Health care system hazard vulnerability analysis: an assessment of all public hospitals in Abu Dhabi.

Hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) is used to risk-stratify potential threats, measure the probability of those threats, and guide disaster preparedness. The primary objective of this project was to analyse the level of disaster preparedness in public hospitals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, utilising the HVA tool in collaboration with the Disaster Medicine Section at Harvard Medical School. The secondary objective was to review each facility's disaster plan and make recommendations based on the HVA findings.

Obesity hypoventilation syndrome in obstructive sleep apnea patients in the United Arab Emirates: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To estimate the frequency of symptoms of obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and to evaluate comorbidities associated with OHS.

Design: Retrospective study based on patients' medical records and on further sleep tests performed in the study centre during the inclusion visit.

Setting: Respiratory Care Unit and Sleep Disorder Centre of the Zayed Military Hospital United Arab Emirates.

High blood pressure and its association with body weight among children and adolescents in the United Arab Emirates.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of high blood pressure (BP) and its relationship with obesity among children and adolescents.

Methodology/principal Findings: In this cross-sectional population (Emirati) representative study, we invited a random sample of 1600 students (grades 1-12) attending 23 out of all 246 schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. But analysis was restricted to Emirati nationals aged 6-17 years.

Emergency medicine in the United Arab Emirates.

It has been a decade since emergency medicine was recognized as a specialty in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this short time, emergency medicine has established itself and developed rapidly in the UAE. Large, well-equipped emergency departments (EDs) are usually located in government hospitals, some of which function as regional trauma centers.

Palivizumab prophylaxis during nosocomial outbreaks of respiratory syncytial virus in a neonatal intensive care unit: predicting effectiveness with an artificial neural network model.

Study Objective: To identify subgroups of premature infants who may benefit from palivizumab prophylaxis during nosocomial outbreaks of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection.

Design: Retrospective analysis using an artificial intelligence model.

Setting: Level IIIB, 35-bed, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a tertiary care hospital in the United Arab Emirates.

Parental weight perceptions: a cause for concern in the prevention and management of childhood obesity in the United Arab Emirates.

Parental participation is a key factor in the prevention and management of childhood obesity, thus parental recognition of weight problems is essential. We estimated parental perceptions and their determinants in the Emirati population. We invited 1541 students (grade 1-12; 50% boys) and their parents, but only 1440 (6-19 years) and their parents consented.

The prevalence and potential determinants of obesity among school children and adolescents in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and determinants of obesity in childhood and adolescence and their association with blood pressure (BP) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Design: A cross-sectional population-representative study.

Subjects: A total of 1541 students (grades 1-12; aged 6-19 years) were randomly selected from 246 schools (50% male).

Thoracic emergencies in immunocompromised patients.

With the increasing prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS patients and patients receiving chemotherapy for various malignancies, the numbers of immunosuppressed patients who present to the emergency department is on the increase. Thoracic-related emergencies in these vulnerable patients are serious and challenging to diagnose for the emergency physician, due mainly to atypical presentations, atypical pathogens, and to the often tenuous state of health of the patient. This article addresses a variety of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and esophageal emergencies that are seen specifically in immunocompromised patients presenting to the emergency department.

Molecular characterization and epidemiology of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in the United Arab Emirates.

Objectives: The aim of this prospective study was to assess the extent of dissemination of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae at the hospital level in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Materials And Methods: A total of 662 Escherichia coli and Klebsiellapneumoniae samples were collected from three UAE hospitals between January and December 2008. ESBL screening and confirmatory test for ESBL phenotype were conducted using the VITEK system.

Prevalence of COPD in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Background: The prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a random sample of individuals 40-80 years old in Abu Dhabi, with a particular interest to explore local risk factors other than cigarette smoking. Airflow limitation compatible with COPD was defined as a post-bronchodilator ratio FEV(1)/FVC <0.

Detection of an oseltamivir-resistant pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus in the United Arab Emirates.

We report the identification of an influenza A(H1N1) viral isolate found to be resistant to oseltamivir. This is the first report of resistance of H1N1 to this medication in the United Arab Emirates. Sequencing of the isolate showed that it has the H275Y mutation.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes among positive UAE patients.

