We characterized the molecular basis of carbapenemase production in carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria isolated from hospitalized patients from Saudi Arabia in the year 2012. Isolates were collected from across the Kingdom and phenotypically tested for carbapenemase production. Polymerase chain reaction detection of carbapenemase genes was also performed. Our results indicate that in Saudi Arabia, OXA-48 and NDM-1 are the dominant carbapenemases among Enterobacteriaceae with low prevalence of VIM. The latter is the most prevalent metallo-beta-lactamase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, whereas oxacillinases, OXA-23 in particular, are the dominant carbapenemases in Acinetobacter baumannii. No KPC or IMP genes were detected. Our study is the first report of OXA-48, NDM-1, and VIM-4 enzymes in Enterobacter from the Kingdom. Also it is the first report of OXA-72 and NDM-1 in A. baumannii in Saudi Arabia, and the coexistence of blaOXA-23 and blaNDM-1 genes in this species in the country. Awareness of the role of international travel in the spread of carbapenem-resistant determinants in the Kingdom, as well as effective infection control interventions in hospitals and strict antimicrobial stewardship in healthcare facilities and the community are keys to combat the rise of carbapenemase producers in the Kingdom.

Needle stick and sharp object injuries represent a major occupational challenge to health care workers. Prevention should be based on different working lines including immunization, education of health care workers and proper engineering control measures.

Objective: study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of burnout and the associated factors among health care workers in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This study targeted all categories of health care workers (HCWs) in Saudi Arabia. The data were collected through an online questionnaire that included: sociodemographic data, medical history, smoking history, work characteristics, direct care of infected patients, questions of Maslach Burnout inventory (MBI) to assess burnout among health care workers that assess the Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Achievement (PA). The collected data was analyzed through SPSS program version 25. Results: The total number of the participants in this study was 3,557. The results showed that 38.5% of the participants scored high for EE, 31.2% for DP, and 33.6% for PA. On analysis, being younger than the age of 40 years, female, or Saudi nationality tended to be associated with increased all burnout parameters. Shift work, on call duties, changing working hours, direct involvement in management of COVID-19 patients were associated with high burnout scores. Conclusion: High burnout is common among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19 pandemic due to direct contact with infected cases and changes in the working patterns during the pandemic, etc. These factors should be discussed to find solutions to relieve the health care workers from excess stress and burnout.

In this study to determine the harmful effect of abnormal pregnancy outcome on the immediately following pregnancy, 573 recently delivered women (with 2347 pregnancies) were interviewed. Data were recorded on their pregnancy outcomes (normal, abortion, stillbirth and congenital malformation), as well as on their interpregnancy intervals. A significant difference was found between the chances of having a spontaneous abortion following a normal outcome (5.5%) against that following a spontaneous abortion (31.1%). Also, the chances of a normal outcome following a normal outcome were 92.4%, compared with 63.9% following a spontaneous abortion. The delivery of a malformed baby is associated with a larger proportion of abortion and congenital malformation in the subsequent pregnancy, while stillbirth was followed by a larger proportion of abortion and stillbirth. A longer interpregnancy interval did not appear to have any protective effect on the subsequent pregnancy.

Five hundred and seventy three of 606 (94.6%), 583 of 604 (96.5%) and 575 of 595 (96.6%) women were found to have antibody to rubella virus, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus, respectively. The Geometric Mean Titre (GMT) of haemagglutination-inhibition antibody to rubella virus was 60.97, while the GMT of complement-fixation antibody to cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus were 28.49 and 25.01, respectively. Furthermore, 301 of 517 (58.2%) women were also found to possess antibody to toxoplasma (GMT = 10.12) as detected by the passive-haemagglutination test. No significant differences in antibody prevalence or GMT could be found among the various nationalities studied except among Bedouins who showed a significantly higher rate and GMT of antibody to rubella virus and for the Mediterranean Arabs who showed significantly higher rate of immunity to and GMT of toxoplasma antibody when compared to other nationalities. Finally, no significant differences in antibody prevalence or GMT could be found among the various age groups.