Infectious Diseases and Preventive Measures During Hajj Mass Gatherings: A Review of the Literature

[Context]Attention and taking care for communicable diseases are very important in mass gatherings. The aim of this study was to illustrate an overview about infectious diseases distribution among pilgrims in Hajj.[Evidence Acquisition]This was a review article, in which the authors used all papers, which were indexed in PubMed and Irandoc from 2000 to 2015. The following key words were searched in the databases: hajj, infectious diseases, emerging and re-emerging diseases, vaccination, and chemoprevention. Three hundred and fifty-four papers were found and their contents were subsequently reviewed after abstract screening.[Results]The results showed that the most frequent diseases in Hajj were respiratory infections. The most frequent causes of respiratory infections were upper respiratory viral infections and bacterial respiratory infections, respectively. In the recent years, emerging and reemerging diseases, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome due to coronaviruses (MERS - CoV), and Ebola have imposed many stresses on the pilgrims and health policy managers.[Conclusions]In this study, the researchers offered some effective recommendations for vaccinations, chemoprophylaxis, and other preventive measures for pilgrims.