Browsing by Author "Assiri, Abdullah"

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    Adverse events following administration of COVID-19 vaccines in Saudi Arabia
    (Springer Nature, 2022-11-15) Alqahtani, Saleh; Jokhdar, Hani; Al‑Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Al‑Otaibi, Salah; Assiri, Abdullah; Almudarra, Sami; Alabdulkareem, Khaled; Haji, Alhan; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Previous studies investigated the frequency of different adverse events of COVID-19 vaccines. However, this study compares these adverse events between the two main COVID-19 vaccines used in Saudi Arabia (Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca) using telemedicine technology. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 958 individuals, 7 days after receiving either Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines during June 2021. Immediate adverse events were reported by 1.04% and 2.09% for Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, respectively, with no serious events. Recipients of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had a higher percentage of local adverse events (24.8% versus 9.8% in AstraZeneca vaccine). The most common reported systemic adverse events in both vaccines respectively were general fatigue (23.1% and 25.1%), fever (18.5% and 27.2%), myalgia (20.6% and 20.3%), and headache (15.2% and 17.2%). No significant difference was recorded between both vaccines regarding overall systemic adverse events; however, they were more frequent following the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine compared to Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while the reverse was observed for the second dose. Adverse events were more frequent in females and younger age groups for both vaccines. Most of systemic and local adverse events were mild in nature. Further cohort studies are recommended to investigate the long-term adverse events of COVID-19 vaccines.
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    High seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among high-density communities in Saudi Arabia
    (Springer, 2022-06) Almudarra, Sami; Kamel, Shady; Saleh, Eman; Alaswad, Rehab; Alruwaily, Amaal; Almowald, Shaza; Alqunaibet, Ada Mohammed; Almudiaheem, Abdullah; Almutlaq, Hind; Alserehi, Haleema; Almalki, Safar; Bahlaq, Mohannad Abdulhafiz; Alsahafi, Abdullah Jaber; Alsaif, Faisal; Khojah, Abdullah T.; Al‑Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Asiri, Sari Ibrahim; Assiri, Abdullah; Jokhdar, Hani; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection had been investigated utilizing serology. Materials and methods: This community-based sero-survey was carried out in the neighborhoods of three cities in Saudi Arabia. Results: Of 5629 participants, 2766 (49.1%) were women; and 2148 (38.1%) were 18-34 years of age, and 3645 (64.7%) were from South East Asia. Positive serology was seen in 2825 (50.2% (95% CI: 48.8-51.5%) for SARS-CoV-2 anti-S1 IgG antibodies by ECLIA. Being in the age category of 18-34 years and being from Eastern Mediterranean Region (country A) were associated with higher COVID-19 seropositivity with estimated odds ratio of 1.3 [95% CI 1.1-1.8] and 2.5 [95% CI 1.1.5-4.2] respectively. Gender, social status, education, nationality, symptoms, presence of comorbidities and activity style were positively associated with increased seropositivity. Factors associated negatively with the rate of seropositivity were higher education and having outdoor activity with estimated OR of 0.92 [95% CI 0.46-0.95] and 0.59 [95% CI 0.47-0.74], respectively. Conclusion: The study showed high seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among high density population. Health education campaigns should target middle-aged, those with low education, those living in lower standards and indoor workers.
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    Launching COVID-19 vaccination in Saudi Arabia: Lessons learned, and the way forward
    (Elsevier, 2021-10) Assiri, Abdullah; Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Alkhalifa, Monira; Al Duhailan, Hessa; Al Qahtani, Sara; Dawas, Reema Abu; El Seoudi, Abdul Aziz; Alomran, Najd; Omar, Omar Abu; Alotaibi, Nawaf; Almudarra, Sami S.; Alabdulkarim, Khalid; Alqahtani, Saleh; Jokhdar, Hani; Medicine, School of Medicine
    The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV- 2) emerged in Wuhan City, China. The SARS-CoV-2 crossed borders and quickly transformed into a "Public health emergency of international concern". Countries around the globe are in the race to achieve herd immunity. We describe the steps taken by Saudi Arabia to achieve this goal.
