Background. Asthma is a common chronic illness worldwide. Asthmatic children are forced to alter their way of living to avoid its complications or exacerbations, which negatively affects their psychological and social well-being. High prevalence of behavioral and emotional difficulties was noticed among children with asthma. Methods. Cross-sectional study that was conducted over 8 months involving asthmatic children within the ages of 7-17 years presenting to two governmental hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Three questionnaires were used: asthma control test, the strengths and difficulties questionnaire, and the pediatrics asthma quality of life questionnaire. Using SPSS, Pearson’s chi-square and independent sample t-tests were used to find associations. Results. Among the 106 respondents, 84% of the sample had poor asthma control. Significantly poorer quality of life was observed in children with uncontrolled asthma (p = <0.001). Children with controlled and uncontrolled asthma were equally affected psychosocially with no relation between asthma control and their psychosocial well-being (p = 0.58). Conclusion. The majority of asthmatic children were uncontrolled with poor quality of life. This study recommends that the psychosocial well-being should be assessed during clinic visits for a better holistic approach and effective improvement of outcome. Further researches are needed to study the psychological effect of asthma.

Asthma is considered one of the most important health issues worldwide. However, few epidemiological studies have been conducted in Saudi Arabia to assess the prevalence of asthma among children, and their results are highly variable. Thus, in this study, we investigated the prevalence of childhood asthma in Saudi Arabia. Previous studies of the prevalence of childhood asthma in Saudi Arabia were reviewed and 12 were included in this review. These studies were conducted at various locations in Saudi Arabia between 1986 and 2017. The prevalence of children asthma in Saudi Arabia varies among different regions throughout the country. The highest prevalence was reported in Alhofuf (33.7%) and the lowest in Abha (9%). However, various surveying methods were used and different age groups were assessed. This review highlights the need to conduct a national-level study using a single validated tool to assess the prevalence of childhood asthma in Saudi Arabia in order to calculate the burden of asthma and determine the targeted allocation of resources and manpower.

This study was performed to determine the risk factors and predictors of severe dengue fever (SDF) in Saudi population in Jeddah, Western Saudi Arabia. This 7-year retrospective study included children and adults with confirmed dengue from 2010 to 2016. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, serological, and virologic data were collected. Comparative analyses were performed between pediatric and adult SDF cases defined according to the WHO 2009 dengue classification. During the study period, dengue was confirmed in 17,646 cases with predominant infection of adults (6.5 times that of children) and males (3.8 times that of females). May and June were associated with 43.9% of total dengue cases. All 56 pediatric and 187 adult SDF cases were hospitalized. At least one warning sign of severe illness was present in 92.2% of total SDF cases. Mortality rates were 8.9% and 10.7% of pediatric and adult SDF cases, respectively. Multiple logistic regression detected that the most significant risk factors and predictors of SDF in adults versus children were significantly more secondary dengue infection (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.09–4.44, P = 0.02), significantly less clinical fluid accumulation (AOR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.07–0.44, P < 0.001) and significantly less neutropenia (AOR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.17–0.97, P = 0.04). This was the first large multicenter study evaluating SDF in Saudi population and considering the WHO 2009 dengue classification, which showed predominant infection of adults and males with dengue, few SDF cases with low mortality and highlighted predictors of SDF in adults versus children. Consideration of warning signs for severe dengue may result in hospital admission, prompting closer monitoring, timely and proper interventions and reduced mortality in SDF cases.

