Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge about Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, August to September 201

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Eurosurveillance
Volume 18, Issue 41, 10 October 2013
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/Public/Articles/Archives.aspx?PublicationId=11678

Rapid communications
Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge about Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, August to September 2013
by P Gautret, S Benkouiten, I Salaheddine, K Belhouchat, T Drali, P Parola, P Brouqui

Summary
In preparation for Hajj 2013, 360 French pilgrims were interviewed regarding their knowledge about Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Respondents were aged 20–85 years, male-female ratio was 1.05:1; 64.7% were aware of the MERS situation in Saudi Arabia; 35.3% knew about the Saudi Ministry of Health recommendations for at-risk pilgrims to postpone participation in the 2013 Hajj. None of 179 at-risk individuals (49.9%) decided to cancel their Hajj participation even after advice during consultation.