Distribution of sand flies in El-Nekheil province, in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah region, western of Saudi Arabia.

An entomological survey for sand flies was conducted at an area of cutaneous leishmaniasis--El-Nekheil in Northeast Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia. Standardized sampling with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps and sticky traps was employed to determine monthly trends in species composition, density, sex ratio, and reproductive status and Leishmania infection rate of vector sand flies. A total of 621 sand flies were collected from March 2006 to November 2007. Six species representing two genera were identified, three Phlebotomus species: P. papatasi, P. sergenti, and P. bergeroti; and three Sergentomyia species: S. antennata, S. sergenti, and S. shewtzi. Phlebotomus papatasi was the predominant anthropophagic species found and comprised more than 70% of the sand fly population. A population peak (June) was observed for this species. The density of P. papatasi intra-domiciliary was higher than extra-domiciliary stations and inflated by a greater proportion of female flies. Of 189 dissected Phlebotomus females, 43% were blood-fed. No Leishmania parasites were found. The proportion of gravid P. papatasi increased progressively during the 5-month period from May to September and averaged 38%. Proportions of gravid flies may be a valid indicator of the physiological age and epidemiologic importance of the vector sand fly population at this focus.

Job satisfaction among primary health care physicians and nurses in Al-madinah Al-munawwara.

Job satisfaction is the affective orientation that an employee has towards his work. Greater physician satisfaction is associated with greater patient adherence and satisfaction. Nurses' job satisfaction, have great impact on the organizational success. Knowing parts of job dissatisfaction among physicians and nurses is important in forming strategies for retaining them in primary health care (PHC) centers. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the level of job satisfaction among PHC physicians and nurses in Al- Madina Al- Munawwara. Also, to explore the relationship of their personal and job characteristics with job satisfaction. A descriptive cross- sectional epidemiological approach was adopted. A self completion questionnaire was distributed to physicians and nurses at PHC centers. A multi-dimensional job scale adopted by Traynor and Wade (1993) was modified and used. The studied sample included 445 health care providers, 23.6% were physicians and 76.4% were nurses. Job dissatisfaction was highly encountered where 67.1% of the nurses & 52.4% of physicians were dissatisfied. Professional opportunities, patient care and financial reward were the most frequently encountered domains with which physicians were dissatisfied. The dissatisfying domains for majority of nurses were professional opportunities, workload and appreciation reward. Exploring the relation between demographic and job characteristics with job satisfaction revealed that older, male, non-Saudi, specialists physicians had insignificantly higher mean score of job satisfaction than their counterparts. While older, female, non-Saudi, senior nurses had significantly higher mean score than their counterparts. It is highly recommended to reduce workload for nurses and provision of better opportunities promotional for PHC physicians and nurses.