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    The Saudi Critical Care Society practice guidelines on the management of COVID-19 in the ICU: Therapy section
    (Elsevier, 2021-10) Alhazzani, Waleed; Alshahrani, Mohammed; Alshamsi, Fayez; Aljuhani, Ohoud; Eljaaly, Khalid; Hashim, Samaher; Alqahtani, Rakan; Alsaleh, Doaa; Al Duhailib, Zainab; Algethamy, Haifa; Al-Musawi, Tariq; Alshammari, Thamir; Alqarni, Abdullah; Khoujah, Danya; Tashkandi, Wail; Dahhan, Talal; Almutairi, Najla; Alserehi, Haleema A.; Al-Yahya, Maytha; Al-Judaibi, Bandar; Arabi, Yaseen M.; Abualenain, Jameel; Alotaibi, Jawaher M.; Al Bshabshe, Ali; Alharbi, Reham; Al-Hameed, Fahad; Elhazmi, Alyaa; Almaghrabi, Reem S.; Almaghlouth, Fatma; Abedalthagafi, Malak; Al Khathlan, Noor; Al-Suwaidan, Faisal A.; Bunyan, Reem F.; Baw, Bandar; Alghamdi, Ghassan; Al Hazmi, Manal; Mandourah, Yasser; Assiri, Abdullah; Enani, Mushira; Alawi, Maha; Aljindan, Reem; Aljabbary, Ahmed; Alrbiaan, Abdullah; Algurashi, Fahd; Alsaawi, Abdulmohsen; Alenazi, Thamer H.; Alsultan, Mohammed A.; Alqahtani, Saleh A.; Memish, Ziad; Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Al-Jedai, Ahmed; Medicine, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: The rapid increase in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases during the subsequent waves in Saudi Arabia and other countries prompted the Saudi Critical Care Society (SCCS) to put together a panel of experts to issue evidence-based recommendations for the management of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: The SCCS COVID-19 panel included 51 experts with expertise in critical care, respirology, infectious disease, epidemiology, emergency medicine, clinical pharmacy, nursing, respiratory therapy, methodology, and health policy. All members completed an electronic conflict of interest disclosure form. The panel addressed 9 questions that are related to the therapy of COVID-19 in the ICU. We identified relevant systematic reviews and clinical trials, then used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach as well as the evidence-to-decision framework (EtD) to assess the quality of evidence and generate recommendations. RESULTS: The SCCS COVID-19 panel issued 12 recommendations on pharmacotherapeutic interventions (immunomodulators, antiviral agents, and anticoagulants) for severe and critical COVID-19, of which 3 were strong recommendations and 9 were weak recommendations. CONCLUSION: The SCCS COVID-19 panel used the GRADE approach to formulate recommendations on therapy for COVID-19 in the ICU. The EtD framework allows adaptation of these recommendations in different contexts. The SCCS guideline committee will update recommendations as new evidence becomes available.
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    Seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors in the early month of the pandemic in Saudi Arabia
    (Elsevier, 2020) Banjar, Ayman; Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Alruwaily, Amaal; Alserehi, Haleema; Al-Qunaibet, Ada; Alaswad, Rehab; Almutlaq, Hind; Almudaiheem, Abdullah; Khojah, Abdullah T.; Alsaif, Faisal; Almolad, Shaza Karim; Alqahtani, Saeed; AlJurayyan, Abdullah; Alotaibi, Abdullah; Almalki, Safar; Abuhaimed, Yousef; Alkhashan, Abdullah; Alfaifi, Amal; Alabdulkareem, Khaled; Jokhdar, Hani; Assiri, Abdullah; Almudarra, Sami; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Serologic testing provides better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and its transmission. This study was an investigation of the prevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors in Saudi Arabia. Objective: To estimate the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among blood donors in Saudi Arabia during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Serology results and epidemiological data were analyzed for 837 adult blood donors, with no confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, in Saudi Arabia from 20th to 25th May 2020. Seroprevalence was determined using electrochemical immunoassay to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Results: The overall seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 1.4% (12/837). Non-citizens had higher seroprevalence compared with citizens (OR 13.6, p = 0.001). Secondary education was significantly associated with higher seroprevalence compared with higher education (OR 6.8, p = 0.005). The data showed that the highest seroprevalence was in Makkah (8.1%). Uisng Makkah seroprevalence as the reference, the seroprevalence in other areas was: Madinah 4.1% (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.12-1.94), Jeddah 2.3% (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.31-2.25), and Qassim 2.9 % (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.04-2.89) and these were not statistically different from seroprevalence in the Makkah region. Conclusions: At the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia, the seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors was low, but was higher among non-citizens. These findings may indicate that non-citizens and less educated individuals may be less attentive to preventive measures. Monitoring seroprevalence trends over time require repeated sampling.