Lami Faris, Asi Wejdan, Khistawi Adnan, Jawad Iman
Department of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
Wasit Directorate of Health, Iraq Ministry of Health, Wasit, Iraq.
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 Oct 7;5(4):e10920. doi: 10.2196/10920.
Arbaeenia is the largest religious mass gathering organized annually in Karbala city, Iraq, and is attended by 8-14 million people. Outbreaks of communicable diseases are a significant risk due to overcrowding and potential food and water contamination. Syndromic surveillance is often used for rapid detection and response to disease outbreaks.
This study was conducted to identify the main communicable diseases syndromes among pilgrims during the Arbaeenia mass gathering in Wassit governorate, Iraq, in 2014.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in the 40 mobile clinics established within Wassit governorates along the road to Karbala during the Arbaeenia mass gathering. Six communicable disease syndromes were selected: acute watery diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever and cough, vomiting with or without diarrhea, fever and bleeding tendency, and fever and rash. A simple questionnaire was used to directly gather basic demographics and the syndromic diagnosis from the attendees.
A total of 87,865 patients attended the clinics during the 10-day period, with an average of 219 patients/clinic/day. Approximately 5% (3999) of the attendees had communicable diseases syndromes: of these, 1693 (42%) had fever and cough, 1144 (29%) had acute diarrhea, 1062 (27%) presented with vomiting with/without diarrhea, and 100 (2%) had bloody diarrhea. The distribution of the syndromes did not vary by age or gender. Stool specimen cultures for Vibrio cholerae performed for 120 patients with acute diarrhea were all negative.
Syndromic surveillance was useful in determining the main communicable diseases encountered during the mass gathering. Expansion of this surveillance to other governorates and the use of mobile technology can help in timely detection and response to communicable disease outbreaks.
阿尔巴尼亚节是伊拉克卡尔巴拉市每年举办的规模最大的宗教群众集会，有800万至1400万人参加。由于人群过度拥挤以及潜在的食物和水污染，传染病爆发风险很大。症状监测常被用于疾病爆发的快速检测和应对。
本研究旨在确定2014年伊拉克瓦西特省阿尔巴尼亚节群众集会期间朝圣者中的主要传染病综合征。
这项横断面研究在阿尔巴尼亚节群众集会期间，于通往卡尔巴拉的道路沿线瓦西特省设立的40个流动诊所中进行。选择了六种传染病综合征：急性水样腹泻、血性腹泻、发热伴咳嗽、呕吐伴或不伴腹泻、发热伴出血倾向以及发热伴皮疹。使用一份简单问卷直接收集参与者的基本人口统计学信息和综合征诊断结果。
在为期10天的时间里，共有87865名患者前往诊所就诊，平均每个诊所每天有219名患者。约5%（3999名）参与者患有传染病综合征：其中，1693名（42%）发热伴咳嗽，1144名（29%）急性腹泻，1062名（27%）呕吐伴或不伴腹泻，100名（2%）血性腹泻。综合征的分布在年龄或性别上没有差异。对120名急性腹泻患者进行的霍乱弧菌粪便标本培养均为阴性。
症状监测有助于确定群众集会期间遇到的主要传染病。将这种监测扩展到其他省份并使用移动技术有助于及时检测和应对传染病爆发。
