It’s again a pretty slow news day in Saudi Arabia. Local media is focusing on the start of Haj and the variety of government services being supplied to support pilgrims. Now, Haj is clearly an important event and one to which the Saudi government and Saudi society pay much attention. As it happens every year, though, there are only so many things that can be said about it, beyond incremental improvements in services.
This year, the presence of swine flu added a new level of interest, but so far that’s not much of a story. Pilgrims diagnosed with swine flu have tallied about a dozen so far. They’ve been offered treatment in Saudi medical facilities.
I’ll keep looking for Saudi-related materials, though…
Posting was down over the past couple of days due to yet another in a series of technical issues. I’ve taken steps to avoid those in the future, but such is life. I did learn that it’s next to impossible to run this blog through a ‘smart phone’. Brief replies to comments is about as far as that permits.
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November:25:2009 - 09:37
John,
I read this morning in the French press that there were already 4 casualties among the pilgrims because of swine flu: 3 elderly persons and a teenager; considering the people concentration I fear it does not bode well for the future, I mean once the pilgrims are back in their respective countries; of course I’m not a doctor, I guess Chiara will elaborate more knowledgeably.
November:25:2009 - 14:42
Salut Michel!
The 4 deaths were also covered by the BBC and by the Saudi Gazette. All 4 had pre-existing conditions that made them unusually vulnerable.
Anyone who has had contact with swine flu could transmit it for about 2 days before getting symptoms and for 3-5 days after (especially when having fever), so is contagious for about 7 days (longer for children). It is conceivable that someone would leave KSA feeling well and transmit the virus at home. However, since Saudi is requiring all pilgrims including Saudis to be vaccinated before making hajj this risk would seem to be low.
Now I feel guilty for bringing a GI virus from Morocco to France–I got sick in France about 3 days after arrival. The PhDs in immunology I was staying with were very kind, even if the woman washed everything I touched in bleach, and wanted to autoclave me I’m sure. Excellent medical check up from the Chief Resident in the GI specialty. No one got it from me as far as I know. Good thing–I felt worse than when I had swine flu in June. Sort of felt like “If this keeps up I am going to dehydrate and die. Oh, well the way I feel, no biggie”. LOL
John–the whole USA/KSA blogosphere seems slow with Hajj, Eid, and Thanksgiving. Dumb Smart phone! LOL
November:25:2009 - 16:25
Chiara, did the French want to give you the full pill treatment? Too bad you were ill – I understand the hospitals have a great spread of food for those willing to donate blood!
November:25:2009 - 16:43
When the news is slow, you can always talk about the weather:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_saudi_hajj
Rare, heavy rain soaks pilgrims
November:25:2009 - 16:51
Well, it rained like the dickens in Jeddah today- which means flooding- in the roads and in my house. I know one hospital was completely flooded. I don’t know what the weather was like in Mecca, but probably not so good. I hope drainage is better there than in Jeddah.
November:26:2009 - 12:51
Solomon2–thank you for your kindness. I have always had excellent care in the French system which I admire greatly, and that extremely thorough and knowledgeable checkup with investigations was a freebie as I didn’t have French health insurance at that point, so the hospital absorbed the cost of the investigations, and the Chief Resident’s time. Since it turned out to be a virus, he only gave me a prescription for the nausea and vomiting etc, which unfortunately I couldn’t keep down even with the minimum of water (hence the reasonable dehydration calculation above LOL
).
The “full pill treatment” is interesting because indeed, one tends (or tended) to leave an appointment with the family doctor with a long prescription and then leave the pharmacy with a bag full of pills (literally). That was partly due to the common practice of prescribing for the problem and simultaneously prescribing for the side effects of the 1st prescription, which resulted in 4 medications for a standard urniary tract infection rather than the single anti-biotic one would get in North America. Also, any medication, vitamin, or herbal treatment that is prescribed by a physician is covered by most health insurers, so those are tossed onto the prescription and into the bag too.
I have never donated blood anywhere because of routine low blood pressure (also first symptomatic and well diagnosed and treated in France), meaning I am barely standing with what I have LOL
, but thanks for the tip! I have never been an inpatient in France so can’t speak to the quality of the food, but in keeping with France’s gustatory interest, the medications there are very tasty–at least the ones you are supposed to taste! 
November:27:2009 - 14:58
Glad to know you’re feeling better, Chiara. It seems the French health system lives up to its very good, if pill-heavy, reputation – though I didn’t realize vitamins and herbals were included, too.
As for your blood problem, maybe B-12 shots would help?
November:27:2009 - 19:19
Solomon2–thank you. All this happened in the past, so I am good now. B-12 is good for B 12 deficiency anemia. Licorice is good for low blood pressure, which I discovered from French friends and the pharmacist who sold herbals as well as prescription meds, rather common in Europe. So now I drink licorice root tea, or take licorice root capsules (more scientific but less tasty).
Any thoughts on the US health care debate, or shouldn’t we go there? LOL
November:28:2009 - 20:33
I do hope the U.S. ends up with a system more like the French than the British. I know personally of one case in England where a terminally ill patient was refused a painkiller on the grounds it was addictive. Too weak to appeal the decision herself, her relatives had to fight a battle just so she could die without pain.
November:28:2009 - 21:44
Every Brit I’ve worked with or known as a friend has private insurance, for all those times when the NHS doesn’t quite come through. Or when their lives depend on excellent health care.
November:29:2009 - 16:10
It does seem as if the NHS in England has led to a full 2-tier system with those who want fast and accurate treatment paying for private services. This has not happened in Canada, where only those procedures not covered by the government health plan are privatized (eg laser eye surgery for visual correction; neonatal circumcision with no immediate medical need; cosmetic surgery), and a very few specialty hospitals.
One thing I like about the French system is that the patient does see the bill and so is aware of the cost of care, and sometimes depending on their health plan and finances may have to pay 5-20% of it (although Doctors often waive this bit). In Canada where the patient never sees the bill and pays no part of it, there can be, on the part of some, an unrealistic sense of costs. This includes not realizing how much more expensive it is to the system if the patient goes to the ER for something that is non-urgent and could have been seen by the GP.
Every system has its true horror stories, unfortunately, and one of the worst I heard was a 9 year-old seen in England multiple times for headaches, and the mom being told they were nothing to worry about. Her mother, ie the child’s grandmother, a retired pediatrician, arranged for an assessment at the renowned Ste Anne’s Hospital in Paris, and it was discovered the child had a malignant tumour high on the neck part of the spine, an osteocarcoma (same one Ted Kennedy Jr had that resulted in amputation). She was treated surgically in Paris, and did all her convalescing there in hospital, and at grandmother’s home. The parents visited her weekends. They were lucky they had an alternative option, otherwise her prognosis would have been very poor.