Experts urge children, pregnant women, the elderly and others to skip the hajj

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Experts urge pregnant women, elderly to skip hajj

Associated Press
2009-06-30 09:52 PM Fonts Size:

International experts have recommended children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic diseases stay away from the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia to prevent catching swine flu.
The recommendations come at the end of a four-day meeting in the western seaport city of Jiddah that examined Saudi measures to prevent the spread of swine flu during the Muslim pilgrimage in December.

The workshop, which ended Tuesday and included experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, was meant to allay fears of a wide-scale transmission of the disease during hajj.

The pilgrimage attracts about 3 million people every year to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

 

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Re: Experts urge children, pregnant women, the elderly and others to skip the hajj

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Saudi urges unfit Muslims to postpone pilgrimage
30 Jun 2009 15:56:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, June 30 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Tuesday called on elderly, ill and other unfit Muslims to postpone pilgrimages to Mecca as the kingdom tries to prevent a large scale spread of the H1N1 flu.

Around three million Muslim pilgrims from over 160 countries head for the holy city of Mecca in western Saudi Arabia each year in one of the world's biggest religious gatherings.

The haj season starts in November this year, while Muslims can also do a minor pilgrimage, the umra, anytime of the year.

"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.

He urged pilgrims to take seasonal influenza vaccines as well as the new H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available later this year, before heading to Saudi Arabia.

To cater for the visiting pilgrims, the kingdom will up its stock of the main antiviral flu drug Tamiflu by 20 percent, said health ministry spokesman Khaled Mirghalani, which is double the World Health Organisation's recommendation for other countries.

Drugmakers are gearing up to mass produce vaccines against the news virus, and governments have reserved millions of doses as the WHO declared a pandemic.

"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, the world's largest oil exporter, has so far declared 81 cases of H1N1, most of which have been cured, said Rabeeah, speaking after three-day talks with experts from the WHO and other organisations.

"We expect cases to increase as is currently happening worldwide," the minister said.

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Ulf Laessing and Sophie Hares)