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Background: The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases in Saudi Arabia has heightened the need for organ transplantation; however, the donor pool remains insufficient. This study explored awareness and willingness towards organ donation among Riyadh residents and examined the sociodemographic factors influencing these attitudes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling was conducted among adults in Riyadh. The survey assessed demographic characteristics, awareness, willingness to donate, and sociodemographic factors. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: Among the 645 respondents, 56.4% were willing to donate organs, with females showing a higher propensity than males (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7–5.1, p < 0.001). Awareness of organ donation centers was linked to increased willingness to donate (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1–2.5, p < 0.001). Higher educational level was strongly associated with donor registration (OR 36.8, 95% CI 14.7–91.9, p < 0.001). Despite their high willingness, only 9.5% were registered as donors, highlighting the gap between intention and action. Conclusions: Riyadh residents showed a significant willingness to donate organs, influenced by gender, education, and awareness. Low registration rates suggest barriers such as religious beliefs and lack of information. Targeted educational campaigns and policy evaluations, including an opt-out system, are recommended to enhance registration rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectively triaging incoming patients while preventing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread in any emergency department (ED) is a demanding and critical task that places a huge burden on frontline healthcare workers. The ED at our tertiary hospital utilized a slightly modified version of a formerly efficacious severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) screening tool for triaging patients presenting to the ED with respiratory illness. We conducted a retrospective chart review and included patients who were screened using the SARI screening tool and underwent a combined nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction swab for severe acute respiratory syndrome- related coronavirus 2 to determine COVID-19 positivity. Results from our study show that it may be warranted to remove the gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) from the SARI screening tool and potentially adjusting the weights of the components in the screening tool. However, as data from additional studies become available, the current SARI screening tool could continue to be used as a screening tool to predict COVID-19 positivity and in triaging patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Statin therapy used to lower cholesterol levels results in a substantial reduction in cardiovascular complications. Previous observations in different ethnic populations showed that rs2306283A>G, p.Asn130Asp and rs4149056T>C, p.Val174Ala in solute carrier organic anion transporter 1B1 (SLCO1B1) gene encoding the organic transporter protein may be responsible for statin uptake, thus explaining the majority of statin-associated symptoms. In addition to the genetic component, vitamin D (vit D) deficiency is common in Saudi Arabia and worldwide and may cause muscle dysfunction and ache. The aim of the present study was first to reveal an effect of vit D, rs2306283A>G, and rs4149056T>C and related haplotypes on statin-associated myopathy (SAM) and then to investigate a possible interaction between low vit D levels and the above-mentioned variants. Methods The genomic DNA obtained from 50 individuals diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia was genotyped using light SNiP hybridization probes. Results Low vit D levels were associated with SAM (OR=3.6, p=0.03); however, CK levels, rs2306283A>G, and rs4149056T>C did not show any association. Interestingly, rs4149056T>C was interacting with vit D to influence SAM (p=0.02). Haplotype analysis showed that SLCO1B1 *1B and *15 were more prevalent in individuals with SAM (p=0.05). When stratified according to vit D levels, rs2306283A allele showed an increase in individuals having SAM along with low vit D (p=0.03). Conclusions Although preliminary, our results show an involvement of vit D and rs4149056T>C of SLCO1B1 in SAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the prevalence and associated sociodemographic, migration, and health-related factors of smoking cigarettes and narghile among Syrian refugee parents resettled in Ontario, Canada since 2015. A total of 540 Syrian refugee parents, with at least one child less than 18 years of age, were interviewed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the independent relationship between each of the associated sociodemographic, migration, and health-related factors and smoking cigarettes and narghile. The overall prevalence of smoking was 43% (cigarette = 22%, narghile = 25.6%). The average number of cigarettes smoked per day was 15.4 (SD = 10.1). With regard to smoking narghile, 18.2% of the sample smoked daily, while 35.5% and 52.9% smoked at least once weekly and occasionally, respectively. Results from multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that more fathers were at increased odds of smoking cigarettes than mothers OR (95% CI) = 6.6 (3.7-11.9), while no such difference was found for narghile smokers OR (95% CI) = 1.5 (0.9-2.6). Results showed that smoking cigarettes was associated with lower education levels and being Muslim, whereas smoking narghile was associated with younger age and alcohol use. Poor perceived mental health was significant/approached significance for both types of smoking. Greater understanding of smoking patterns of resettled refugees is needed to direct healthcare providers to offer targeted interventions for those who are most at risk., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Tamim et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Introduction: Scrub typhus (ST) is a neglected tropical disease of serious concern in Nepal. This systematic review aims to describe the burden of disease, clinical presentation, and complications of ST infection in Nepal., Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and national databases was conducted for any literature published in English between January 2000 and January 2023. Any type of study design (observational studies, case series, and interventional studies) that reported laboratory-confirmed ST and was conducted in Nepal among patients of all age groups was included. The seroprevalence of ST among acute undifferentiated febrile illness (AUFI) cases, geographical distribution, monthly distribution, clinical presentations, complications, and treatment were assessed by the study., Result: A total of 15 studies with 10, 977 participants were included in the review. The seroprevalence of ST among the AUFI cases in Nepal was 19.31%. Young people at or below 20 years of age were mostly affected. The maximum number of cases were reported from Bagmati province (59.46%) and in the month of August (26.33%). Fever, headache, cough, shortness of breath, nausea, and abdominal pain were the clinical characteristics in decreasing order of occurrence. The most common complication was acute kidney injury, followed by respiratory problems, cardiac issues, and neurological manifestations. The case fatality rate of ST in Nepal was 2.56%., Conclusion: The authors findings showed a significant burden of ST among AUFI cases in Nepal. Improved surveillance, general public awareness, and early detection post-calamities could help reduce the disease burden and improve patient outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts to declare.Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)