A Mass Gathering Experience at the 2009 Pilgrimage in Makkah , Saudi Arabia , During the 2009 Novel Influenza A ( H 1 N 1 ) Pandemic

Background: Saudi Arabia hosted 2.5 million pilgrims in 2009 amidst H1N1 pandemic. The Armed Forces Hospital in Mina caters for pilgrims during Hajj, annually. In the hospital, rigorous infection control precautions were taken to mitigate the transmission of the pandemic among the care seekers and the hospital’s health workers. Objective: To study the distribution of confirmed H1N1 infection among suspected H1N1 patients admitted to the hospital. Methods: Patients who met disease severity criteria were admitted to the H1N1 isolation ward, nasopharyngeal and throat swabs for H1N1 virus assay, using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique taken. Results: Out of 39 admissions, females significantly predominated [74.4% vs. 25.6%, X(1) 9.26, p 0.002]. Eleven (29.7%, n=37) patients tested H1N1-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive. No health worker reported suspected H1N1 symptoms during the mission. Patients significantly differed in the rate of positiveand negative H1N1-PCR-test [29.7%, 70.3%, X (1) 6.81, p 0.014]. Test positivity did not differ by nationality (Saudi vs. non-Saudi). Conclusion: Dealing with a pandemic in a mass gathering situation is a unique experience. This work provides that although the burden of H1N1 infection may well be enhanced by Hajj mass gathering, applying systematized infection control measures in a well-defined hospital setting could help mitigate the transmission of H1N1 within the facility environment. [Sherif R. Omar and Raouf M. Afifi. A Mass Gathering Experience at the 2009 Pilgrimage in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, During the 2009 Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic. J Am Sci 2013;9(4):563-571]. (ISSN: 15451003). http://www.jofamericanscience.org. 60