Altalhi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Objectives: To measure the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its risk factors in Saudi Arabia, in comparison with developed and developing countries worldwide. Methods: We enrolled pregnant women aged 15-45 years who visited 3 National Guard-Health Affairs’ primary health care centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between January 2017 and December 2017. We used stratified samples and computer-generated random numbers to collect data. This data includes demographics, obstetric history, blood pressure, non-fasting 1-hour glucose challenge test (GCT), 3-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), hemoglobin level, rubella immunization status, hepatitis B surface antigen status, urinalysis results, and labor, and delivery notes. We categorized the patients into 2 groups, GDM and non-GDM, based on GCT and OGTT. Results: We enrolled 347 women in the study (mean age, 28.8±6 years; range, 18-45 years). On GCT, 36.6% of women showed abnormal values and 6.9% exhibited diagnostic values. Oral glucose tolerance test indicated impairment in 18.7% of patients and a diagnostic finding in 15% of patients. Women diagnosed with GDM tended to be older and have greater body mass index (BMI) values. Conclusion: The prevalence of GDM in Saudi Arabia is high compared to other countries. Advanced maternal age and higher BMI values were associated with increased prevalence of GDM. Thus, early prevention and management of GDM is vital to minimize the risks to both the mother and fetus.

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Methods All exposed HCWs working in King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Specialized Children's Hospital exposed to measles, rubella, mumps, and varicella during 2017 and 2018 were identified through active investigation and passive reporting. A multi-partner intervention was done during December 2017 to reduce the risk and outcome of exposure. Immune status of exposed HCWs as previously documented in the electronic records was evaluated. Those who were not sufficiently immune were given the relevant vaccine (MMR or varicella). Group and individual education was done to increase the awareness of HCWs. Engagement of departmental heads and nurse managers was pursued to encourage compliance. The outcomes of post-exposure management were compared before (2017) and after (2018) starting the intervention. Results A total of 213 HCWs were exposed to the targeted infectious diseases (97 in 2017 and 116 in 2018). Of 213 HCWs, 41.3% were exposed to varicella, 41.3% to mumps, 8.9% to measles, and 8.5% to rubella. Compliance with postexposure evaluation improved from 74.5% in 2017 to 95.0% in 2018. Although more HCWs were exposed to one of the above diseases in 2018 compared with 2017, the immune status of HCWs significantly increased from 69.4% in 2017 to 91.7% in 2018 (p<0.001). Cleared HCWs increased from 68.2% in 2017 to 90.1% in 2018 (p<0.001). Those who were granted sick leave decreased from 2.3% in 2017 to 0.7% in 2018 (p=0.573). Conclusion A post-exposure intervention including immunization and awareness was successful at improving immunity and return to work rates, and reducing the need for sick leave. This intervention needs to be continuously implemented, especially in high-risk locations such as emergency departments. This can probably increase the safety of the work environment and reduce related absenteeism.