From this year, Indian pilgrims going on Haj to Saudi Arabia will have to mandatorily get vaccinated for seasonal influenza. So far, only vaccination for meningococcal meningitis was compulsory.
Following an advisory issued by the Royal Consulate General of Saudi Arabia to the Haj Committee of India (HCI), Karnataka State Haj Committee, which is all set to start pre-Haj activities from August 31, will take up vaccination of all the 4,630 pilgrims who have been shortlisted under the government quota.
According to the advisory, taking the flu vaccination has been made mandatory to contain the spread of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) coronavirus and other respiratory diseases during Haj, especially for people suffering from chronic illness such as cardiac, renal and respiratory diseases.
According to Riyaz Basha, professor at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute and Deputy Registrar at Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, who is a part of the team of doctors monitoring the health requirements of pilgrims over the past few years, a national advisory in this regard was issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in July.
“With the first flight set to take off from Karnataka on September 3, a team of doctors here have been increasingly working towards creating awareness among the pilgrims,” he said.
He said the mandatory vaccination for seasonal influenza was an added precaution following an outbreak of MERS last year. “Most people who take up the pilgrimage usually catch respiratory infections soon after they land there. This is because of the change in climatic conditions and also the huge congregation of people from across the world,” he said.
