THE announcement that the Kingdom has just launched a disease management system coincided with reports of further cases of dengue fever, a condition that sounds nastier than it generally is, but which nevertheless highlights the vulnerability of the Kingdom to infections of many kinds.
As the gateway to the Haj and Umrah, welcoming millions of pilgrims from around the world, Jeddah has always been at risk from conditions imported innocently by its guests. Indeed the term “Haji disease” has long been applied to viruses that have been brought to the city and thereafter spread among locals as well as other pilgrims.
It is therefore comforting to know that the Saudi Ministry of Health has rolled out a state-of-the-art Health Solution for Disease Management in Jeddah, Makkah, Taif and Qunfudah, designed and built by IBM.
Nothing of course, even careful health screening of would-be visitors, is going to stop infectious diseases arriving on our shores. The really important consideration, which is fully addressed by the new IBM program, is how quickly a contagious disease is spotted and identified and thereafter, the steps that are taken to stop its spread be it through immunization or in extreme cases, the isolation of disease hot spots.
Nor should it be imagined that the risks arise purely from pilgrims. We are all of us traveling more and more and visiting parts of the world where dangerous conditions are widespread. Given that symptoms may not present themselves for some days after infection has occurred, it is perfectly possible for someone from the Kingdom to have traveled home safely, before it is realized that something is wrong.
It is at this point, when a person discovers he or she is unwell, that even the most sophisticated disease management system is useless. The temptation is still all too often to self-prescribe, generally antibiotics that we know have worked for us in the past, rather than go to a medical professional to have a proper diagnosis made. The use of antibiotics in this manner is wrong on two levels. First of all, these powerful drugs become less effective the more they are taken. Dosing yourself with antibiotics because of influenza or even a heavy cold, is not only unlikely to work, but it also means that if you ever do have a serious condition one day that requires a powerful antibiotic, it may no longer be effective.
More to the point if the virus that you have picked up is contagious and the drug you have chosen to take is entirely the wrong one, then you are exposing family and friends to danger and could be spreading a potentially serious condition.
The sensible option is to go immediately and consult a physician — not a pharmacist or nurse, but a proper doctor and get a definitive diagnosis. If the medical professional cannot figure out the problem, then he or she can send you for tests, which will pin down the exact nature of what is wrong.
And herein lies the link with the IBM disease management system. In the final analysis, it will only ever be as good as the data that are fed into it. Medical practitioners and hospitals have an obligation to report communicable diseases and their information will go straight into the disease management system. This way professionals at the Ministry of Health can start to build up a full picture of a disease outbreak and begin to take the necessary measures to contain and combat it.
The new IBM system has been designed to hold a substantial amount of information gleaned from health records. This means that in the case of dengue fever for instance, which in a few circumstances, can prove fatal, it will be possible for the authorities to identify people who might be at risk from the infection. Since there is currently no immunization against the mosquito-borne disease, the advice would be probably be to move away from areas of standing water in which the insects breed, or take extra precautions to avoid being bitten.
However for the system to work, it requires solid primary data and that means everyone living in the Kingdom behaving responsibly and going to see their doctor when they suspect they may be ill. In a world where conditions such as malaria, tuberculosis and polio, once thought defeated by modern medicine, are making a comeback and where new and virulent strains of avian flu, more basic influenza and SARS still pose a considerable threat, caution and common sense seem obvious.
Editorial: Common sense about diseases
