MAKKAH, June 2 — A total of 29 people, or 0.2 per cent of the 13,000 pilgrims who have arrived in the Holy Land, have sought treatment at the Tabung Haji (TH) treatment centre.
The head of the Malaysian Haj delegation, Datuk Seri Syed Saleh Syed Abdul Rahman, said 11 of them, comprising seven in Makkah and four in Madinah, were treated for pneumonia due to the hot weather and dusty condition, while the rest were treated for other problems, including heart disease and injury from a fall.
In terms of bed usage at the treatment centres in Makkah and Madinah, he said, only 11 per cent were used, with four per cent involving pneumonia patients.
“All of them are in stable condition and do require further treatment. Suffice with them being given antibiotics,” he said after welcoming the arrival of the first group of 279 pilgrims via the Jeddah Haj Terminal, Saudi Arabia, at the accommodation college in Al Fajer Al Badia here.
Prior to this, it went viral on the WhatsApp application about pilgrims filling the wards at the treatment centres due to pneumonia, with most of them said to not have taken the Pneumococcal and Influenza vaccine.
When asked whether it was true that the pilgrims who were treated for pneumonia had not been vaccinated against Pneumococcal and Influenza, Syed Saleh said that the matter was still being investigated.
“But, based on a random inspection, they (pilgrims) have been given the vaccines,” he added.
He said the pilgrims had been encouraged to take the two vaccines in addition to the Meningococcal vaccine, which is required by the Saudi Arabia government.
Meanwhile, Syed Saleh said three Malaysian pilgrims are in a Saudi Arabian health facility due to heart problems, lung and skin infections.
All of them are in stable condition, he added.
