10. Group A and Group W135 strains of meningococcal disease
Every year, over two million Muslims from all over the world travel to Saudi Arabia for the holy pilgrimage to Mecca — the Hajj. In the UK, the Muslim community estimates that approximately 20,000 citizens take part in the Hajj or other, smaller, pilgrimage of Umrah.
These pilgrimages are a lifetime ambition and people go with high expectations of it being the spiritual experience of a lifetime.
Vaccination against meningitis A and C infection has been a visa requirement for travellers to the Hajj since outbreaks of group A infection occurred after the Hajj in 1987.
However, in March 2000 an outbreak of W135 meningococcal disease occurred among pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia following that year's Hajj pilgrimage. A total of 45 cases were identified in UK residents who had either recently returned from the Hajj or had come into close contact with returning pilgrims, and eight people died.
This pattern was unfortunately repeated in 2001, when there were 38 cases of W135 infection and 10 deaths in the UK.