A molecular study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus genotypes in HCV infected population of UAE. 67 HCV seropositive samples were collected from different health care centres. Quantitative analysis of these samples using PCR resulted in 67 positive samples.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction for rapid detection of genes encoding SHV extended-spectrum β-lactamases.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop an improved method for the detection of bacterial SHV-type extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs).

Materials And Methods: Our method was based on real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in which the amplification of the product was monitored with a fluorescent probe. This method enabled the detection of bla SHV genes with high degrees of sensitivity and specificity.

Characterization of clarithromycin resistance in isolates of Helicobacter pylori from the UAE.

Background: Clarithromycin therapy is effective in eradicating Helicobacter pylori. However, the resistance of H. pylori to clarithromycin is increasingly reported.

Hepatitis B virus genotypes and precore and core mutants in UAE patients.

Background: Knowledge of the HBV genotype with which a patient is infected is crucial information for a physician to have when planning clinical treatment for that patient. Previous studies have suggested that there are possible differences in the pathogenicity and therapeutic response of different HBV genotypes. However, the prevalence of the various HBV genotypes and Precore and Core mutations is unknown in the UAE.

Susceptibility Pattern and Epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in United Emirati Hospital.

Objective: Human tuberculosis (TB) has re-emerged at an alarming rate as one of the deadliest contagious diseases; not only in the developing world, but also in the developed countries. Its re-emergence indicates failure to control its transmission. What causes part of the alarm is the growing number of isolates displaying resistance to the first line drugs used in its control.

What is the best method for brain protection in surgery of the aortic arch? Selective antegrade cerebral perfusion.

Despite considerable progress in the operative management of lesions involving the transverse aortic arch, replacement of this portion of the vessel remains a surgical challenge and is still associated with mortality and morbidity. This situation is due not only to the technical difficulties of the procedure but, often, to the unsatisfactory preservation of the integrity of the central nervous system during the period of arch exclusion. The techniques of cerebral protection during surgery of the aortic arch can be divided into those aimed at suppressing the metabolic demand of the central nervous system and those aimed at maintaining the metabolic supply during the time of exclusion of the cerebral vessels.

A diagnosis not to be missed: Behcet's disease as a cause of dilated cardiomyopathy in a young Arab male patient.

We report a 33-year-old Arab male patient who was thought to have severe idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) associated with complete atrioventricular block for more than 6 years, then was found to possess features suggestive of underlying Behcet's disease in the form of recurrent oral and genital ulcers, cutaneous folliculitis, superficial thrombophlebitis, pathergism, partially thrombosed portal vein and a positive human leukocyte antigen -B51.

Group A streptococcal genotypes from throat and skin isolates in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: The bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes causes a variety of human diseases that range from relatively mild skin infections to severe invasive diseases, such as acute rheumatic fever, glomerulonephritis, puerperal sepsis, necrotizing fasciitis, meningitis, and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Accurate identification and typing of group A hemolytic streptococci (GAS) is essential for epidemiological and pathogenetic studies of streptococcal diseases. For this reason, The genetic diversity of group A streptococcal (GAS) isolates from subjects in the United Arab Emirates with streptococcal disease was studied using emm gene sequence analysis.

Influence of pharmaceutical care on health outcomes in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: To examine the influence of a pharmaceutical care programme on disease control and health-related quality of life in Type 2 diabetes patients in the United Arab Emirates.

Methods: A total of 240 Type 2 diabetes patients were recruited into a randomized, controlled, prospective clinical trial with a 12-month follow-up. A range of clinical measures, medication adherence and health-related quality of life (Short Form 36) were evaluated at baseline and up to 12 months.

Analysis of Helicobacter pylori antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence genes in gastric mucosal biopsies in the United Arab Emirates.

Aim: To determine the virulence attributes (presence of cagA and vacA genes) of Helicobacter pylori , and presence of clarithromycin resistance genes in gastric mucosal biopsy samples obtained in the United Arab Emirates.

Methods: DNA was extracted from antral gastric biopsy samples from 91 dyspeptic patients. Real-time PCR and melting curve analysis were used to identify patients infected with H.

Determination of hepatitis C virus genotypes by melting-curve analysis of quantitative polymerase chain reaction products.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major causative agent of non-A and non-B viral hepatitis. Factors associated with disease progression following HCV infection include the viral genotype, the patient's alcohol consumption and viral load. In this study, the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, a commercially available quantitative assay for HCV RNA, was used for HCV genotyping analysis.