Mass Gatherings and Infectious Diseases Epidemiology and Surveillance

Abstract

Context: Every year, millions of people travel around the world to attend a wide range of mass gatherings (MGs) such as sport events and religious festivals. These MGs increase the risk of infectious diseases outbreaks which is facilitated by large number of individuals staying in confined areas, sometimes for a short period of time. Evidence Acquisition: Electronic medical databases including PubMed and EMBASE were searched from 1990 to 2014 on the subject of epidemiology of infectious diseases related to MGs. Keywords including "mass gathering", "crowding", "infectious diseases", "communicable diseases", "outbreak" and "surveillance" were used for retrieving the relevant articles. In this review article, we mainly focused on the epidemiology and surveillance systems related to infectious diseases control and management. Results: The spread of infectious diseases has been a major public health challenge related to MGs. Food-borne diseases and respiratory infections have been the most common outbreaks reported during MG. Preparedness and response plans to manage possible infectious diseases outbreaks requires enhancing infectious diseases surveillance, allocation of appropriate human and financial resources, and coordination among the various divisions of public health. Hajj is an example of good practice which involves millions of pilgrims, in which comprehensive infectious diseases surveillance is in place to monitor health risks and reinforce evidence-based planning for preventive measures. Conclusions: Infectious disease surveillance for MGs should preferably be built via some modification and improvements, made to the existing surveillance and notification system to assist early detection and response to infectious diseases outbreaks.