Seroresponse to the second measles vaccine dose at school entry in Qassim province, Saudi Arabia

In 2001, the measles immunization schedule in Saudi Arabia was changed to 2 measles, mumps and rubella vaccine doses at 12 months and at 6 years. In this follow-up study we evaluated the seroresponse to the second measles dose before school entry. We recruited 138 children randomly from primary health care centres in Qassinn; 124 children completed the study. Blood samples were collected before and 1 month after giving the second measles dose, before the age of 6 years. There was a statistically significant increase in the geometric mean titre of measles antibody, from 2205 m lU/mL before vaccination to 4723 mlU/mL after [P = 0.0001]. The proportion of children with positive ELISA results increased fro++ 94.2% before vaccination to 99.2% after [P = 0.02], while the proportion with protective level [00 mlU/mL] increased from 97.1% before vaccination to 99.19% after [P= 0.21]. The 2-dose measles immunization schedule can produce optimum protection at school entry if high vaccination coverage is guaranteed

First organized screening mammography programme in Saudi Arabia: preliminary analysis of pilot round

The aim of this study was to analyse results of the pilot screening round for Al-Qassim Screening Mammography Programme and compare with international standards. Analysis was conducted in the central screening office in Prince Faisal Oncology Centre, which coordinates activities of various screening units. Data were collected during the period 1 January 2007 to 30 June 2008. Organizational and functional information was obtained from policy and procedure manuals of the programme. Out of 9812 eligible women, 1766 [18%] participated and data were available for 1628 [16.6%]. The median age of participants was 47 [standard deviation 8.12] years. The low uptake rate [18%] and a high recall rate [31.6%] characterized the pilot screening round. Biopsy rate was 1.5% and cancer detection rate was 0.24%. Many performance indicators in this pilot screening round were not available. Many of the available indicators did not meet international standards