infectious diseases during Hajj

• Main Authors: Azam Amini, Afshin Ostovar, Hossein Darabi, Mohammad Javad HaeryNejad, Farzaneh Yousefi, Katayoun Vahdat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bushehr University of Medical Sciences 2014-08-01
• Series: Iranian South Medical Journal
• Subjects: Hajj; Infectious Diseases; Mecca; Saudi Arabia
• Online Access: http://ismj.bpums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3-476&slc_lang=en&sid=1

Background: Muslims participation in Mecca & Medina (Saudi Arabia) for Hajj which is the largest organized annual mass gathering in the world. In addition of Hajj, many pilgrims attend in Saudi Arabia for Umrah that is performed year-round. This great human immigration is an important challenge of health care and infection control systems. Current study reviews the most prevalent infectious diseases among pilgrims during Hajj along with their mode of transmission and control. Materials and methods: A comprehensive search was done on PubMed, Science Direct & Google Scholar databases by using Hajj, Pilgrims, Infectious Diseases & Mecca as keywords. Our search was restricted to English & Persian papers from 1994 to 2014. Results: Overall, 97 papers were found. After omitting old and repeated reports, 64 articles were reviewed finally. Conclusion: Due to scale of Hajj and prevalence of various infectious diseases such as meningococcal infections, diarrheal diseases and Influenza preventive measures and vaccination are recommended both before and during pilgrimage.Pilgrims and health care workers must be educated about health hazards and protective behaviors.