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Taghreed A Hafiz,1 Juliana Linnette D’Sa,2 Sahar Zamzam,2 Maria Liza Visbal Dionaldo,3 Esraa Aldawood,1 Nouf Madkhali,4 Murad A Mubaraki1 1Clinical Laboratory Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Maternal and Child Health Nursing Department, College of Nursing, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, College of Nursing, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; 4Virology Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Taghreed A Hafiz, Email thafiz@ksu.edu.saIntroduction: Helicobacter pylori infection is widespread and harmful, rendering its eradication a serious public health problem. Undergraduate students’ general understanding of H. pylori infection is relatively poor. This was a second-phase research study to evaluate the efficacy of an educational intervention in raising awareness among university students.Methods: A quasi-experimental approach was employed, with 108 undergraduate students at King Saud University as participants. First, during the October 2021 academic year, data were gathered using a validated survey. The survey was divided into sociodemographic characteristics and H. pylori knowledge. Second, we assessed the effectiveness of an educational intervention to increase university students’ awareness of the topic.Results: Before the intervention, the percentage of students that had good (9.3%), fair (28.7%) and poor (62%) knowledge of H. pylori infection changed to 55.6%, 41.7%, and 2.8% respectively. There was a significant increase in overall and domain-wise mean knowledge score after the educational intervention (p = 0.001). The pretest knowledge was independent of all socio-demographic variables except “whether or not they had heard about H. pylori infection” (χ 2= 8.666, p = 0.013).Conclusion: Educational intervention may help increase students’ awareness of H. pylori infections.Keywords: awareness, infectious disease, H. pylori infection, education-intervention, undergraduate student, infection control

Abdu Aldarhami,1 Abdulrahman S Bazaid,2,3 Husam Qanash,2,3 Iqbal Ahmad,4 Fahad H Alshammari,2,3 Abdulrahman M Alshammari,2,3 Abdulrahman H Alshammari,2,3 Fahad M Aljanfawe,3 Bushra Aldamiri,5 Esraa Aldawood,6 Mashail A Alghamdi,7 Naif K Binsaleh,2,3 Nizar H Saeedi,8 Mejdi Snoussi3,9,10 1Department of Medical Microbiology, Qunfudah Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Al-Qunfudah, 21961, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha’il, Hail, 55476, Saudi Arabia; 3Medical and Diagnostic Research Center, University of Ha’il, Hail, 55473, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India; 5Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 12372, Saudi Arabia; 6Clinical Laboratory Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 12372, Saudi Arabia; 7Biology Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 8Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia; 9Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Ha’il, Hail, 81451, Saudi Arabia; 10Laboratory of Genetics, Biodiversity and Valorization of Bio-Resources, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Monastir, University of Monastir, Monastir, 5000, TunisiaCorrespondence: Abdulrahman S Bazaid; Husam Qanash, Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha’il, Hail, 55476, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966 16 5358200 ext. 1713, Email ar.bazaid@uoh.edu.sa; h.qanash@uoh.edu.saIntroduction: Although Sumra and Sidr Saudi honey is widely used in traditional medicine due to its potent activity, it is unknown whether its prolonged usage has impact upon bacterial virulence or leading to reduced antibiotic sensitivity. Thus, the study aims to investigate the effect of prolonged (repeated) in-vitro exposure to Saudi honey on the antibiotic susceptibility profiles and biofilm formation of pathogenic bacteria.Methods: Several bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Acinetobacter baumannii, were in-vitro exposed ten times [passaged (P10)]to Sumra and Sider honey individually to introduce adapted bacteria (P10). Antibiotic susceptibility profiles of untreated (P0) and adapted (P10) bacteria were assessed using disc diffusion and microdilution assays. The tendency regarding biofilm formation following in-vitro exposure to honey (P10) was assessed using the Crystal violet staining method.Results: Adapted (P10) bacteria to both Sumra and Sidr honey showed an increased sensitivity to gentamicin, ceftazidime, ampicillin, amoxycillin/clavulanic acid, and ceftriaxone, when compared with the parent strains (P0). In addition, A. baumannii (P10) that was adapted to Sidr honey displayed a 4-fold increase in the minimal inhibitory concentration of the same honey following in-vitro exposure. 3-fold reduction in the tendency toward biofilm formation was observed for the Sumra-adapted (P10) methicillin resistant S. aureus strain, although there was a lower rate of reduction (1.5-fold) in biofilm formation by both the Sumra- and Sidr-adapted A. baumannii (P10) strains.Conclusion: The data highlight the positive impact of prolonged in-vitro exposure to Saudi honey (Sumra and Sider) for wound-associated bacteria since they displayed a significant increase in their sensitivity profiles to the tested antibiotic and a reduction in their ability to form biofilm. The increased bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics and a limited tendency toward biofilm formation would suggest the great potential therapeutic use of this Saudi honey (Sumra and Sidr) to treat wound infections.Keywords: Sider and Sumra honey, Saudi honey, resistance, biofilm formation, antibiotic susceptibility