Migrant workers with COVID-19: a major challenge for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to curb the spread of infection.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar) host the majority of the estimated 23 million international migrants working in the Arab states. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve across the GCC states, the health authorities have reported a considerable number of non-national confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region. In Gulf countries, where more than half of the population are foreigners, migrant workers are more likely to contract and spread the disease due to numerous contributing factors. In this regard, unhygienic and overcrowded living conditions, barriers in accessing national or private health services, challenges in accessing accurate health information related to COVID-19, and lack of facemasks and hand hygiene facilities in their housing camps are the major factors that we identified and discuss in this paper. Moreover, we formulated specific recommendations for relevant authorities to overcome the challenges related to migrant workers during this pandemic situation. Because the migrant workers with COVID-19 infection could subsequently lead to more widespread community transmission, protecting this vulnerable group means reducing the risk of transmission for the entire population. It is essential to include migrant workers in all aspects of the response to COVID-19, such as prevention, detection, access to treatment, and containment measures.

Social media in communicating health information: an analysis of Facebook groups related to hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: We studied Facebook groups related to hypertension to characterize their objectives, subject matter, member sizes, geographical boundaries, level of activity, and user-generated content. METHODS: We performed a systematic search among open Facebook groups using the keywords "hypertension," "high blood pressure," "raised blood pressure," and "blood pressure." We extracted relevant data from each group's content and developed a coding and categorizing scheme for the whole data set. Stepwise logistic regression was used to explore factors independently associated with each group's level of activity. RESULTS: We found 187 hypertension-related Facebook groups containing 8,966 members. The main objective of most (59.9%) Facebook groups was to create hypertension awareness, and 11.2% were created primarily to support patients and caregivers. Among the top-displayed, most recent posts (n = 164), 21.3% were focused on product or service promotion, whereas one-fifth of posts were related to hypertension-awareness information. Each Facebook group's level of activity was independently associated with group size (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.03), presence of "likes" on the most recent wall post (AOR, 3.55, 95% CI, 1.41-8.92), and presence of attached files on the group wall (AOR, 5.01, 95% CI, 1.25-20.1). CONCLUSION: The primary objective of most of the hypertension-related Facebook groups observed in this study was awareness creation. Compared with the whole Facebook community, the total number of hypertension-related Facebook groups and their users was small and the groups were less active.

Epidemiological analysis of notified measles cases and review of surveillance system during an outbreak in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

PURPOSE: In response to a measles outbreak occurred in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, we conducted a case-based active-surveillance, and analyzed all surveillance data to identify the epidemiology of notified measles cases and to review the surveillance system. METHODS: Suspected and confirmed measles cases were defined according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Household-based investigation was conducted for all suspected cases using standard measles notification form. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was carried out on serum samples collected from all suspected cases to detect measles specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies. Surveillance system was assessed by preselected performance indicators consistent with WHO guidelines. Logistic regression was used to calculate crude and adjusted odds ratios from the surveillance data. RESULTS: Of 242 suspected measles cases notified between 3rd and 48th calendar weeks of the study-year, laboratory result was IgM-positive for 46% cases, IgM-negative for 49% cases, and unknown for 5% cases. Suspected and confirmed cases separately showed urban-predominance (>77%), male-majority (>51%), and high-proportion among Saudis (>92%). The highest proportion (93%) of suspected cases that received "at least one dose" of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) was found among those aged 12-17 years, whereas the lowest proportion (17%) was observed among the adult individuals (> or =18 years). Elderly (> or =18 years) individuals were significantly less likely to be vaccinated than younger (1-5 years) children (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 15.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.82-52.56). The vaccine failure rate for "at least one dose" of MCV was 35%. The individuals vaccinated with "at least one-dose" of MCV were at 3.6 times lower risk of contracting measles than the nonvaccinated group (adjusted OR = 3.6, 95% CI = 1.55-8.38). Of five surveillance performance indicators, three were found as per WHO target. CONCLUSIONS: More efforts are essential to prevent future outbreaks and to reach the goal of measles elimination in the country.