The Saudi Health Ministry said none of the victims had been vaccinated and that all of them fell sick within two to three days of arriving in the country. The three other victims were 75-year-olds from Sudan, India and Morocco. But Nigerian hajj officials denied the report, saying none of the 14 Nigerians who died in Saudi Arabia tested positive to swine flu.
The Saudi English language daily newspaper Arab News yesterday quoted the health ministry as saying that the four had not followed “recommended procedures, especially vaccination against H1N1.”
The Nigerian girl, whose name was not given, got the disease two days after arriving in Medina. “She was admitted to hospital with
pulmonary failure and high sugar level, which demanded quick medical intervention. She was taken to the intensive care unit and given necessary treatment but died the same day because of her worsening condition,” the ministry said.
However, reacting to news of the deaths, head of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria’s (NAHCON) medical team Dr. Ibrahim Kana said no pilgrims from Nigeria tested positive to the swine flu virus. “Ten of our pilgrims were quarantined against swine flu and all the 10, including an official from NAHCON, tested negative. So the story is baseless,” he said.
According to the Saudis, the Sudanese pilgrim, who died in Medina, developed symptoms of the disease four days after arriving in the Kingdom. The Indian pilgrim, who died in Makkah, was suffering from heart diseases in addition to swine flu. “He was admitted to intensive care unit and given necessary medication but failed to recover,” the ministry said. They also said the Moroccan woman who died in a Medina hospital was also suffering from liver cancer.
The hajj has become a concern for world health officials because the 3 million people brought together from around the world has raised fears it could contribute to the spread of swine flu, the Associated Press reported. The Saudi government has recommended that the elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children should skip the hajj this year. Other measures include thermal screening equipment at entry points to detect passengers with fevers, rapid reporting of illnesses from a network of hospitals and clinics back to the emergency operations centre and special hospitals for quarantining those who catch the disease.
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