JEDDAH: Jeddah Health Affairs has said that the Kingdom's embassies abroad have been fully informed of the health conditions required for the granting of pilgrimage visas and reminded all visitors to the Holy Cities of compulsory and recommended vaccinations. Health Affairs' head of preventive medicine Adil Al-Turkistani said that meningitis vaccinations were particularly necessary for internal pilgrims and Haj staff who have direct contact with pilgrims. “The new meningitis vaccine has been supplied to all primary healthcare centers and hospitals, and it gives immunity for over five years,” Al-Turkistani said. “All pilgrims from abroad are required to be vaccinated for cerebral meningitis, while some countries are required to have their pilgrims vaccinated for yellow fever and child polio,” he said. Some forms of meningitis - the inflammation of membranes covering the brain and spinal cord and usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection - are passed on through exchanges of respiratory and throat secretions such as coughing and sneezing. The incubation period is between seven to 14 days.The bacteria are not as contagious as the common cold or flu, however, and are not spread by casual contact or breathing air where a meningitis carrier has been. Dr. Elham Talat Qattan, a spinal meningitis virus consultant, said that the main symptoms of meningitis are high temperature, stiffness in the neck, difficulty tolerating light, vomiting, severe headache, sleepiness and rapid weight loss, adding that infected children have convulsions at the beginning of the infection, and in some cases develop rashes. Other health conditions include vaccinations against seasonal flu for all pilgrims, which Al-Turkistani said was of particular importance for persons suffering from heart problems, kidney complaints, respiratory difficulties, nervous disorders, diabetes, HIV, metabolism disorders, and obese persons and pregnant women. Munira Khaled Balahmar, head of the Health Awareness Department at the Primary Healthcare Administration of the Health Affairs Department in Jeddah, said respiratory system diseases are considered the most common all year, but they are more common during winter and the beginning of spring, and in places with large crowds, which is the situation at the Holy Sites and Makkah during Haj.
