Monday, October 21, 2013

#MERS #Coronavirus Saudi Arabia Dr. Memish: Pilgrims' Health Status Is Reassuring...No Epidemic Cases Detected

16 October 2013

The Deputy Minister for Public Health and the Head of the Hajj Curative Medicine Committee, Dr. Ziad bin Ahmed Memish, said that the health situation is reassuring, and there are no epidemic diseases among pilgrims thankfully so far.
 
In addition, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has not yet recorded any cases of meningitis or food poisoning in the Holy Sites, expressing his hope that the health situation continues as it is now so that the pilgrimage season passes safely without recording any epidemic or quarantine diseases.
 
Within the same vein, Dr. Memish announced at a news conference held on Tuesday that the Kingdom has updated its health requirements this year after following up and monitoring the global heath situation throughout the year in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the research and diseases centers in America and Europe.
 
In addition, Dr. Memish underscored that the MOH has launched a huge awareness campaign targeting the countries from which the pilgrims come, adding that such campaigns focus on the pilgrimage ports and areas; contributing significantly to obtaining such good fruits so far.
 
Within the same vein, Dr. Memish pointed out that based upon the MOH’s accumulated experiences and study of cases with Coronavirus, the Ministry advices the elderly people, patients with chronic diseases, pregnant women and children to postpone the performance of Hajj, after founding that 75% of the Coronavirus deaths which are recorded locally and globally occur amidst such segments of people.
 
Moreover, Dr. Memish underscored that the Ministry is currently working on preparation and implementation of 10 studies expected to help in dealing with the pilgrims and contributing to the development of solutions to any emergent health problems, especially the infectious and epidemic diseases which attract the attention of the Ministry, noting that some of such studies are related to Coronavirus while others are related to meningitis and the other viruses widely spread in the world.
 
Furthermore, Dr. Memish mentioned that the study teams have ended the first phase, during which random samples were taken from pilgrims coming from abroad, noting that the second phase will kick off on Thursday 12/12/1434H (corresponding to 17/10/2013) by taking samples from the pilgrims before their departure to make sure that they are free from diseases and to recognize their health status.
 
Speaking of the ways of dealing with any Coronavirus case, Allah forbid, Dr. Memish said that the Ministry has a several-phase plan to face these potential cases; such a plan starts with diagnosing the case and testing the health practitioners, with isolation of the positive cases in rooms allocated for this purpose and examination of the close people, pointing out that the laboratories have already been equipped with equipments.

http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/Ministry/MediaCenter/News/Pages/news-2013-10-16-005.aspx

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