The Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Preventive Health, Dr. Abdullah Assiri reiterated, to the arrivals for Umrah and Hajj, the importance of adherence to the health requirements of taking the quadrivalent vaccine against meningitis, as well as other mandatory vaccination required from the countries, in which some infectious diseases are spreading. He pointed out that the health requirements for this year focus on several key issues, which are yellow fever, cerebrospinal meningitis, polio, and vaccination against the seasonal flu virus.
Assiri also advised all pilgrims, from inside and outside the Kingdom, to take the seasonal flu vaccine. He especially advised the most vulnerable groups to complications of diseases, those suffering from chronic respiratory tract diseases, heart diseases resulted from high blood pressure, chronic kidney diseases, diabetes and endocrine diseases, and persons who take immunodeficiency drugs, in addition to pregnant women.
He noted that the Ministry of Health (MOH), represented by the Assistant Agency for Preventive Health, in collaboration with Sanofi Company, has launched an awareness campaign to curb the infectious diseases under the theme: "For a Healthy Safe Hajj". Through the campaign, several multi-lingual awareness publications were prepared for the pilgrims, from inside and outside the Kingdom. The publications, he said, are in form of educational messages, about the Corona virus, aimed at the public and health staff. Some are about cholera, dengue fever, and meningitis. The publications included a lot of information of interest to the pilgrims, such as symptoms and complications of diseases and mechanism to detect them, in addition to the procedures that must be followed once disease is contracted.
Dr. Assiri underlined the importance of adherence to the health guidelines; to curb the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and other respiratory diseases. Guidelines include washing hands with water and soap or disinfectant regularly, especially after coughing and sneezing; using handkerchief when coughing or sneezing, then getting rid of them in a waste basket, in addition to avoiding touching the eyes, nose and mouth with your hand; avoiding close contact with infected people and not sharing their personal items; wearing face masks especially at crowded places and staying away from camels gathering areas and avoiding close contact with them, in addition to refraining from consuming raw camel milk or undercooked camel meat.