Laterality defects (LDs) or asymmetrically positioned organs are a group of rare developmental disorders caused by environmental and/or genetic factors. However, the exact molecular pathophysiology of LD is not yet fully characterised. In this context, studying Arab population presents an ideal opportunity to discover the novel molecular basis of diseases owing to the high rate of consanguinity and genetic disorders. Therefore, in the present study, we studied the molecular basis of LD in Arab patients, using next-generation sequencing method. We discovered an extremely rare novel missense variant in MYO1D gene (Pro765Ser) presenting with visceral heterotaxy and left isomerism with polysplenia syndrome. The proband in this index family has inherited this homozygous variant from her heterozygous parents following the autosomal recessive pattern. This is the first report to show MYO1D genetic variant causing left–right axis defects in humans, besides previous known evidence from zebrafish, frog and Drosophila models. Moreover, our multilevel bioinformatics-based structural (protein variant structural modelling, divergence, and stability) analysis has suggested that Ser765 causes minor structural drifts and stability changes, potentially affecting the biophysical and functional properties of MYO1D protein like calmodulin binding and microfilament motor activities. Functional bioinformatics analysis has shown that MYO1D is ubiquitously expressed across several human tissues and is reported to induce severe phenotypes in knockout mouse models. In conclusion, our findings show the expanded genetic spectrum of LD, which could potentially pave way for the novel drug target identification and development of personalised medicine for high-risk families.

Background: Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease that is characterized by reversible airway obstruction due to bronchial hyperresponsiveness. It is one of the most common chronic diseases. In Saudi Arabia, asthma affects 2 million people with asthma frequency in children markedly higher than adults with regional variations ranging from 9% to 33.7%. Objective: The aim of this study is to measure asthma awareness and knowledge of study participants during the ongoing annual Saudi asthma awareness campaigns and compare them with previous survey data conducted in 2014. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the form of a survey distributed across three major cities in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, during the National Asthma Awareness Campaign in major regional shopping centers in April 2019. Asthma knowledge scores across different demographic groups were generated from surveyed data. Descriptive and correlative statistical analyses were performed to identify factors associated with changes in asthma knowledge. Scores were compared to previous survey results. Results: The mean score for asthma knowledge was 15.6 out of 25. Asthma knowledge significantly correlated with age (P=0.002), asthma status of the participants (P=0.001), having children with asthma (P=0.005) or knowing friends or family with asthma (P=0.029) but not with other socioeconomic factors such as gender, marital status, occupation, level of education and number of children in the family (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference in the asthma scores from 2014 (M= 63%, SD=26) to 2019 (M= 70%, SD= 26) conditions; t (24) = − 2.106, p=0.046. Conclusion: Further educational campaigns are necessary to enhance and measure general public awareness of asthma, its differential diagnosis against other respiratory infections, environmental triggers, risk factors as well as treatment options.

The worldwide prevalence of asthma in children is variable. The different epidemiological definitions of asthma, the use of various methods of measurement, and the environmental variations between countries are responsible for such different prevalence rates. This study has been performed to identify the prevalence/risk factors of asthma in Saudi children/adolescents in Rabigh. A cross-sectional epidemiological survey has been conducted using the validated Arabic version of the “International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire”. Data on the sociodemographic characteristics of participants and risk factors of asthma have also been collected. Three hundred and forty-nine Children/adolescents with an age range of 5–18 years have been randomly selected for an interview from public places and houses in different regions of Rabigh City. The prevalence rates of physician-diagnosed asthma, any wheezing, and wheezing in the last 12 months among children/adolescents (mean age: 12.22 ± 4.14 years) have remarkably increased in association with the rapidly developing industrialization of Rabigh from previously recorded rates of 4.9%, 7.4%, and 6.4% in the only study that has previously been conducted in Rabigh in 1998 to 31.5%, 23.5%, and 14.9%, respectively. The univariate analysis has detected some significant risk factors for asthma. However, in younger aged children (5–9 years), allergic rhinitis, associated chronic illnesses, and viral respiratory infection-induced wheezing have remained significant risk factors of any wheezing. Drug allergy, exposure to dust, and viral respiratory infection-induced wheezing have persisted as significant risk factors for wheezing in the last 12 months. Eczema in the family, exposure to perfumes/incense, and viral respiratory infection-induced wheezing have remained as significant risk factors of physician-diagnosed asthma. The results of this survey should be useful in future targeted preventive plans/measures with special attention to improving air quality to limit the progressive increase in asthma prevalence in Rabigh, as well as in other similar industrial communities.