The clinical outcome of HIV infection at a tertiary care center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Epidemiology of tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia following the implementation of end tuberculosis strategy: Analysis of the surveillance data 2015-2019

OBJECTIVES

To analyze the evolution of tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology in Saudi Arabia in the 5 years following the implementation of the end-TB Strategy.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of surveillance data, reported by the national tuberculosis control program from 2015-2019, was carried out. The annual incidence and the percentage of yearly changes were calculated and compared to the World Health Organization (WHO) milestones, which anticipate a 4-5% annual decline. Additionally, various other epidemiological indicators of TB were examined.

RESULTS

The national TB incidence declined from 10.55% per 100,000 in 2015 to 8.76% per 100,000 in 2019, aligning with the WHO's 2019 milestone estimated between 8.59-8.96% per 100,000. While Makkah Region (40.3%) and Riyadh (24.6%) accounted for the majority of cases, Jazan region consistently exhibited the highest incidence throughout the study period. Demographic features shifted towards a younger age category, male, and native dominance. There was a consistent decrease in resistance and intermediate sensitivity to all first-line anti-TB drugs, associated with a substantial decrease in both polydrug resistance (from 4.7-1.9%; p<0.001) and multidrug resistance (from 4.4-2.4%; p=0.008).

CONCLUSION

The figures of TB incidence TB in Saudi Arabia between 2015-2019 has met the WHO end-TB milestones, predicting successful progress toward the 2035 goal.

Medical Interns' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward People Living with HIV: Multicenter Experience from Saudi Arabia

Background

Discrimination by some healthcare providers toward people living with HIV/AIDS has been documented. Differences in cultural backgrounds make it harder for future doctors, who need a lot of knowledge and a positive attitude to treat patients. In conservative countries like Saudi Arabia, not enough is known about how much medical interns know about HIV and how they feel about people living with HIV/AIDS.

Methods

From April to September 2021, this cross-sectional study use non-probability random sampling and utilized a self-administered questionnaire to collected the data from 346 medical interns who had graduated from five different medical schools.

Results

Most of the subjects correctly identified the main transmission routes, such as unprotected sex (94.57%), blood and body fluid exchange (94.19%), and sharing needles or syringes (91.47%). But they did not know what the most common co-infections were for HIV patients or how to protect themselves after exposure. This paper showed that medical interns have some stigmatizing behaviors toward patients living with HIV, as 31.1% and 22.9% agreed, respectively, that they would feel more sympathetic toward people who get AIDS from blood transfusions compared to IV drug users (IDU).

Conclusion

Medical interns also showed some positive attitudes, as more than half of the sample (56.2%) would not isolate beds for people living with HIV/AIDS. The study's conclusion is that HIV education and training programs should be added for medical interns, which might have a significant positive impact on their attitude.