Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge about Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, August to September 2013

P Gautret; S Benkouiten; I Salaheddine; K Belhouchat; T Drali; P Parola; P Brouqui

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.41.20604

Rapid communications Open Access

Like 0

Download

Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge about Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, August to September 2013

P Gautret^1,2, S Benkouiten^1,2, I Salaheddine², K Belhouchat², T Drali¹, P Parola^1,2, P Brouqui^1,2
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

Affiliations: ¹ Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), Marseille, France ² Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection, Pole Maladies Infectieuses, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille, Marseille, France

Correspondence:
P Gautret
philippe.gautret club-internet.fr
View Citation Hide Citation

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 . Euro Surveill. 2013;18(41):pii=20604. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.41.20604 Received: 30 Sep 2013; Accepted:

Previous Article
Table of Contents
Next Article

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. .