Epidemiology of high risk pregnancy in Sousse, Tunisia

This descriptive study assessed the frequency of selected risk factors for high risk pregnancy [HRP] among women in Sousse region. All pregnant women [beyond 28 weeks gestation] giving birth in 4 public maternity hospitals between 15 February 2005 and 15 August 2005 and who had at least 1 risk factor were enrolled. Data were collected within 24 hours of birth from obstetric and antenatal records and by interview. Of 4660 pregnant women, 1194 [25.6%] had at least 1 risk factor and were considered at-risk pregnancies. Mean age of the at-risk women was 31.3 [SD 5.4] years, 73% were urban residents, 38% had secondary education or higher and 75% were housewives. The mean number of risk factors was 1.5 per woman. The majority of women [59.3%] had 1 risk factor and 30.4% had 2. The mean number of prenatal visits was 4, 68.6% were seen by an obstetrician and 43% used the private sector. Certain factors were inadequately screened: age > 35 years, parity > 4, previous low birth weight and neonatal death, excessive fundal height and anaemia

[Hands hygiene in health care workers: the frequency but also the quality]

Hand washing has been recognized for more than one century as an effective measure in the prevention of hospital acquired infections. The objective of our work is to evaluate the adhesion of health care professionals to hand washing as well as the observance and the relevance of this practice and to consider its conformity to the recommendations. It is a prospective study carried out at the university hospital FARHAT HACHED in Sousse on health care professionals in 4 departments which were randomly selected among the high-risk infections classified wards. We performed a direct observation of the professional practices aiming at measuring the adhesion and the relevance of the hand washing. Two hundred and fifty four observations were carried out during the two weeks of the study. 18.9% of the professionals complied with washing their hands before and after an act of health care, whereas 24% of the audited people washed their hands only before nursing care. Conformity to recommendations in hand washing before and after care was only 16.1%. This work enabled us to give a global report on the practice of hand washing. But it appears important to determine the obstacles to hand washing and the means to improve health manpower observance