Umrah Seasons Research Articles

Community pharmacists’ knowledge, prospective and practice towards health related illness at Hajj and Umrah: A cross sectional study

ObjectivesTo assess the community pharmacists' (CPs) knowledge, attitude, and perception of health-related illness among pilgrims, and to investigate the common diseases and the pattern of medications dispensed by CPs during Hajj and Umrah seasons. MethodA cross-sectional study was carried out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over two months in 2022, through electronic platform using prevalidated questionnaires adopted from the literature. The questionnaires were divided into 4 sections assessing the CP's knowledge, attitude, and perception about health-related illness, common dispensed agents, and required vaccination during Hajj and Umrah. ResultsA total of 544 CPs, mostly between the age of 31–40 (69.9%), participated in this research. About 87.9% of the CPs received a pilgrim after performing their rituals coming to the pharmacy complaining of infection or health problem. In this study, 99.8%(n = 544), 99.6%(n = 543), and 92.7% (n = 505) of the CPs identified influenza, food poisoning, and diarrhea/gastroenteritis as the most common issues during the Hajj & Umrah season respectively. As results, anti-diarrheal agents (96.3%), painkillers (87.3%), inhalers (89.4%), and sunscreens (88.3%) were the most requested pharmaceutical agents. Additionally, 96.7%(n = 527) of the CPs agreed that vaccination is safe to be given to Hajj and Umrah pilgrims particularly for those aged ≥ 65 years, and 89.4%(n = 487) of them reported awareness of vaccines that are required by Saudi Ministry of Health. Both Influenza and meningococcal meningitis vaccines were identified by 99.8% of the CPs, but polio vaccine was identified by 33.9%. ConclusionCommunity pharmacists provided pharmaceutical care services for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. The majority of CPs had adequate knowledge about viral diseases during Hajj and Umrah and their requirement for vaccination.

An evaluation of blood components inventory management during Hajj and Umrah season at Makkah hospitals

Objectives: The current study aims to utilize blood bank data collected from the Army forces hospital in Makkah to improve transfusion services at Makkah hospitals and evaluate the inventory system during the Hajj season.
 Methods: Three years' results showed that blood centre production is not constant, with an average of 1800 units during Hajj season that includes Cryo (450), FFP (450), PLT (450), and PRBC (450) units. Moreover, data indicated that the average usage of units is 1119 during the same season (120 Cryo, 424 FFP, 207 PLT and 368 PRBC).
 Results: This demonstrated that the inventory of blood units fluctuates during the year with an overproduction of Cryo (80%), FFP (67%), PLT (83%) and PRBC (57%) units in Hajj Season. It can be concluded that the manner and effectiveness with which the present issues in Makkah blood banking are having a major impact on the current system used to obtain the nation's blood supply and the safety, adequacy, and operational cost of that supply.
 Conclusion: The current study recommends building a generic data warehouse with smart decision support systems that use artificial intelligence to maintain blood bank production and inventory system during the year, especially during Hajj and Umrah seasons.

Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment Coupled with a Photocatalyst for Antimicrobial Performance of Ihram Cotton Fabric.

All Muslim pilgrims must wear Ihram clothes during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, which presents a great challenge regarding how to eliminate the spread of microbes attached to the cotton fabric of Ihram from the surrounding environment. Targeted fashion research of the recent past presents a new industrial treatment, which has led us to study the impact of heat directed from an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ), coupled with photocatalytic nanomaterials, for the antibacterial treatment of Escherichia coli (E. coli) attached to cotton fabric samples, to improve pollutant remediation. The average rates of heat transfer to the bacterial colonies attached to cotton fabric samples, as a function of the laminar mode, were 230 and 77 mW for dry and wet argon discharges, respectively. The jet temperatures (TJ) and heat transfer (QH) decreased more for wet argon discharge than for dry argon discharge. This is because, due to the wettability by TiO2 photocatalyst concentration dosage increases from 0 to 0.5 g L−1, a proportion of the energy from the APPJ photons is expended in overcoming the bandgap of TiO2 and is used in the creation of electron–hole pairs. In the Weibull deactivation function used for the investigation of the antibacterial treatment of E. coli microbes attached to cotton fabric samples, the deactivation kinetic rate of E. coli increased from 0.0065 to 0.0152 min−1 as the TiO2 precursor concentration increased. This means that the sterilization rate increased despite (TJ) and (QH) decreasing as the wettability by TiO2 photocatalyst increases. This may be due to photocatalytic disinfection and the generation of active substances, in addition to the effect of the incident plume of the non-thermal jet.

