BACKGROUND Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important pathogen in both community and healthcare-related settings worldwide. Current knowledge regarding the epidemiology of S. aureus and MRSA in Gaza is based on a single community-based carriage study. Here we describe a cross-sectional analysis of 215 clinical isolates collected from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza during 2008...

AIMS To assess university students' extent of smoking, knowledge of smoking health risks, and awareness of existing national anti-smoking laws. METHODS Self-administered questionnaire was employed across 7 universities (1,104 students, equal proportions of males and females) located in Gaza Strip, Palestine. RESULTS About 55% of participants reported ever smoking, 31% were current cigarette...

UNLABELLED Coeliac disease is an important clinical disorder affecting the human gastrointestinal tract leading to multiple signs and symptoms in different body organs. This disease was the subject of a cross sectional descriptive-analytic study conducted in the Gaza Strip during 2010. Objectives were oriented to identify and verify several variables and attributes affecting the prognosis of co...

The inability to procreate is frequently considered a personal tragedy and a hardship for couples, impacting on the entire family and even the local community. In Gaza strip, Palestine, there has been no study on etiological risk factors for subfertility. The present study aimed to identify risk factors associated with subfertility among women in Gaza, Palestine. One hundred and sixty-nine wome...

In recent years German media coverage of the Middle East conflict has been accused of an anti-Israeli bias that reinforces old, widely held prejudices and stereotypes about Jews and supports the common accusation that Israel misuses the tragedy of the Holocaust to justify anti-Palestinian policies. In particular, there is the accusation that during and after the Gaza War the media portrayed Isr...

AIMS To assess knowledge, attitude, practice, and toxicity symptoms associated with pesticide use and exposure among 189 farm workers in the Gaza Strip. METHODS A cross section of agricultural farm workers in the Gaza Strip were asked to fill in a questionnaire on knowledge, attitudes, practice towards pesticide use, and associated toxicity symptoms. RESULTS Farm workers reported high level...

Gaza beach is the only recreational area available for the local inhabitants of Gaza, Palestine. It is heavily polluted with treated, partially treated and untreated sewage from point and non-point sources. The majority of the population is below the age of 15, an age group vulnerable to gastrointestinal diseases and that usually restricts its activities to beach sand at the swash zone. A total...

BACKGROUND Gastroenteritis is considered one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children especially in developing countries. It is a major childhood problem in Gaza and one of the most common etiologic agents of iron deficiency anemia (IDA). AIM This study was conducted to investigate possible changes in blood parameters that are associated with gastroenteritis infection amon...

Intestinal parasitic diseases in Gaza Strip are a significant health problem. The main aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of parasitic infection among patients in the five governorates of the Gaza Strip. A cross-sectional parasitological survey was conducted on 600 patients. Stool specimens were examined microscopically for the presence of parasite eggs or larvae/cysts per wet amo...