Background: Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen that represents a current serious threat to healthcare settings. Objective: The objective was to determine the prevalence of C. auris in a Riyadh hospital since its initial detection in late 2019. Methods: Using an adapted risk assessment tool, we reviewed the charts and medical files of all suspected and confirmed cases of C. auris infections reported at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, between November 2019 and December 2022. Anonymized data were retrieved in a pre-established datasheet and analyzed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of C. auris infections in our facility. We analyzed prevalence by age, gender, risk factors, and according to sampling source. Results: Of the 53 confirmed C. auris-positive cases during the study period, 33 (62%) were males. Their ages ranged between 15 and 98, with most positive cases occurring in those aged 50 and above. Only one of the confirmed cases was hospital-acquired. All patients had at least one risk factor, and urine samples yielded the greatest number of positive cases, while admission to healthcare facilities constituted the highest risk in our study. Conclusion: Establishing a local prevalence pattern could serve as a baseline/benchmark to compare with regional and international benchmarks.

Evidence has shown that the state of the patient care environment has a direct impact on heightening the risks of hospital-acquired infections among patients admitted in hospitals. Moreover in view of the suboptimal standard of cleanings by housekeeping staff, there has been the quest for a better approach to reliably disinfect environmental surfaces in health-care facilities. The ultraviolet light has been known for its antimicrobial property and has been used in water treatment, food processing, and in-duct cleaning of ventilations. A recent introduction of its use for surface decontamination has raised interest among health-care facilities. However, studies have shown that, in spite of its relative success in other applications, there is doubt in its efficacy in decontaminating shadowed areas of the room, and therefore, may not be seen as justifying its capital intensiveness.

Advances in information technology, be it by way of social media or use of the electronic medical information systems, has changed the way we deal with patient confidential information. The hitherto clear professional relationship with the patient has been blurred using social media, just like the unprecedented rate at which electronic health information is used to access and share patient's confidential information among healthcare professionals. However, given the special professional relationship of confidence which traditionally bonds the healthcare practitioner with the patient, use of these technologies by the healthcare professionals portends the risk of breach of that duty of confidentiality. Although the patient's right to demand confidentiality of his information is not absolute, an unlawful breach could result in a crime, actionable tort, or become a subject of disciplinary action. This chapter undertakes a general review of the benefits and dangers of embracing these new information technologies and their impact on the confidentiality of sensitive health data.

Introduction: Candidozyma auris (formerly known as Candida auris (C. auris)) can cause invasive infections with high mortality rates and the ability to colonize the skin, persist in healthcare environments, and cause healthcare-associated outbreaks. Certain patients are at a significant risk of C. auris infection. Our hospital is a 1000-bed tertiary teaching hospital that caters to, among other patients, critically ill and immunocompromised patients. Objective: To identify the risk factors for C. auris infection/colonized patients in hospitals located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of the risk factors associated with 53 C. auris cases identified from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2022. We performed a retrospective review of all patients who tested positive for C. auris within the reporting period of their risk factors. Patients were triaged via a risk assessment tool at the time of admission to inpatient locations. Results: Of the 53 patients identified, 20 were females, and 33 were males, with ages ranging from 15 to 98 years. The identified risk factors included comorbidities (n = 44 (85%)), previous admission to other hospitals (n = 27 (50.9%)), and admission to the high-risk unit (n = 19 (35%)). The other variables included the presence of wounds (n = 18 (34%)), medical devices (n = 17 (32.1%)), and prior antimicrobial use (n = 12 (22%)). Conclusion: These findings are similar to those of other studies in that certain identified risk factors contribute to infection or colonization with C. auris. Plain Language Summary: This study followed an unprecedented reporting of a case of C. auris at our tertiary teaching hospital after a recent reporting of the first few cases in the Kingdom. Therefore, we are worried about the potential prevalence and possible risk factors associated with this disease.

Privacy of personal information is a protected human right both under the international human rights and national laws, statutes and regulations, subject to so exceptions that include protecting public health. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged and overwhelmed the status quo in every human sphere, including the conventional surveillance of infectious diseases, contact tracing, isolation, reporting and vaccination while simultaneously protecting the privacy of personal data. The pandemic had led national governments, institutions and agencies to adopt mobile applications for collecting, analysing, managing and sharing critical personal data of individuals infected with or exposed to COVID-19. These data may be centralized at a central database, or localized in individuals’ phones. While the benefits of sharing private information for achieving public health needs may not be disputed, the risk of breach of personal privacy is, also, enormous. Consequently, it forced the national governments into a dilemma of either succumbing to public health needs, or strictly respecting and protecting the privacy of individuals, or balancing the two conflicting demands. There is a massive body of literature on the security and privacy of such mobile applications, but none has adequately explored and discussed the public interest justifications under the Saudi Arabian laws for the alleged privacy breaches. This paper explored the COVID-19 surveillance mobile app technologies in use in Saudi Arabia for their potential risks of data breaches under the prevailing data protection laws and regulations with a view to understanding if such breaches are obligated, allowed, or justified under the laws. Our findings suggest that any potential risk of a breach to the individuals’ privacy of personal information under the law would seem to have been properly balanced against (justified by) the public health needs to protect the society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governments around the world including developed and developing economies are grappling with the challenge of wide infrastructure deficits. The case of the African continent is even more critical. Considering also that the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals aim to “leave no one behind,” it becomes imperative to explore avenues to allow the private sector to finance and deliver infrastructure. Public-Private Partnership is now considered as one of the most successful global strategies to support the public sector in the provision of infrastructure. This paper examines the role of Public-Private Partnership in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals vis-à-vis the role of sub-national governments in ensuring a viable framework for the successful arrangement and execution of Public-Private Partnership projects. The methodology adopted for the paper a doctrinal review of literature and case studies on the subject. The paper recommends the engagement of stakeholders and the strengthening of sub-national frameworks for sub-national Public-Private Partnership.