The Lancet Infectious Disease
Oct 2010  Volume 10 Number 10  Pages 653 – 736
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

Leading Edge
Mass gatherings medicine
The Lancet Infectious Diseases

A human characteristic is our willingness to travel vast distances to gather in one place, and for any number of reasons, including warfare, religion, politics, sport, mourning, and entertainment. Modern transport has allowed such gathering to increase in their number of participants and in the speed at which people arrive and disperse to all parts of the globe. Such mass gatherings bring with them the risk of spread of infectious diseases—both at the time of the event and when participants return to their homes—and other health hazards such as stampedes or crush injuries, burns, heat exhaustion, dehydration, trauma, and the potential for environmental and public health hazards.