Influenza risk at Muslim pilgrimages in Iraq and Saudi Arabia

He study by Yavarian et al. [1] is a major contribution to the field of mass gathering medicine for two reasons. Firstly, this is one among the very few studies addressing respiratory diseases in Karbala pilgrims in Iraq and in Umrah pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Secondly, the design of the study includes a control group selected from the general population of Iran to which pilgrims can be compared. A Shiite Muslim pilgrimage takes place each year in Karbala, an Iraqi city of approximately 500,000 inhabitants located 100 km south-east of the capital, Baghdad.
Source: Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Source Type: research