To identify the occurrence of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), diarrheal diseases and trauma during the Hajj season, and the practice of some preventive measures by pilgrims. Methods: A cohort study during November and December 2009 among hajjis registered while visiting Primary Health Care Centers of Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to get mandatory meningococcal meningitis vaccination. On return from hajj, hajjis were contacted on telephone to collect information on occurrence of URTI and diarrhea along with other associated activities in Hajj. Results: Out of 1507 hajjis, 54.7% developed symptoms; 97% reported upper respiratory tract symptoms, and 9.3% reported diarrheal symptoms. Those <40 years of age were more likely to develop an URTI. The incidence of diarrheal diseases or trauma was not statistically associated with age. No statistical difference for educational level was found for URTI or trauma, but there was a statistically significant difference for diarrheal diseases. There was no statistical difference for nationality in relation to diarrheal diseases and trauma, but there was a statistically significant difference for URTI. There was a statistically significant difference of URTI between those pilgrims who used the face mask most of the time and those who used it sometimes. Conclusion: Upper respiratory tract infections is a common health problem among studied domestic hajjis. Generally, there is room for improvement in the adoption of preventive measures by hajjis; and there is still limited information on the use of facemasks in spite of the fact that using it significantly decreases the risk for URTI.

Objectives:To investigate the epidemiology of pediatric hand fractures and to provide recommendations regarding prevention.Methods:Medical records and x-rays were retrospectively reviewed for age at the time of injury, gender, fracture pattern, place where the injury occurred, and mechanism of injury. The study was conducted at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between January 2005 and December 2011.Results:Of 361 cases reviewed, there were 291 (80.6%) male and 70 (19.4%) female patients. Most (46.2%) were in the age group of 13-18 years. For age group 1-4 years, the most common place of occurrence was at home (81.3%) and for the group 13-18 years, outdoors was the place of occurrence (64.7%). Females were mostly injured at home while males had similar distribution of indoor and outdoor injuries. The most common causes of fractures were: door slams in the 1-8 years age group; falls at home, in the 9-12 years age group; and both falls at home and sports in the oldest age group (13-18 years). The little finger ray are the most frequently injured part of the hand followed by the middle finger.Conclusion:Our series showed that most hand fractures in children occurred at home, which requires reevaluation of home settings. Implementation of safety measures during sports activities are relevant in the oldest age group.

a b s t r a c tBackground: MERS-CoV emerged as a zoonotic disease in Saudi Arabia with 1437 cases as of July 2016. This study aimed at describing the epidemiology of MERS-CoV infection, clinical aspects of the disease and the determinants of survival. Methods: The medical records of Prince Mohamed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital were reviewed between April 2014 and December 2015 to identify admission and discharge with MERS-CoV. Patient's characteristics, epidemiologic and clinical data and laboratory results were extracted and described. Logistic regression analyses were used to model the determinants of the survival of these patients. Significance of the results were judged at the 5% level. Results: 249 confirmed cases were admitted mostly in August (20.48%) and September (14.86%) of the year 2015. A third (39.36%) reported contact with an index case, developed the disease after 6.2 days and continued to shed the virus for 13.17 days on average. The case fatality rate was 20.08%. Independent predictors of being discharged alive among confirmed cases were younger age (OR A = 0.953), breathing ambient air (OR A = 8.981), not being transferred to the ICU (OR A = 24.240) and not receiving renal replacement therapy (OR A = 8.342). These variables explain 63.9% of the variability of patients' status at discharge. Conclusion: MERS-CoV spread from human-to-human as community acquired and nosocomial infection. The study identified high risk patients in need for special medical attention in order to improve patients' outcome.