ReviewJournal of travel medicine2024
Sacred journeys and pilgrimages: health risks associated with travels for religious purposes.
Review in Journal of travel medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Self-reported acute respiratory illness during the pre-ritual and post-return phases of Hajj among South African pilgrims in 2025: a retrospective cohort study.IJID regions · 2026Article
- Epidemiological, Clinical and Viral Genomic Features of Influenza Virus Infections Among Pilgrims During the Grand Magal of Touba Over 7 Years (2018-2024).Journal of medical virology · 2026Article
- Influenza Vaccination and Morbidity Among Sudanese Hajj Pilgrims During the 2025 Hajj.Vaccines · 2025Article
- Health Education in Mass Gatherings: A Scoping Review to Guide Public Health Preparedness and Practice.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Assessment of healthcare workers' knowledge and attitudes toward mpox and acceptance of its vaccine: a health belief model-based analysis in the Gulf region.Osong public health and research perspectives · 2025Article
- Respiratory symptom burden, vaccination coverage, and preventive health practices among Sudanese Hajj pilgrims who traveled by sea.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Delivering emergency care at the religious mass gathering of India: an amalgamation of technology and spirituality-an institutional experience of managing pilgrims at Mahakumbh Prayagraj.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPilgrimages and travel to religious mass gatherings (MGs) are part of all major religions. This narrative review aims to describe some characteristics, including health risks, of the more well-known and frequently undertaken ones.
methodsA literature search was conducted using keywords related to the characteristics (frequency of occurrence, duration, calendar period, reasons behind their undertaking and the common health risks) of Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish religious MGs.
resultsAbout 600 million trips are undertaken to religious sites annually. The characteristics vary between religions and between pilgrimages. However, religious MGs share common health risks, but these are reported in a heterogenous manner. European Christian pilgrimages reported both communicable diseases, such as norovirus outbreaks linked to the Marian Shrine of Lourdes in France, and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs predominated at the Catholic pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, which documented 11 million attendees in 1 week. The Zion Christian Church Easter gathering in South Africa, attended by ~10 million pilgrims, reported mostly motor vehicle accidents. Muslim pilgrimages such as the Arbaeen (20 million pilgrims) and Hajj documented a high incidence of respiratory tract infections, up to 80% during Hajj. Heat injuries and stampedes have been associated with Hajj. The Hindu Kumbh Mela pilgrimage, which attracted 100 million pilgrims in 2013, documented respiratory conditions in 70% of consultations. A deadly stampede occurred at the 2021 Jewish Lag BaOmer MG.
conclusionCommunicable and NCD differ among the different religious MGs. Gaps exists in the surveillance, reporting and data accessibility of health risks associated with religious MGs. A need exists for the uniform implementation of a system of real-time monitoring of diseases and morbidity patterns, utilizing standardized modern information-sharing platforms. The health needs of pilgrims can then be prioritized by developing specific and appropriate guidelines.
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