Ms. Rana Alqarni, Ms. Amjad Albawardi, and Ms. Ola Alanzi (CLAB 4th year students) presented two posters titled “Analysis of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections in Saudi Children from a Tertiary Care Hospital Prospective” and “Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in Adult Patients: Epidemiology and Clinical Presentation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia” at the 2nd KSA infectious diseases week conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Their posters highlighted the epidemiology of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections in adults and children, as well as the underlying conditions and clinical presentations of patients presenting with these infections in the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA) hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their findings revealed that NTM infections were mostly seen in the elderly and in patients with an impaired immune system. They also showed that these bacteria mainly manifested as pulmonary infections in adults, but pediatric patients with NTM infection mainly presented with lymphadenitis. Finally, this work highlighted the prevalence of different and rare NTM species among patients being treated at MNGHA hospitals in Riyadh.
Ms. Rana Alqarni, Ms. Amjad Albawardi, and Ms. Ola Alanzi are 4th year CLAB at CAMS, they presented this important work as part of their graduation supervised by their PI Dr. Norah Abukhalid and co-PI Dr. Nabeel Alzahrani. Our students were able to respond to critiques from and network with pioneers in the field of infectious diseases in the Kingdom. Their representation of CAMS on the national level in this conference was noteworthy and their participation was well received by the attendees and organizers of the KSA ID WEEK conference.