Measurement of Transportation Service Quality- Taxi within Holy Makah City in Hajj & Umrah seasons between Reality and Expectation: قياس جودة خدمة النقل -سيارات الأجرة- داخل مدينة مكة المكرمة في مواسم الحج والعمرة بين الواقع والمأمول

The current study aimed to measure the quality of transportation service for pilgrims, Umrah performers, and visitors by taxi within the city of Makah Al-Mukarramah from the point of view of the beneficiary customers, and to achieve this goal and the sub-objectives emanating from it. The descriptive approach was used, where the questionnaire based on the standards of the Saudi Transport Authority for taxis of all three types: regular, family, and taxis for people with disabilities and the elderly was applied to a simple random sample of the study subjects, and the study data was analyzed using the statistical analysis program in the statistical package. (SPSS), and employing appropriate statistical methods, and the main problem in this study lies in what are the quality standards for taxi transport service within Makah Al-Mukarramah? Do these standards match reality and achieve the hope? And then the importance of the study is limited to seeking to identify the most important ways that must be available in taxis in particular and ways of transportation in general within the city of Makah Al-Mukarramah to facilitate trips and religious tourism for visitors to the House of God. The study revealed many results that contribute to the development of the transportation service for pilgrims and Umrah pilgrims in the city of Makah Al-Mukarramah during the Hajj and Umrah seasons in the future. Among the most important of these results, it was found that with regard to the availability of the technical specifications of the taxi, which were determined by the Technical Specifications Authority at the Ministry of Transport, there are only three technical specifications that were available to a large extent, and they include: taxi doors, taxi windows, and the quality of adaptation inside the taxi, The results also revealed that the majority of taxis inside the city of Mecca do not apply the technical standards set. The results also showed that the majority of technical equipment is not available in the taxi during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. The results also showed that the general level of customer satisfaction and that of the three areas of satisfaction is moderately available. The study recommended the absolute necessity for both the car company and the vehicle drivers to follow all means of technology and high technologies to provide visitors with the highest and most efficient transportation services. The study also recommended that companies should be charged with employing anyone who is sure that he has experience and high efficiency in managing the business assigned to them. In general, the study recommended applying everything related to the comfort of the passenger and his family members and adhering to the standards of quality and safety inside the vehicles.

Knowledge, barriers and uptake of influenza vaccine among non-health college students at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Viral influenza, one of the global public health problems is specifically important in Saudi Arabia due to high susceptibility of transmission in hajj and umrah seasons (Islamic pilgrimage to the Mecca), as it has the ability to spread widely to a large proportion, in addition the disease has a higher rate of complications that might lead to death. Vaccination is an important strategy in prevention of viral influenza.Design and methods: The study aimed to describe the association between uptake of influenza vaccine with knowledge as well as identify the barriers that prevent vaccination among Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) non-health colleges students. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was undertaken, including 385 students from non-health colleges using a convenience sampling technique. Data was collected using an Arabic self-administered online questionnaire Analysis done by JMP program. IRB approval as well as informed consent were taken.Results: The uptake of the influenza vaccine was 15.3% in the current year and 56.8% in the previous years. No significant association was found between knowledge, and uptake of the vaccine. For the unvaccinated students, the most common encounter barriers stated by study population were concerns regarding the vaccine effectiveness, reduction of immunity the uncertainty of complete protection in a percentage of 12.0% for all.Conclusions: Although the level of vaccine uptake is low for this year, it is not associated with knowledge. There were some barriers that need to be tackled by health education programs.Significance for public healthThe identification of the factors that prevent university students from uptake of the influenza vaccine are essential to maximize vaccine uptake as Influenza continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality in whole world, including Saudi Arabia. Studies exploring influenza vaccine coverage for students are considered important in order to find out the misconception and target it by health education program, which ultimately increase the coverage.

