Author(s)

Nezar H. Khdary^1,2, Muhammed A. Alalem², Abdulhafiz M. Turkistan³, Saad S. Alghamdi³

¹King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, KSA.
²Preventive Health Affairs and Infectious Diseases Control Department, Directorate of Health Affairs, Makkah, KSA.
³Primary Health Care Affairs and Diseases Control, Makkah, KSA.

The flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, termed Pandemic H1N1/09 virus by the World Health Organization (WHO), which was first identified in April 2009. The disease has also been termed novel Influenza A(H1N1) and 2009 H1N1 flu by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and is commonly known as swine flu. The main strain of the virus has been termed A/California/07/2009 (H1N1) by scientists. This study was conducted to describe the epidemiology of influenza A(H1N1) infections in KSA during 2009. A descriptive study was carried out among attendants at hospitals and primary health care centers in Makkah during 2009, irrespective of age and sex. The data were collected by interviewing suspected persons using a pre-designed questionnaire, clinical examination, and specific laboratory investigation. A total of 1138 subjects were included in the study. Among the study population, 25% of the cases between 15 and 24 years old were found positive for influenza A(H1N1) by PCR technique. Although a significant population was affected by influenza A(H1N1) during 2009 in Makkah, the efforts and steps taken by health authorities at all levels―especially those in Directorate of Health Affairs of Makkah—helped to avert the mortality associated with the H1N1 influenza among the residents and those coming for Umrah and Hajj to Makkah by providing and timely diagnosis.

Influenza, H1N1, Swine Flu, Makkah

Khdary, N. , Alalem, M. , Turkistan, A. and Alghamdi, S. (2014) An Epidemiological Study on Influenza A(H1N1) in Makkah. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 4, 198-206. doi: 10.4236/aid.2014.44028.