Abstract
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 179 at-risk individuals(49.9%) decided to cancel their Hajj participation even after advice during consultation.
Highlights
After its emergence in June 2012 [1], most cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERSCoV) infections were reported from Saudi Arabia (SA) [2] where the Hajj, the largest religious mass gathering takes place annually
Results of the first week of 2013 mandatory meningococcal vaccination campaign for Hajj at our institution (19 to 25 August 2013) showed that 48% of pilgrims preparing for Hajj this year had at least one disorder for which the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) recommends to postpone the performance of the Hajj [8]
Our results cannot be extrapolated to all Hajj pilgrims, they show that pilgrims departing from southern France were unaware of the ongoing MERS epidemic and of the Saudi MoH recommendations before consulting a specialised travel clinic
Summary
Citation style for this article: Gautret P, Benkouiten S, Salaheddine I, Belhouchat K, Drali T, Parola P, Brouqui P. Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge about Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, August to September 2013. 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 179 at-risk individuals (49.9%) decided to cancel their Hajj participation even after advice during consultation
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