Attention pilgrims going on pilgrimage! Experts warn! Infection warning for pilgrim candidates! Dr. Yakup Hakan Başaran told...
It is important for pilgrim candidates who are preparing to go to the holy land to perform their worship to take precautions against possible infectious diseases. Underlining that the first condition for protection against infectious diseases is hygiene and vaccination, experts warned, "Vaccinations should be completed before traveling in order to start protection against possible diseases in the pilgrimage region."
Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Specialist Dr. Yakup Hakan Başaran gave important advice to pilgrim candidates preparing to travel to the holy land.
It is necessary to pay attention to personal hygiene
Emphasizing the importance of hygiene in protection against viruses, Uzm. Dr. Yakup Hakan Başaran said, "Personal hygiene (washing hands with soapy water, bathing, brushing teeth, wearing clean clothes) is the easiest method to protect both ourselves and our environment. Beyond these, there are steps that can be taken to protect the community when we are sick (avoiding common areas except when necessary until the disease recovers), as well as measures that can be taken to protect against diseases."
Vaccinations should be completed before traveling
Emphasizing that the easiest, cheapest and safest way of protection, apart from personal hygiene, is vaccination, Başaran said:
"Before going to Hajj, information should be obtained about the diseases that can be protected by vaccination and that may be common in the region, and vaccinations should be completed before a suitable period of time before the trip for the protection to start. Other personal protection methods include preferring drinking water with closed lids, consuming food that has not been kept waiting and hygienically prepared, and wearing a mask when in crowded areas. Even if a simple mask does not provide one hundred percent protection, it is an important method of protection against respiratory diseases."
Pointing out that the common feature of infectious diseases is that they are low or highly contagious depending on the type of infection and the place of involvement in the body, Uzm. Dr. Yakup Hakan Başaran said, "Some infectious diseases require an intermediary organism for this transmission, but most infections can be transmitted directly from person to person or through the environment."
Beware of contagious viruses!
Dr. Yakup Hakan Başaran stated that the virus called MERS CoV, which has been detected and spread in the pilgrimage region in recent years, is highly contagious and can cause deaths, and continued his words as follows: "The transmission of the infectious disease from the sick person (source) to the susceptible person can be through the environment (drinking or utility water, food, respiratory tract, common tools), or direct contact in various skin infections, through respiration, sneezing, cough, urine, feces. In some infections, intermediary organisms (ticks, lice, mosquitoes, etc.) that carry the disease from person to person are necessary for the transmission of the disease."
Prevention of infection is more important than treatment
Prof. Dr. Yakup Hakan Başaran said, "As can be seen, being in a crowded environment, it is obvious how there can be a spread from a single sick person. However, whether as a result of pilgrimage, tourism or modern life, people often have to be in crowded environments. This situation reveals protection from infectious diseases as a more important step, not treatment in infectious diseases", he warned the pilgrim candidates.