Google trends identifying seasons of religious gathering: applied to investigate the correlation between crowding and flu outbreak

In medical research, mass gathering is considered as one of the intensifying factors for respiratory disease outbreaks. An annual crowding event happens during Muslims’ religious practices of Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Another smaller ritual happens all year round, known as Umrah. While Hajj season is recognized, Umrah seasonality is challenging to identify. This paper uses data from Google Trends to identify Umrah seasons for performers from the Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia. It then investigates the correlation between mass gathering events as it affects the flu spread in the Eastern Province through the use of data. Patient data from a hospital was obtained to find flu seasonality and compared to crowding seasons. Google Trend data was confirmed by a limited dataset of official Umrah data and Flu data was confirmed by official FluNet data from neighboring country, Bahrain. An Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) approach has been followed to identify the seasonality. Cross-correlation analysis found a strong positive correlation between crowding seasons and flu outbreaks in the Eastern Province with a forward shift of flu data for three months.

Airborne Carcinogenic Trace Elements Distribution Associated with Long Term Exposure in Makkah Population

Background:More than 4 million international pilgrims visit Makkah each year during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. Since trace elements are natural ingredients that endure general biogeochemical cycling, conversion functions between environmental loadings, mass levels, and exposed receptors.Objective:This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of carcinogenic trace element levels related to long term exposure.Methods:Particulate Matter (PM10) sampling was conducted at six locations (Al-Haram, Arafat, Muzdalifah, Aziziyah, Al Nuzhah, and Al Awali). On-site measurement parameters included ambient temperature, wind speed, and direction over 37 weeks. Samples were investigated for Cd, Cr, As, Be, and Ni levels with inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Quality assurance measures were achieved separately by analyzing a control sample to certify reliability, reproducibility, and linearity for each analysis.Results:Average particulate matter concentration for a one-year period presented significant variability, which exceeded the WHO guidelines for average exposure (25.0 µgm-3). PM10 average concentrations during round-1 (Spring), round-2 (Summer), round-3 (Autumn) and round-4 (Winter) were 120.1 ± 52.2 µgm-3, 223.4 ± 30.4 µgm-3, 77.6 ± 36.72, and 89 ± 62.7 µgm-3, respectively. The concentrations of Cd, Cr, As, Be, and Ni were found to be 0.098, 0.008, 0.26, 0.03, and 0.012 µgm-3, respectively.Conclusion:PM10 concentration was highly correlated (p-value <0.005) with Cd, Cr, As, Be, and Ni; thereby indicating the influence of manufacturing discharges and pollutants transported over long-distances. Higher ambient air temperatures may cause atmospheric instability in low air dispersion around Makkah. This highlights the importance of continuous air monitoring and calculation of dose exposure levels of both PM10 and trace elements.

Epidemiology of respiratory viruses in Saudi Arabia: toward a complete picture.

Acute lower respiratory tract infection is a major health problem that affects more than 15% of the total population of Saudi Arabia each year. Epidemiological studies conducted over the last three decades have indicated that viruses are responsible for the majority of these infections. The epidemiology of respiratory viruses in Saudi Arabia is proposed to be affected mainly by the presence and mobility of large numbers of foreign workers and the gathering of millions of Muslims in Mecca during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. Knowledge concerning the epidemiology, circulation pattern, and evolutionary kinetics of respiratory viruses in Saudi Arabia are scant, with the available literature being inconsistent. This review summarizes the available data on the epidemiology and evolution of respiratory viruses. The demographic features associated with Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus infections are specifically analyzed for a better understanding of the epidemiology of this virus. The data support the view that continuous entry and exit of pilgrims and foreign workers with different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds in Saudi Arabia is the most likely vehicle for global dissemination of respiratory viruses and for the emergence of new viruses (or virus variants) capable of greater dissemination.

