Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The 2012 Hajj is expected to gather over two million Muslims from more than 180 countries across the globe between 24 and 29 October and is by far the largest mass gathering in the world. With the Hajj approaching, the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia has issued information in Arabic and English about health requiremen...

In preparation for Hajj 2013, 360 French pilgrims were interviewed regarding their knowledge about Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Respondents were aged 20–85 years, male-female ratio was 1.05:1;64.7% were aware of the MERS situation in Saudi Arabia; 35.3% knew about the Saudi Ministry of Health recommendations for at-risk pilgrims to postpone participation in the 2013 Hajj. None of 17...

Every year on the 12th month of the Islamic calendar, 2-3 million Muslims from over 160 countries migrate to Holy sites in Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj, representing one of the largest mass gathering events worldwide. Yet, the Hajj poses several challenges to global health and public safety, including the unique health risks posed by seasonal variability when Hajj occurs during summer month...

Hajj is a unique gathering with Mecca and Kaaba being spiritually important to many faiths across the globe, especially Muslims. This is because of the proclamation of the prophet's father, Ibrahaam, when he called all mankind to perform Hajj. That is why all Muslims on Earth feel that they have to visit Mecca and Kaaba on a specific date and time, and that is the reason this small location hos...

Every year, more than 10 million pilgrims arrive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Hajj or Umrah. Crowding conditions lead to high rates of respiratory infections among the pilgrims, representing a significant cause of morbidity and a major cause of hospitalization. Pre- and post-Hajj nasal specimens were prospectively obtained from a paired cohort (692 pilgrims) and from nonpaired cohorts...

BACKGROUND The primary data on the patient's status are articulated by the patient and consist of conditions that force the patient to seek treatment. Such data helps the physician effectively to make an appropriate list of differential diagnoses to establish a treatment protocol. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to review the frequency of patients' chief complaints in Hajj to plan ...

BACKGROUND Annually over two million Muslims from across the world converge on Mecca to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. Overcrowding at the Hajj facilitates spread of communicable diseases, especially respiratory infections. The aim of this study was to determine the attack rate of seasonal and pandemic influenza among returning Iranian pilgrims after the 2009 Hajj. METHODS Clinical data and thr...

RFID represents an ideal solution for crowd control and personal identification at Pilgrimage season (Hajj). It provides means to save lives and improve services at an affordable cost. This Chapter describes a developed prototype that uses a passive RFID wristband tag for identification of pilgrims in the holy areas during Hajj. Upon presentation of the tag to a handheld reader all information ...

A mass gathering (MG) is defined by World Health Organization (WHO) as “any occasion, either organized or spontaneous, that attracts sufficient numbers of people to strain the planning and response resources of the community, city or nation hosting the event” (1). Hajj pilgrimage is one of the fundamental pillars of Islam which must be performed by those Muslims with adequate means and health o...

BACKGROUND The Hajj Ceremony, the largest annual gathering in the world, is the most important life event for any Muslim. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence of stroke among Iranian pilgrims during the Hajj ceremony. METHODS We ascertained all cases of stroke occurring in a population of 92,974 Iranian pilgrims between November 27, 2007 and January 12, 2008. Incidence and risk f...