flavonoids has been identified and quantified in pulp part of A. altilis fruit of methanol extract. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro cytotoxic assay. Inhibitory concentration 50% concentration was determined using trypan blue exclusion assay. Apoptosis induction and cell cycle regulation were studied by flow cytometric analysis. The expression of apoptosis and cell cycle-related regulatory genes were assessed by RT-qPCR study of the methanol extract of pulp part on human lung carcinoma (A549) cell line. A significant increase of cells at G2/M phases was detected (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the pulp of the fruit downregulated the expression of anti-apoptosis gene BCL-2 and upregulated the expression of pro-apoptosis gene BAX. CASPASE-3 was also activated by the fruit, which started a CASPASE-3-depended mitochondrial pathway to induce apoptosis. As the results, the pulp was the most active in terms of all tests, due to high amount of quercetin in pulp part, 78% of total flavonoids. Taken together, these findings suggested that A. altilis induces apoptosis in a mitochondrial-dependent pathway by releasing and upregulating CYTOCHROME C expression and regulates the expression of downstream apoptotic components, including BCL-2 and BAX.

Raising awareness of health care providers about MERSCoV infection in public hospitals in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

It is important that health care workers have good knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards MERS-CoV, especially in Mecca because of the MERS-CoV threat during hajj and umrah. This study aimed to assess KAP of health care providers in public hospitals in Mecca about MERS-CoV infection and evaluate the effectiveness of a health education intervention to improve KAP. KAP was assessed among 281 participants using a self-administered questionnaire who then underwent the health education intervention using a combination of methods. After 3 months, 188 participants responded to the post-intervention evaluation. Significant post-intervention improvement was found in the median scores for knowledge (P < 0.001), attitude (P = 0.022) and cumulative KAP (P < 0.001); scores improved irrespective of age group and gender. Practice scores did not improve significantly, although reported practices were good before the intervention. The positive effects of the intervention support efforts to continuously implement health education interventions for health care providers in Mecca.