Zeitschrift für Gemeinde- und öffentliche Gesundheitspflege

Abstrakt

Dengue Fever and the Future of Hajj

Mohammad Saeed Alzahrani

Dengue fever (DF) is a viral, tropical, and subtropical mosquito-borne disease. The DF transmission has increased radically with incidence growing 30-fold over the past 50 years. Currently, an estimated 50–100 million infections take place annually and DF is now categorized as the most important vector-borne viral disease in the world. The first documented case of DF in Saudi Arabia was in 1993. Climate, socio-demographic factors, and increasing urbanization has influenced the spread of DF in Saudi Arabia. The expected future environmental changes over the coming years and the high number of Hajj performers targeted by the Saudi government as well as Hajj time advances to the peak months of DF create a serious threat to pilgrims’ health and a large burden on the Saudi Arabia health system.