Badrek-Alamoudi Ahmed H
Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University College of Medicine, Makkah, SAU.
Cureus. 2023 Apr 10;15(4):e37369. doi: 10.7759/cureus.37369. eCollection 2023 Apr.
Background Cellulitis is a common infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Meteorological and environmental temperatures were previously identified as potential risk factors for causation and the patient's odds of hospitalization. In this regard, we aim to study the pattern of cellulitis during 10 Hajj seasons and examine the impact of changing seasonal temperatures and overall pilgrim populations as potential risk factors. Methodology In-hospital cellulitis was studied within the context of the Hajj. A retrospective review of pilgrim patients coded for cellulitis was undertaken for the Hajj seasons between 2004 and 2012. Possible roles of environmental temperatures, pilgrim population sizes, and ethnicity were examined as potential risk factors. Results A total of 381 patients belonging to 42 nationalities were identified, with 285 (75%) males and 96 (25%) females with a mean age of 63 years. On average, cellulitis accounted for 23.5% of general surgical admissions with proportional increases from 2004 to 2012 (r= 0.73, p= 0.016), which significantly correlated with the rise in seasonal temperatures (r = 0.7, p= 0.023). Conclusions The findings of this study identified cellulitis as a significant health risk during the Hajj, which is likely to be prevalent in warmer seasons. Our results may assist clinicians in educating Hajj pilgrims of different nationalities about the increased risk of cellulitis during warm seasons and possible predisposing environmental factors of infection.
背景 蜂窝织炎是皮肤和皮下组织的常见感染。气象温度和环境温度先前被确定为发病及患者住院几率的潜在风险因素。在这方面，我们旨在研究10个朝觐季节期间蜂窝织炎的发病模式，并考察季节温度变化和朝觐者总数作为潜在风险因素的影响。方法 在朝觐背景下研究院内蜂窝织炎情况。对2004年至2012年朝觐季节编码为蜂窝织炎的朝觐者患者进行回顾性研究。考察环境温度、朝觐者人数和种族作为潜在风险因素的可能作用。结果 共确定了来自42个国家的381名患者，其中男性285名（75%），女性96名（25%），平均年龄63岁。蜂窝织炎平均占普通外科住院人数的23.5%，从2004年到2012年呈比例增加（r = 0.73，p = 0.016），这与季节温度升高显著相关（r = 0.7，p = 0.023）。结论 本研究结果表明蜂窝织炎是朝觐期间的重大健康风险，在温暖季节可能更为普遍。我们的结果可能有助于临床医生向不同国籍的朝觐者宣传温暖季节蜂窝织炎风险增加及可能的感染易感环境因素。
