As part of the “Hello, Healthy Ramadan” service, the Media and Health Awareness Information Center at the Ministry of health (MOH) has hosted Dr. Mazen bin Adnan Barry, a consultant physician in the infectious diseases, via the Center’s toll free number: 8002494444, or the MOH Portal on Tweeter: @SAUDIMOH.
“There are no fears concerning the performance of Umrah during the holy month of Ramadan, even though some cases of Coronavirus have been recently detected in the Kingdom, only if one is in good health, washes hands with soap, uses the gel containing alcohol, covers mouth with elbow while coughing and sneezing, and wears a respiratory mask, especially if the person is in contact people suffering from high temperature and cough,” declared Dr. Barry.
In response to a question on whether there is a problem in case of elderly people to perform Hajj in the presence of the Coronavirus, Dr. Barry was quoted as advising the elderly to postpone the pilgrimage this year, follow the personal hygiene guidelines, including washing hands, and stay away from those seemingly affected by flu symptoms.
And whether the excessive hygiene and frequent hand washing are a cause of human exposure to infection than others, Dr. Mazen has confirmed that this is not true at all.
Dr. Mazen has also confirmed that the stomach germ is not contagious, making clear that it is completely different from the bacteria that infect the liver.
Moving on to the foods and drinks that help, with Allah’s help, in recovering from liver germ, Dr. Mazen has recommended following a healthy lifestyle such as eating fruit and fresh vegetables, drinking fluids, and exercising moderately. Moreover, he has noted that Hepatitis “A” is the least dangerous type; it is not chronic, and quite different from the stomach germ caused by bacteria “H pylori”.
Within the same vein, Dr. Barry has answered one of the questions received via Twitter on the typhoid disease, stressing that this disease can be contagious if a person with typhoid does not wash his hands well. Therefore, he advised people not to eat any food given by such a person with typhoid until he is completely recovered.