ABSTRACT
The Gulf Cooperation Council Center for Infection Control [GCC-IC] has placed the emergence of antimicrobial resistance [AMR] on the top of its agenda for the past four years. The board members have developed the initial draft for the GCC strategic plan for combating AMR in 2014. The strategic plan stems from the WHO mandate to combat AMR at all levels. The need for engaging a large number of stakeholders has prompted the GCC-IC to engage a wider core of professionals in finalizing the plan. A multi-disciplinary group of more than 40 experts were then identified. And a workshop was conducted in Riyadh January 2015 and included, for the first time, representation of relevant ministries and agencies as well as international experts in the field. Participants worked over a period of two and a half days in different groups. International experts shared the global experiences and challenges in addressing human, food, animal, and environmental aspects of controlling AMR. Participants were then divided into 4 groups each to address the human, animal, microbiological and diagnostic, or the environmental aspect of AMR. At the end of the workshop, the strategic plan was revised and endorsed by all participants. The GCC-IC board members then approved it as the strategic plan for AMR. The document produced here is the first GCC strategic plan addressing AMR, which shall be adopted by GCC countries to develop country-based plans and related key performance indicators [KPIs]. It is now the role of each country to identify the body that will be accountable for implementing the plan at the country level
ABSTRACT
Although the majority of travel-associated communicable diseases can be prevented, the public health burden of these diseases remains significant. Relatively little is known about how travelers know and perceive the health risks associatedwith the travel and how they utilize preventive measures before and while Travel medicine- traveling abroad. This study was conducted to determine the level of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices [KAP] of Muscat International Airport travelers about travel health in order to assess the knowledge gap and the need for travel health services in Oman. A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 1 week using a self-administered questionnaire. The overall level of knowledge about vaccine-preventable diseases, food safety, and preventive measures against insect bites of the participants was inadequate. The practice concerning preventive travel health measures, such as the use of specific immunizations and antimalarial prophylaxis, was very limited, and influenced by some personal and travel-related factors. The inadequate level of travelers' knowledge and poor utilization of travel medicine services highlights the need for the provisions of specialized travel medicine services at the national level and to develop educational materials promoting the importance of pre-travel health advice
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Adult , Middle Aged , Travel , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Attitude , Cross-Sectional Studies , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
To investigate the course of a hospital acquired outbreak of Bacillus cereus gastroenteritis outbreak, and the interventions that were taken to prevent such an outbreak from occurring again. On May 3-5 2008, 58 cases of gastroenteritis were reported among patients and their attendants in a referral hospital in Oman. All affected had eaten meals served by the hospital kitchen the previous day. An outbreak investigation team conducted active surveillance and interviewed people about symptoms and food consumed on the preceding day in the hospital. Food samples from the kitchen and faecal samples from the kitchen staff and those affected were cultured. An environmental audit of the kitchen was conducted. The majority of the 58 persons affected by the outbreak were adult females, predominantly attendants of patients. 90% had diarrhoea and 10% had vomiting, usually mild. All those affected were managed symptomatically except for two patient attendants who required intravenous rehydration. The meal exposure histories implicated at least one meal from the kitchen. Many violations of basic food hygiene standards were observed in the kitchen. Toxin producing B. cereus was isolated from faeces of 3/12 [25%] patients and 19/25 [76%] of food handlers, and 35/61 [57%] of food samples from the kitchen. This is the first report of a nosocomial outbreak of foodborne B. cereus infection from this region. The importance of appropriate epidemiological and microbiological investigation and public relations management is emphasized, in addition to the need for continuing training of food handlers and rigorous enforcement of food hygiene regulations
ABSTRACT
To study the epidemiology of snake bite patients evaluated at the Royal Hospital, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, and to study their clinical course and outcome. A retrospective study of 65 adult patients presenting at Royal Hospital following a snake bite from May 2006 to August 2008. The main symptoms were local pain at the bite site [26 patients, 40%] and swelling [17 patients, 26%]. Only five patients [7.7%] had signs of bleeding. After assessment, only 47 of the 65 patients were admitted. White cell count [WCC] was raised in 15 cases [23%] on presentation to the emergency room. Prothrombin time was prolonged in 34 patients [52%] and APTT was prolonged in 25 patients [38%] on presentation. Thirty-six patients received anti-snake venom [antivenom] at a mean time of 8 h after the bite and 4 h after arrival in the emergency department. Patients with deranged coagulation profile needed a mean of fourteen vials of antivenom for correction of the abnormal coagulation profile. Two patients died: both had delayed presentation to the hospital. Patients with envenoming following snakebite should receive antivenom as soon as possible: delayed presentation or administration may be very dangerous. The decision to give antivenom should be initiated as soon as possible after patients' arrival at the Emergency Department and the use of the whole blood clotting test [WBCT] may facilitate the early administration of antivenom