تجربة نظام حاسوبي ذكى للتعرف على التائهين بتمييز الوجوه لخدمة زوار الحرمين الشريفين عدنان عبدالعزيز قطب، صلاح عبدالحميد على أحمد

This paper describes an integrated recognition system for identifying faces of the people. The work is intended to help recognizing lost, missing, dead, and found unknown people visiting the Grand Mosques during Hajj and Umrah seasons in the two Holy cities of Makkah and Medina in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The importance of this work is assumed increasing as the number of visitors will increase aiming to reach the total estimated number of pilgrims around 30 million as planned by the Saudi government in year 2030. The proposed technique is tested by studying faces of 100 Hajj visiting people taken randomly from 25 countries where every person is pictured from different angles and in different situations and behaviors. The different pictures built a new testing database specialized for the changes expected on faces due to Hajj & Umrah situations, which was named HUFRD (Hajj & Umrah Face Recognition Database). The study gave interesting results. It is just in its beginning phase where more accuracy as well as sophisticated image processing techniques would be involved for the promising future.

Diversity of dengue virus-3 genotype III in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

BackgroundDengue is the most important arboviral disease in tropical and subtropical countries. Dispersal of the vector and an increase in migratory flow between countries have led to large epidemics and severe clinical outcomes. Over the past 20 years, dengue epidemics have become more wide-spread and frequent. Previous studies have shown that dengue is endemic in Jeddah, Makkah and Al-Madinah in western Saudi Arabia as well as in Jazan region in the southern part of the country. The four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV) have been reported from western Saudi Arabia. It has been suggested that pilgrims could play a significant and unique role in DENV-1 and DENV-2 introduction into Saudi Arabia, especially in the cities of Jeddah, Makkah and Al-Madinah during Hajj and Umrah seasons. However, only limited data on DENV-3 in Saudi Arabia are available. MethodsAll available DENV-3 sequences published and unpublished from Saudi Arabia and other countries were retrieved from Genbank and gene sequence repository and phylogenetically analyzed to examine the diversity of DENV-3 into the city of Jeddah. ResultsBased on the analysis of the envelope gene and non-structural 1 (E/NS1) junction sequences, we show that there were at least four independent introductions of DENV-3, all from genotype III into Jeddah. The first introduction was most probably before 1997 as Saudi virus isolates from 1997 formed a cluster without any close relationship to other globally circulating isolates, suggesting their local circulation from previous introduction events. Two introductions were most probably in 2004 with isolates closely-related to isolates from Africa and India (Asia), in addition to another introduction in 2014 with isolates clustering with those from Singapore (Asia). ConclusionsOur data shows that only genotype III isolates of DENV-3 are circulating in Jeddah and highlights the potential role of pilgrims in DENV-3 importation into western Saudi Arabia and subsequent exportation to their home countries during Hajj and Umrah seasons. Therefore, it is highly recommended to establish DENV sentinel surveillance programs targeting clinical cases and the mosquito vector in the country to implement effective control measures and to minimize the burden of the disease in the kingdom.

The Saudi Thoracic Society guidelines for influenza vaccinations.

Influenza viruses are responsible for the influenza outbreaks that lead to significant burden and cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Based on the core proteins, influenza viruses are classified into three types, A, B, and C, of which only A and B cause significant human disease and so the vaccine is directed against these two subtypes only. The effectiveness of the vaccine depends on boosting the immune system against the serotypes included within it. As influenza viruses undergo periodic changes in their antigen, the vaccine is modified annually to ensure susceptibility. In contrast to other countries, Saudi Arabia faces a unique and challenging situation due to Hajj and Umrah seasons, when millions of people gather at the holy places in Mecca and Madinah, during which influenza outbreaks are commonly found. Such challenges making the adoption of strict vaccination strategy in Saudi Arabia is of great importance. All efforts were made to develop this guideline in an easy-to-read form, making it very handy and easy to use by health care workers. The guideline was designed to provide recommendations for problems frequently encountered in real life, with special consideration for special situations such as Hajj and Umrah seasons and pregnancy.

Tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia: prevalence and antimicrobial resistance

Tuberculosis is a serious contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is endemic in many countries. Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in the number of multidrug-resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB cases around the world. As in many countries, TB is common in Saudi Arabia. The disease is particularly relevant in the Kingdom because of its population dynamics including a large number of resident expatriates mainly from TB endemic regions and the influx of millions of pilgrims to the country each year during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. This review investigates the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance among M. tuberculosis isolates from Saudi Arabia, highlighting the variations in rates in different geographical areas with particularly high rates in the main cities and regions hosting the annual pilgrimage. The review also refers to the measures needed to prevent and control TB transmission in the country.