“Experts recommend that elderly, people with chronic illnesses, children, and pregnant women, postpone their plans for haj for their own safety," Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabeeah told reporters in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
Hajj is the world’s biggest religious gathering in which nearly three million Muslim pilgrims from over 160 countries head for the holy city of Mecca in western Saudi Arabia, each year. It begins from November this year.
Taking into consideration the risks posed by the ongoing virus, many questions have been raised about the impending dangers for those planning the trip.
With this aspect in mind the Saudi kingdom invited experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization,(WHO) and others to a four-day work shop in the western seaport city of Jeddah to examine measures, aimed at prevention of wide scale transmission of the disease during the Muslim pilgrimage.
Abdullah al-Rabeeah said the meeting was arranged because "of concerns about the ongoing pandemic and the potential for transmission (of viruses) in the crowded setting of the hajj."
Recommendations by experts
Health experts are urging the country to make adequate arrangements for screening of the virus at entry points used by pilgrims.
Another proposition made is that travelers receive flu shots at least two weeks before they travel to Mecca and Medina. They are also stressing the need of taking seasonal influenza vaccines as well as the swine flu vaccine once it is available before embarking on the hajj.
The meeting also counseled that pilgrims adhere to "good personal hygiene measures, including cough etiquette, use of antiseptic hand gels and especially frequent hand washing with soap and water."
Preventive Measures
In an effort to tackle the virus and provide protection to the visiting pilgrims, the kingdom will plans to replenish its stock of the main antiviral flu drug Tamiflu by 20 percent, nearly twice the amount recommended for other countries by the WHO, stated health ministry spokesman Khaled Mirghalani.
"There is no immunity for this virus and it will spread like fire in dry wood," said Hassan El-Bushra, a regional adviser to the WHO.
Saudi Arabia has so far declared 81 cases of H1N1. Most of the patients have been cured and to date no fatalities have been reported.
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