Epidemiology of Reportable Bacterial Infectious Diseases in Saudi Arabia.

INTRODUCTION: Bacterial infections have a significant impact on human health; they can cause severe morbidity and mortality, particularly in susceptible populations. Epidemiological surveillance is a critical tool for monitoring the population's health and facilitate the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks. Knowing the burden of bacterial communicable diseases is an initial core step toward public health goals. METHODS: Saudi epidemiology surveillance data were utilized to depict the changing epidemiology of bacterial infectious diseases in Saudi Arabia from 2018 to 2021. The cumulative numbers of cases, demographics, and incidence rates were analyzed and visualized. Parametric tests were used to compare the difference in the mean values between categorical variables. Regression analysis was employed to estimate trends in disease rates over time. Statistical significance was set at p value ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The results revealed that brucellosis, tuberculosis, and salmonellosis were the most frequently reported bacterial infectious diseases in Saudi Arabia. Males were more significantly affected by brucellosis and tuberculosis infections than females. Salmonellosis infections were more significant among Saudi citizens, while pulmonary tuberculosis was more significant in non-Saudis. Interestingly, there was a decline in the incidence rates of numerous bacterial infectious diseases during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and COVID-19 restrictions. Some bacterial infectious diseases were rarely reported in Saudi Arabia, including syphilis and diphtheria. CONCLUSIONS: The future perspective of this research is to enhance disease surveillance reporting by including different variables, such as the source of infection, travel history, hospitalization, and mortality rates. The aim is to improve the sensitivity and specificity of surveillance data and focus on the mortality associated with bacterial pathogens to identify the most significant threats and set a public health priority.

The immunological response among COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often results in pneumonia and can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is one of the most significant causes of death in patients with COVID-19. The development of a "cytokine storm" in patients with COVID-19 causes progression to ARDS. In this scoping review, we investigated the effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines in inducing moderate and severe ARDS outcomes. A comprehensive search was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar to implement a broad query that captured all the relevant studies published between December 2019 and September 2020.We identified seven studies that evaluated the immune response in COVID-19 patients with ARDS. The white blood cell counts (WBCs), CRP, and IL-6 were higher in the moderately presenting ARDS patients, critically ill patients, and those with more severe ARDS. This study may contribute to better patient management and outcomes if tailored immune marker interventions are implemented in the near future.

Electronic cigarette use is negatively associated with body mass index: An observational study of electronic medical records.

OBJECTIVE: Vaping is advertised as a method to mitigate weight gain after smoking cessation; however, while there is an established inverse association between conventional tobacco use and body mass index (BMI), there is little research on the relationship between e-cigarettes and BMI. This research tested whether e-cigarette use was associated with BMI. METHODS: A secondary data analysis of 207,117 electronic medical records from the UAB was conducted. Patient data from 1 September 2017 through 1 June 2018 were extracted. To be included in the analysis, a patient's record had to include measures of e-cigarette use and key sociodemographic information. Ordinary least squares regression was used to test the association between e-cigarette use and BMI, controlling for covariates; unconditional quantile regression was used to determine whether the association varied by BMI quantile. For comparison with tobacco smoking, the association between current tobacco smoking and BMI was estimated in a sample from the same population. RESULTS: Respondents in the sample had an average BMI of 30.8 and average age of 50.0 years when BMI was measured. The sample was 51% female, 49.7% white, 46.7% black, and 1.0% Hispanic; 16.4% of the sample had less than a college education and approximately 5% reported currently using e-cigarettes. Individuals who reported using e-cigarettes had, on average, a lower BMI compared to those who did not report currently using e-cigarettes; results indicated that this association did not significantly vary by BMI quantile. Individuals who reported being current smokers had a lower BMI, on average. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that using e-cigarettes is associated with a lower BMI in a population of individuals seeking health care, consistent with the association between conventional tobacco use and BMI. This study is a springboard for future research investigating the associations between e-cigarette use, BMI, and risk of obesity in the general population.